Child Resource Centre Grand Opening April 26

SALISBURY, MD---The Lower Shore Child Care Resource Center, located at 217 Milford St. in Salisbury, holds its grand opening on Wednesday, April 26, at 2 p.m. Parents and child care providers are encouraged to attend.

The last center to open in the Maryland Child Care Network, services provided include referrals for parents looking for quality child care and training and technical assistance for child care providers. The Lower Shore Child Care Resource Center is supported by a $229,094 state grant from the Maryland Committee for Children to Salisbury State University's Department of Social Work.

Parents can already take advantage of a child care referral hot line. A call to the LOCATE line at 41-0548-3279 will access a trained counselor.

An assessment of human service needs on the Lower Eastern Shore listed child care as the second most needed service in the Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties region. Large distances between providers often makes it difficult to find convenient and appropriate child care without referral assistance.

The Resource Center will also provide technical assistant and support to family providers and child center staff at both the center and outlying counties. For technical support and assistance call 410-543-6650.

In addition to referral and technical assistance, other services offered include data collection to document regional child care supply and demand; identification and analysis of gaps in service delivery; public education efforts to enhance regional awareness of child care community needs; and recruitment of communities to participate in planning child care delivery system improvements.

For more information, please call Paula Isett, director of the Lower Shore Child Care Resource Center, at 410-543-6655.