The Child Care Subsidy Program assists families in paying child care costs for children under age 13 who are not eligible to attend public school during the part of the day when public education is available, or children with special needs under age 18 who reside with the applicant. If you are eligible and are approved for services, the Subsidy Program can pay a portion of your child care costs directly to the child care provider.
Here are some helpful tips to find out if your employer offers childcare benefits or supports.
Employee Handbook or Policies: Start by reviewing the company’s employee handbook or policies. Often, child care benefits are mentioned in these documents along with other employee benefits.
Human Resources (HR) Department: Reach out to the HR department directly. They can provide information about all the benefits available to employees, including child care assistance programs, subsidies, or flexible spending accounts for child care expenses.
Intranet or Company Website: Check the company’s intranet or website for information on employee benefits. Some companies have dedicated sections or portals where employees can learn about available benefits and how to access them.
Ask Colleagues: If comfortable, ask colleagues who are parents if they are aware of any child care benefits offered by the employer. They might have insights or firsthand experience with the company’s programs.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP): Some companies offer employee assistance programs that include resources for child care support and referrals. These programs may provide counseling, information, and assistance in finding suitable child care options.
Support for parents, guardians, and caregivers in navigating resources that can aid in their recovery efforts and assist with the well-being of their children.
Who is this service for?
Children and family members affected by parent(s) substance use residing in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, or Rappahannock Counties.
DETAILS
Many different pathways can lead to recovery and the staff here at Encompass Community Supports would like to support you through a holistic recovery journey.
Our LINK coordinators assure that parents, guardians, and caregivers that are affected by substance use, are provided with recovery-oriented resources that foster their physical, emotional, spiritual, and family well-being. Our objective is to understand your family’s culture and promote reintegrating and strengthening families through a collaborative relationship.
LINK coordinators work alongside local Children’s Services Administration (CSA) and Family Planning and Assessment Teams (FAPT).
How to Contact Us:
To learn more about LINK Support Coordination Services call (540) 423-7365.
It takes a village to raise a child…Ready Region Blue Ridge offers a variety of ways to engage and connect with families through our Family Village. You can be as active as you want!
Our Vision
All children birth to five have a solid foundation that leads to success.
Our Mission
To bring our community together to champion equal access to resources for all children from birth to age five.
What Is Family Engagement to Us?
“In Ready Region Blue Ridge, Family Engagement focuses on building relationships, fostering joint decision-making, and ensuring the availability of resources to support children’s learning and development through active communication and collaboration among parents, caregivers, and the community.”
Healthy Families is a free, voluntary program that provides a highly trained Family Support Specialist who will help you create a healthy home for your baby and navigate the challenges of parenting with practicing self-care, ensuring that your whole family is healthy and thriving.
Healthy Families’ top priority is to empower you to help your child develop the social, emotional and cognitive skills they need to succeed in life.
Healthy Families is available to anyone who is expecting a child or has a newborn (under 3 months) and is interested in receiving information on parenting, child development and community resources. Once enrolled, they can serve you until the child is 3-5 years old. Families must be a resident of areas served by Healthy Families Skyline CAP: Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties.
We’re excited to invite you to join our family village Facebook group, where we can stay connected and share resources, updates, memories, and more. Who can join? Any parent or caregiver with children of any age!
The Family Council brings families together within our region to discuss early childhood care and education topics. Families are empowered to advocate for the needs and challenges they face when accessing early childhood care for their children.
Learn about early childhood care, education systems, and community resources.
Weigh in on current programs and what more is needed for families with young children
Use your voice to promote change
Who can join? Parents and caregivers of children aged birth to 5.
How often/long are meetings? 1 hour each month (virtual)
How much do you pay? $50 per family council meeting you attend and $25/hr. for additional meetings and events.
Are you interested in joining the Family Council and Family Village? We’d love to have you on board! Sign Up Here
The Virginia Promise Partnership is a coalition of leading organizations working together to achieve our bold goal of ensuring all Virginia families have access to affordable, quality child care by 2030, regardless of income.
We’d like to share information about the Virginia Promise Partnership with you. Please click the link below for more details:
To sign up contact our Family Engagement Specialist: tthompson@unitedwaycville.org or 434-459-0200
Social and Emotional Development describes the range of skills that young children learn that help them relate to themselves and others. These skills include: expressing and regulating feelings, considering how others feel, and solving problems with greater independence. For more information, see Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards, Birth-Five Learning Guidelines (ELDS) which outline typical child development from birth to five years of age. Use this document to understand what skills are appropriate for your child and to see what s/he might develop next.
The Rappahannock Food Pantry is a volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that assists Rappahannock residents who are in need of food or other related services.
Programs
Backpack program
The Backpack program provides food to CCLC and RCES students. A backpack contains 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, 2 snacks and 2 drinks which includes vegetables, protein and milk. Bags are delivered to students on Fridays to provide food for the weekend. Students can sign up through the RCES guidance counselor or at CCLC.
Cow/Sow-of-the-Month program
This is an outreach program to the local farming community which encourages them to donate animals to the pantry to help provide fresh meat to our clients. Once a donation is identified, the Pantry will arrange to pickup the animal and arrange for the processing of the animal. The animal is processed into ground meat which is then distributed to our clients during their shopping visits to the Pantry. The Pantry provides a donation letter to the donor.
Hunters for Hungry program
Hunters for the Hungry provides deer meat to the Pantry via Muskrat Haven Farm. Any hunter who desires to participate can do so by contacting the farm to process their meat.
Feminine Care program
The Feminine Care program is starting in 2024 from a grant that will support free feminine care products to the women of the pantry. Once a month each woman may choose products from a selection provided by the pantry. You may see the Pantry manager for further details.
Eligible adults residing in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, or Rappahannock Counties.
Encompass Community Supports administers multiple housing resources in our region. We work with different departments in our agency along with community partners to provide connections and assistance for housing.
Lower-Income Housing options for eligible adults 62 and older provide options that allow them to live independently.
Rent Subsidies, formally known as Section 8 Vouchers, are affordable subsidized housing options for eligible adults, disabled, and low-income families providing an opportunity to live in safe, affordable housing. We assist with options personally selected by the tenant to reflect personal and cultural preferences.
Short-Term Rental Assistance and Services helps individuals and families quickly return to permanent housing. Our goal is to help individuals obtain housing quickly and increase self-sufficiency. The referrals for this option begin at Foothills Housing Network.
Rappahannock County Department of Social Services administers the Medical Assistance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Energy Assistance, Child and Adult Protective Services, Foster Care, Adoption, Child Care Subsidy, Adult Protective Services and Adult Services, and countless partnerships and initiatives designed to embrace, engage, educate and empower our citizens and neighbors.
Rappahannock County Social Services is located on the second floor at 17 Leggett Lane, (P.O. Box 87), Washington, VA 22747.
Empowering survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Our agency offers a variety of services designed to empower victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault by using a wide range of agency specific and community-based support resources.
​We provide services to the following areas: Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock VA.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is a state agency that oversees birth-to-five early childhood programs including child care centers, pre-K or preschool in public schools, family day homes, and Head Start. This includes measuring the quality of programs.
Our goal is that all Virginia children have learning experiences that prepare them for kindergarten. Measuring the quality of these learning experiences helps strengthen programs and provide important information to families.
What is VQB5?
In response to state law, Virginia has developed VQB5 to measure and improve the quality of infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms. VQB5 is used in child care centers, family day homes, public school preschools, and Head Start sites. VQB5 helps families learn about different birth-to-five programs so they can choose a program that best meets their needs.
How does VQB5 work?
There are two parts of VQB5.
1. Trained observers look at all classrooms using a nationally-regarded early childhood observation tool called CLASS. This observation lasts 60-80 minutes. The trained observer focuses on the interactions between teachers and children. This is not a child-level observation. Teachers receive feedback on what they are doing well and support to improve.
2. VQB5 also looks at whether classrooms are using a quality curriculum that has been approved by the state. Curriculum is always optional, and programs have lots of choices.
Who takes part in VQB5?
Birth-to-five early childhood programs who receive government funding are required to take part in VQB5. Programs that do not receive any government funding can choose to take part.
What does this mean if my child is enrolled in a VQB5 site?
QB5 sites are focused on providing quality learning experiences for your child. This means your child’s teacher is receiving feedback and support multiple times a year. Your site is also likely using a quality curriculum. Starting in fall 2024, parents will be able to find information on the quality ratings for all VQB5 sites.
What are VQB5 sites required to do?
VQB5 sites are required to do the following each year:
1. Have CLASS observations in every infant, toddler, and preschool classroom in the fall and spring.
2. Report on their use of approved early childhood curriculum.
3. Provide important information about their teachers and classrooms, including child enrollment information to VDOE each fall.
Why do VQB5 sites need to give child enrollment information?
State law requires the VDOE to improve learning experiences for young children so that more children can enter school ready. This information helps the VDOE better understand how all these different early learning experiences support kindergarten readiness.
How will the privacy of my child’s information be protected?
Federal and state laws protect how child information is used. VDOE will keep child information private and secure. VDOE will never share information in a way that would identify any child or any small group of children.
What should I do if I have a question about VQB5 or if I’d like to learn more?
