Child care resource and referral agencies (R&R) are state-funded, community-based programs that exist in every county in California. R&Rs make up a well-developed system that supports parents, child care providers, and local communities. R&R services are free and available to all parents and child care providers.

R&Rs are the backbone of child care support for both parents and providers in their communities. Their work is relationship-based and therefore difficult to quantify the breadth of their impact in people’s lives; however, this is the first year’s attempt to enumerate their impact in California. The numbers below reflect 38 out of 69 R&Rs and 34 out of the 58 counties, so the statewide impact is actually much greater. This project started in 2021, and the first-year report is now available here.