Oftentimes, people will ask what I do for a living. When I respond that I work at the Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, nine times out of ten, I’ll get a blank stare, along with a “what’s that?”

Well, I’m here to explain exactly who we are and what we do!

The Early Coalition of Palm Beach County provides services to both families and child care providers. Whether you’re looking for School Readiness child care services, enrollment in Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK), or access to numerous early education resources, the ELCPBC is where you want to start. There are 30 regional early learning coalitions across the state of Florida, all of which are nonprofit organizations that incorporate local private and public partnerships to meet children’s needs.

For parents, the ELCPBC offers Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R), where families can speak with a trained specialist free of charge for all child care-related needs at 561-514-3300. The Coalition can also assist with the School Readiness program, which helps eligible working parents with the cost of child care, as well as the VPK program, which is a free program for four-year-old children who reside in Florida to help prepare them for kindergarten. The Coalition is also here to help with scholarships through our partnership with the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County (CSC), Early Head Start (EHS) grants, screenings and assessments, and early intervention.

For providers, the ELCPBC aids child care sites with developmental screening and assessment programs, early intervention and inclusion services for children with special needs, frequent provider webinars to answer questions and network, and training from our Quality Supports team on a variety of different topics. In addition, our Quality Supports team carries out program assurance monitoring for contracted child care providers.

As you can see, it’s hard to sum up the question of “what do you do?” in just one or two sentences. We’ve created this blog to help parents and child care providers alike get the information you need in a fast, informative, and simple way.

Stay tuned to learn more about all our individual programs!