When it comes to supporting children in families in the early childhood space, national resources are good to have, but local resources are really the most important resources to have on hand.  January is a great time to go through any resource binders that you may have compiled in the past.

• Check phone numbers and websites to be sure that the resources you have on hand are up-to-date.
• Contact resource agencies and restock any materials that have changed over the years.
• Make sure that you have the correct contact person and their contact information so that others do not have to wrestle with finding the correct person to speak with.
• Remove any information that is no longer relevant.

Work with your team to identify new (or new-to-you) resources in the community.  Encourage each person on the team to identify one resource that can be added to the community resource binder. During a staff meeting, introduce these resources to the rest of the team.

Let families know that you are updating the binder and ask them to share any relevant resources with you for inclusion in the binder.

If you have not done so already, consider making your resource collection part of your website or make it available to families and staff electronically so they can access the resources at any time.

Be sure to reach out to any child care associations in your area to see if you are missing important agencies or resources in your community.