§ 410-q. Child care resource and referral program services. 1. Each
agency approved to receive funding pursuant to this title shall, to the
extent funds are available for such purposes, provide the following:

(a) Information and referral services directed at educating parents
who contact the agency regarding early childhood services options and
methods of selecting the best option for his or her child; referring
parents or guardians to early childhood services providers; informing
parents about the availability of financial assistance and tax credits;
referral for parents in coordinating part-day early childhood services
providers and programs to meet the full-day care needs of parents;
referrals for parents of preschool children with handicapping conditions
pursuant to section forty-four hundred ten of the education law and
section twenty-five hundred forty-two of the public health law;
providing written information to those who contact the agency seeking
information about early childhood services; maintaining a provider
resource file and a file of parents currently seeking early childhood
services; and publicizing child care resource and referral services as
necessary to assure that the availability of those services are known to
the community;

(b) Services directed at expanding the number of available family day
care providers and recruiting potential providers; providing information
on licensing and registration requirements and available funding sources
to potential early childhood services providers and programs; and
assisting individuals or organizations to qualify as legal early
childhood services providers or programs by providing information on
applicable laws and regulations relating to zoning, taxes, insurance,
government licensing or registration, and other matters of concern to
new providers;

(c) Services directed at maintaining and providing information and
resources on early childhood training and other relevant programs for
prospective and current providers, including educating child care
providers not requiring a license or registration pursuant to section
three hundred ninety of this article with information on available
training opportunities at the time of enrollment and re-enrollment;

(d) Services directed at developing and maintaining provider data
bases to determine service utilization and unmet needs for additional
early childhood services;

(e) Assuring access to the United States department of agriculture
child care food program for providers in the service area;

(f) Services directed at providing written materials and conducting
outreach to employers to encourage their support of child care resource
and referral services and other early childhood services; and

(g) Each agency funded herein shall provide services in a manner
responsive to the cultural, linguistic and economic characteristics of
the community served.

2. Enhanced services which an agency agrees to provide pursuant to a
contract may include one or more of the following:

(a) Services directed at expanding the supply of regulated care in
areas where such care is not readily available;

(b) Services directed at enhancing the availability and quality of
early childhood services which serve families with particular language,
ethnic and cultural backgrounds;

(c) Services directed at meeting the early childhood services needs of
children with special needs;

(d) Training or technical assistance services targeted to meet
specific local early childhood services needs; and

(e) Services directed at promoting, coordinating and assisting
collaborative efforts between early childhood services providers and
programs to meet the local need for full-day early childhood services.