Glossary of Terms

 CCAP – Child Care Assistance Program –To support all families in accessing high quality child care, the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) provides financial assistance to low-income families while they are working or attending school

CCR&R – Child Care Resource and Referral – agencies contracted across the state to support providers and parents through finding child care, assisting with the development of new child care facilities, offering approved training for staff of licensed child care centers, and providing technical assistance (coaching) to early care and education staff; the CCR&R for Lafayette parish is ON TRACK by 5 Alliance

Community Network – groups of early care and education publicly funded providers (Type III Early Learning Centers, Early Head Start, Head Start, NSECD, and public schools) formed by parishes or regions across the state to ensure easy access to high-quality early learning options for children by unified requirements of early learning and development standards, expectations for adult/child interactions, and enrollment that is easily accessible for families

Coordinated Enrollment – a requirement of Louisiana networks to have locally-managed enrollment systems supporting families to find early care and education for children ages birth to five that: (1) Coordinate Information, (2) Coordinated Eligibility, (3) Coordinate Applications, and (4) Match Based on Preference; the Lafayette enrollment system is www.enrolllafayette.com

DCFS – Department of Children and Family Services – a Louisiana state department that support children and families with services such as child protection, foster care, benefits (i.e. food stamps), etc.

Head Start - a Federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families through comprehensive preschool programming

NSECD – Non-Public Schools of Early Childhood Development – a grant funded program for participating nonpublic schools throughout Louisiana that provides four-year-old children in families meeting grant requirements with pre-kindergarten classes

LA-4 – Cecil J. Picard LA 4 Early Childhood Program – a grant funded program throughout Louisiana that provides four-year-old children in families meeting grant requirements with pre-kindergarten classes

Lead Agency – agencies contracted across the state to serve as the fiscal agent for their Community Network, maintain important records, assist programs with the online systems for reporting accountability data, conduct Community Network meetings, and distribute communication from the Department; the Lead Agency for Lafayette parish is Lafayette Parish School System

LDOE – Louisiana Department of Education - a Louisiana state department that support children and families with services such as educational grants, child care assistance, licensing of child care, etc.