For many years, Resource & Referral (R&R) agencies have been seen as an important link between families and childcare providers. They’re often praised by policymakers, supported through funding, and many directors are encouraged to work with them as a way to fill enrollment.
It’s worth asking a simple question:
Do R&R agencies truly solve the childcare access problem, or do they just move it from one place to another?
This can feel like an uncomfortable topic, but if you’re an after-school director, center leader, or preschool operator, you may have noticed it yourself. R&R agencies can help with visibility, but they don’t always connect you with the right families at the right time or those who are the best fit for your program.
It’s about asking what really matters for your program: Do they help increase access to quality care, or are we still working within the same limited system just spread differently?
What Experts Say: The Promise of R&R Agencies
According to the Child Care Aware of America network, R&R agencies are designed to:
- Help families find licensed childcare,
- Connect programs with funding and support,
- Improve data collection and oversight,
- Serve as a trusted intermediary between families, providers, and the state.
At least on paper, this looks like a win-win. Families get help navigating choices, while providers get exposure.
But here’s where the cracks start to show.
Making Real Progress
Many experts in early childhood policy have pointed out that the childcare access challenge is mostly about capacity and long-term sustainability, not just awareness or visibility.
Simply put:
Families don’t struggle to find childcare because they don’t know programs exist.
They struggle because there often aren’t enough affordable, high-quality openings available.
R&R agencies can help guide families toward providers, and that support can be useful. But in many cases, they are moving families around within the same limited system, rather than creating more available spots. Some directors also share that they receive referrals that aren’t the right fit—because of schedule mismatches, specific program needs, or subsidy requirements.
So the tough question is this:
Are R&Rs helping families access childcare or just moving them from one waitlist to another?
The Director’s Perspective: What You See Every Day
Let’s be honest. If you’re running an after-school program, a center, and preschool, or even offering drop-in care, your biggest bottlenecks usually aren’t solved by visibility alone.
Your daily reality looks more like this:
- Staffing shortages mean you can’t expand even when demand is high.
- Paperwork overload (subsidy compliance, enrollment tracking, billing) eats hours that should go to families.
- Parent communication gaps confuse schedules, tuition, or availability.
That’s why many directors feel R&Rs are helpful for awareness, but don’t touch the deeper operational bottlenecks that determine whether a child actually gets care.
A Simple Idea: Strengthening Childcare Programs from Within
Maybe the future of childcare access won’t come from adding more middle layers like R&R agencies. Maybe it will come from helping programs like yours run with more clarity, speed, and control.
In other words, instead of relying on agencies to list your program, what if you had the right tools to manage your visibility, enrollment, parent communication, and subsidy reporting all in real time?
This is where technology, especially childcare management software, is quietly making a real difference in improving access.
How Technology Changes the Equation
A modern child care app or daycare software doesn’t just help you run your program more efficiently. It fundamentally changes the way access is created:
- Real-time availability: Parents see open spots immediately through a parent app, rather than calling around or relying on third-party lists.
- Smarter scheduling: Directors can use a teacher app to balance staffing and classrooms, avoiding the trap of under- or over-enrollment.
- Simplified subsidy tracking: Programs that accept subsidies can manage them seamlessly through software, reducing the delays that often push families out of the system.
- Better family fit: By communicating your program’s strengths directly (through your own digital presence), you attract families who align with your mission, not just whoever shows up through an agency.
This doesn’t eliminate the role of R&Rs, but it puts directors back in the driver’s seat.
How to Try This Approach Safely
I know some directors may be thinking: That sounds good, but is it realistic?
Here’s a practical path to verify whether shifting your strategy works better:
- Track enrollment sources. For one quarter, note how many families came from R&R agencies vs. direct digital inquiries.
- Compare fit. Which families were easier to onboard, retain, and serve?
- Calculate time cost. Measure how much staff time was required to manage each channel.
- Pilot digital tools. Use childcare management software for one cycle and compare results.
If the families who came through your own tools were easier to serve, stayed longer, and required less staff labor, you’ll have your answer.
The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters
Why talk about this now? Because directors like you need real support as access challenges continue to rise.
- If R&R agencies help you, fantastic.
- But if they’re just shifting families around while you still face staff shortages, waitlists, and financial stress, then it’s time to rethink the model.
The future of childcare access won’t be built on agencies. It will be built on centers and preschools empowered with their own tools to connect directly with families.
That may not be a popular take, but it’s one worth debating.
Conclusion:
Resource & Referral agencies have done important work, but they may not be the long-term answer to childcare access. A bigger part of the solution could be empowering directors like you with the right tools to manage your program, grow with confidence, and communicate directly with families.
R&Rs aren’t the problem — they were created with good intentions. But good intentions alone can’t remove the real roadblocks. Directors know that improving access takes more available spots, smarter scheduling, flexible care options, and systems that make everyday operations easier.
Instead of relying on others to solve the access challenge, it may be time to strengthen the people closest to children — you, your team, and your program.
That’s the kind of progress iCare Software is proud to support.
If you’re curious about how childcare management software can change the access equation for your program, we’d love to show you.
Because at the end of the day, the real question isn’t whether R&R agencies help. It’s whether your program is positioned to thrive no matter where families first hear about you.