There are several organizations who share CCW/AFTEF's vision of quality child care for all families and fair wages for caregivers. Visit their Web sites to learn more information.

Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE)
www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce
CSCCE focuses on issues relating to the several million teachers and providers currently working in center-based and home-based early care and education settings in the United States. Through research, policy analysis and policy development, the Center promotes improvements in job conditions for the early care and education workforce, and in services for children and families.

Child Care and Early Education Research Connections
http://www.childcareresearch.org/
Research Connections is an effective tool for researchers and policymakers that facilitates access to current research and findings, datasets, statistics, instruments, and other analytic tools related to child care and early childhood education. It is a partnership among the National Center for Children in Poverty at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan; and the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is a web-based, interactive database of research documents and public use data sets for conducting secondary analyses on topics related to early care and education. Research Connections highlights current research; develops and disseminates materials designed to improve child care policy research; provides technical assistance to researchers and policy makers; synthesizes findings into policy research briefs; and facilitates collaboration in the field.

Child Care Services Association
http://www.childcareservices.org/
CCSA is a non-profit, United Way agency committed to improving the affordability, accessibility and quality of child care. Through research, services and advocacy, CCSA works to improve the child care system in local communities of Durham and Orange counties, throughout the state of North Carolina and across the United States.

Child Care Law Center (CCLC)
http://www.childcarelaw.org/
The Child Care Law Center (CCLC), based in San Francisco, CA is a national nonprofit legal services organization that uses legal tools to make high quality, affordable child care available to every child, every family, and every community. CCLC is the only organization in the country devoted exclusively to the complex legal issues that affect child care. Their work encompasses public benefits, civil rights, housing, economic development, family violence, regulation and licensing, and land use.

Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
http://www.childrensdefense.org/
CDF was founded in 1973 as a private, nonprofit advocacy organization. CDF works on a range of children's issues including health, poverty, mental health, child care, youth development and school violence. CDF also coordinates a number of projects including the Black Community Crusade for Children and faith-based advocacy efforts.

Child Trends, Inc.
http://www.childtrends.org/
Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to studying children, youth, and families through research, data collection, and data analyses. Child Trends was established in 1979 and currently has a staff of 50 researchers, analysts, and administrative and support personnel.

Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
http://www.cwla.org/
CWLA is an association of more than 1,100 public and private nonprofit agencies that assist over 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year with a wide range of services including child care, foster care, housing and homelessness, juvenile justice, and health services.

Council for Professional Recognition
http://www.cdacouncil.org/
The Council works to improve the professional status of early childhood workers and helps to meet the growing need for qualified child care staff. Founded in 1985, the Council is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to increase the status and recognition of early care and education professionals who care for children from birth through 5 years of age in child care centers, family child care homes, and as home visitors. As part of the Council's mission to professionalize the early child care field, a training team travels across the country to conduct workshops and seminars for early childhood educators and publishes books and manuals which report on the trends and developments in the field.

Early Childhood CDA Help
http://www.easycda.com/
This site is a great online link to support for those who are considering or working towards CDA Credentials.

Early Childhood Today
www.scholastic.com/earlychildhoodtoday
Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, has a corporate mission supported through all of its divisions of helping children around the world to read and learn. Recognizing that literacy is the cornerstone of a child's intellectual, personal and cultural growth, for over 87 years, Scholastic has created quality products and services that educate, entertain and motivate children and are designed to help enlarge their understanding of the world around them.Early Childhood Roday is a free, online magazine that gives early childhood educators access to advice, teaching strategies, and appropriate practice guidelines from prominent early-childhood experts, answers to questions about classroom management, behavior issues, developmental expectations and much more.

Families and Work Institute
http://www.familiesandwork.org/
Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a non-profit center for research that provides data to inform decision-making on the changing workplace, changing family and changing community. Founded in 1989, FWI is known for its non-partisan research into emerging work-life issues; solutions-oriented studies addressing topics of importance to all sectors of society such as healthy development and school readiness for young children; and fostering connections among workplaces, families, and communities. Business and community leaders, policy-makers, individual families, educators and the media make use FWI's rigorous research.

Family Initiative
http://www.familyinitiative.org/
The Family Initiative is a national effort to educate, engage and mobilize families from all walks of life to support major public investment in quality child care, preschool and afterschool.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
http://www.fightcrime.org/
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a bipartisan, nonprofit anti-crime organization led by police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, victims of violence and leaders of police officer associations. It is led by National and State Advisory Committees which include over 1,400 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, and victims of violence, as well as the presidents of the National Sheriffs' Association, the National District Attorneys' Association and the International Union of Police Associations. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids uses current research to assess what works to keep kids from becoming criminals and puts that information in the hands of policy-makers and the public.

American Federation of Teachers
http://www.aft.org/yourwork/ece/
The AFT Early Childhood Education Assocation Membership Program is an associate membership program of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), exclusively designed to meet the needs of the early childhood education workforce. The goal is to organize and mobilize a diverse group of early childhood educators and their allies to advocate for fair and decent employment for this profession and reliable, affordable and high-quality early care and education services for families. For more information please call 1-800-238-1133 or visit http://www.aft.org/yourwork/ece/.

National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)
http://www.naccrra.net/
NACCRRA is a nonprofit agency that provides technical consultation and resources to member child care resource and referral agencies. Local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) organizations help parents of choose care - giving them referrals to local child care providers, information on state licensing requirements, availability of child care subsidies, and other pertinent information. CCR&Rs provide guidance by phone, in person, and in other ways, such as the internet, that are tailored to each individual family.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
http://www.naeyc.org/
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the nation's largest organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade. Founded in 1926, NAEYC has over 100,000 members and a national network of nearly 450 local, state, and regional Affiliates. NAEYC Affiliate Groups work to improve professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education and to build public support for high quality early childhood programs.

National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI)
http://www.nbcdi.org/
Since 1970 NBCDI, a nonprofit organization, has provided and supported programs, workshops, and resources for African American children, their parents and communities in early health and education, health, elementary and secondary education, child welfare, and parenting. Through hands-on service and community-outreach programs, NBCDI initiates positive change for the health, welfare, and educational needs of all African American children.

National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC)
http://www.nccic.org/
The National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC) has been established to complement, enhance and promote child care linkages and to serve as a mechanism for supporting quality, comprehensive services for children and families.

National Easter Seal Society
http://www.easter-sealsdc.org/
Easter Seals assists more than one million children and adults with disabilities and their families annually through a nationwide network of more than 450 service sites. Each center provides top-quality, family-focused and innovative services tailored to meet the specific needs of the particular community it serves.

National Head Start Association (NHSA)
http://www.nhsa.org/
The National Head Start Association (NHSA) is a private not-for profit membership organization representing more than 952,000 children, upwards of 180,000 staff and more than 2,400 Head Start programs in America. It is governed by a 49-member Board of Directors composed of a director, staff, parent and friend representative from each of the 12 federal regions and the immediate past Chairman of the Board. NHSA provides a national forum for the continued enhancement of Head Start services for poor children ages 0 through 5, and their families.

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)
http://www.nieer.org/
NIEER is a unit of Rutgers University, primarily funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with a goal of providing the research base needed to provide a quality preschool education to all 3 and 4 year olds in the country.

National Institute for Out-of-School Time (NIOST)
http://www.wellesley.edu/
For more than 20 years, NIOST, at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College, has brought national attention to the importance of children's out-of-school time, influenced policy, increased standards and professional recognition, and spearheaded community action aimed at improving the availability, quality and viability of programs serving children and youth. NOIST's initiatives are focused in three areas: research, evaluation and consultation; policy development and public awareness; and training and curriculum development.

National School Age Care Alliance (NSACA)
http://www.nsaca.org/
NSACA is a national membership organization that represents the entire array of public, private, and community-based providers of after-school programs. NSACA has over 8,000 members and thirty-six affiliated state organizations. NSACA sponsors a national conference for over 2,500 practitioners and advocates. NSACA promotes national standards of quality school-age care for children and youth 5 - 14 years old, and grants accreditation to programs meeting the standards. NSACA is headquartered in Boston and has a public policy liaison located in Washington, D.C.

National Women's Law Center
http://www.nwlc.org/
The National Women's Law Center has worked since its inception in 1972 to protect and advance the progress of women and girls at work, in school, and in virtually every aspect of their lives. The National Women's Law Center is working to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of child care, with a special emphasis on ways to expand public and private financing of the changes needed to achieve these goals.

Stand for Children
http://www.stand.org/
Stand for Children is a grassroots the membership organization that developed from an event held in 1996 where more than 300,000 people came to Washington, DC to attend the Stand for Children March, the largest rally for children in American history. Anyone can become a member of Stand in communities to work on advocacy strategies for a variety children's issues at the community, state, and national level.

USA Child Care
http://www.usachildcare.org/
USA Child Care is a membership organization that aims to effect policies that improve child care for low- and moderate-income families. USA Child Care represents and works with active statewide organizations of child care providers across the country to ensure they are informed and engaged in public policy and works with legislators and policy makers to improve child care services for low- and moderate-income families.

Voices for America's Children
http://www.childadvocacy.org/
Voices for America's Childern is the only national organization devoted to building the capacity of state and local child advocacy organizations. Founded in 1984, NACA is a nationwide network of child advocacy organizations working at America's statehouses, county commissions, and city councils on a broad spectrum of children's issues.

Wheelock College Institute for Leadership and Career Initiatives
institute.wheelock.edu
Wheelock College Institute for Leadership and Career Initiatives is the new name for an existing early childhood career development national policy initiative, formerly called the Center for Career Development in Early Care and Education (est. 1991). The goal of Wheelock College Institute for Leadership and Career Initiatives is to develop a diverse, nationwide cadre of highly effective leaders in the field of early care and education. They focus on helping states, local communities, and higher education institutions create training and support systems ("career development systems") tied to increased compensation/benefits.

Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA)
http://www.ywca.org/
Three hundred thirteen YWCAs, united under the umbrella of the YWCA of the U.S.A., make the YWCA movement: the largest provider of shelter services for women and their families in the country, a leader in violence prevention, offering programs and services to more than 700,000 women and children annually, and the country's largest nonprofit provider of child care services, with 750,000 children participating in child care and after-school programs annually.

Zero to Three
http://www.zerotothree.org/
Zero To Three is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated solely to advancing the healthy development of babies and young children. Founded in 1977 by top developmental experts, Zero Three disseminates key developmental information, trains providers, promotes model approaches and standards of practice and works to increase public awareness about the significance of the first three years of life.

The American Educational Research Association
http://www.aera.net/ The American Educational Research Association (AERA), founded in 1916, is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results. AERA is the most prominent international professional organization, with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. Its more than 26,000 members are educators; administrators; directors of research; persons working with testing or evaluation in federal, state and local agencies; counselors; evaluators; graduate students; and behavioral scientists. The broad range of disciplines represented by the membership includes education, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science.

Pre-K Now
http://www.preknow.org/index.cfm
Pre-K Now is a public education and advocacy campaign that advances high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds. They are a project of the Pew Center on the States and receive generous support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and other funders. Pre-K Now provides targeted financial and technical assistance to advocates and other leaders working to secure policy changes and public funds that will improve the availability and quality of state-funded pre-k programs; educate policymakers about the need for pre-k; and raise public awareness about the need for pre-k for all children.

National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8. NAEYC is committed to becoming an increasingly high performing and inclusive organization. Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 90,000 members, a national network of over 300 local, state, and regional Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations. Membership is open to all individuals who share a desire to serve and act on behalf of the needs and rights of all young children.

Center for Law and Social Policy
http://www.clasp.org/
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national nonprofit that works to improve the lives of low-income people. CLASP's mission is to improve the economic security, educational and workforce prospects, and family stability of low-income parents, children, and youth and to secure equal justice for all. To carry out this mission, CLASP conducts cutting-edge research, provides insightful policy analysis, advocates at the federal and state levels, and offers information and technical assistance on a range of family policy and equal justice issues for their audience of federal, state, and local policymakers; advocates; researchers; and the media.

To add your organization's link, send an email to ccw@aft.org.