Steps to Rebuilding

Step 1– Identify Needs

Before you rebuild, you should develop a business plan that documents supply and demand for child care in your area, outlines your staffing plans, etc. If your facility has been closed since the hurricane, you will need to get estimates on repairs or work with an existing provider.

Step 4– Find Qualified Staff

Finding and retaining qualified staff is critical to providing quality child care. By offering cost-conscious benefits like flex time, paid holidays, or other incentives, center directors can help keep qualified staff.

Step 2– Find Financial Resources

There is a limited number of public and private financial resources to help child care centers rebuild. Contact Agenda for Children or Excellence for Children to learn about more resources.

Step 5– Receive ongoing training

Child care providers can access training and technical assistance for their staff from Agenda for Children, LSU Ag Center, and the Louisiana Pathways program for ongoing training in early childhood education. Providers can sign up for a free LSU Ag Center Child Care Business Training session and receive up to $2000 in free learning materials upon completion of the course. Click here to learn more. (pdf)

Step 3– Permitting, Zoning, and Licensing

To open or reopen a child care center, you must get zoning approval and building permits through local authorities to begin construction. Once complete, you must arrange for visits from the local Health Department, the State fire marshal, the city fire marshal (if your center is in New Orleans) and child care licensing.
Step 6– Serve families

There are numerous free resource guides and brochures available for distribution to families on activities for children, health care, parenting, and other critical early childhood education issues. Contact Agenda for Children and LSU Ag Center if you need these resources. Be sure to register with Agenda for Children's Resource and Referral program to ensure that families are referred to your program.

To contact us:

By Phone for Greater New Orleans:
1-800-486-1712

By Phone for Southwest Louisiana:
1-866-374-9460

E-mail: info@rebuildchildcare.org