In another first for Pleasanton development, the Hacienda Business Park Owners Association has contracted with a Valley organization, Resources for Family Development, to provide childcare recruitment and referral services to employees of businesses located within the Park. Resources for Family Development (RFD) will open an office in Chabot Center in Hacienda Business Park on May 1.

"Resources for Family Development has an outstanding reputation for providing innovative, quality childcare resource services," stated Mary McLaughlin, Manager of the Owners Association. "Hacienda has been studying childcare needs in the area for over a year now and we’re delighted to take this first step in order to better serve our tenants and their employees."

RFD will be working with individual employees in referring them to appropriate childcare openings in the community. They will also be recruiting for additional facilities in the Pleasanton area.

"There is a definite need for childcare and childcare services in this area," said Ruth Freis, RFD co-director with Miriam Miller. "Hacienda has taken a larger view of that and is looking at this to be a model step in cooperatively helping solve employee childcare needs."

"Pleasanton has a large lack of openings in childcare facilities," added Miller. "Our program hopes to bridge some of that and give working parents the referrals and choices for quality childcare in the area."

RFD has outlined four specific points in achieving its referral objectives for the Hacienda program. These include providing an on-site counselor that will be stationed in the RFD offices in Hacienda's Chabot Center; confirming each referral to verify openings and the appropriateness of services; making follow-up visits to the selected facility within three weeks of when the employee places the child and providing the employee with an informational resource describing the services actually being provided; and giving weekly group presentations to employees on topics related to childcare and parenting.

"Our referral services serve a variety of functions," commented Freis. "One of the primary things that they can do is to connect people with other services in the Valley and in the county. Many times people have childcare needs that go beyond just placing their child at an appropriate childcare facility. Our referral function can serve to introduce them to other services provided by other agencies."

The Hacienda program also includes a recruitment program for additional childcare services in the area. RFD's recruitment services will be used to increase the supply of existing childcare facilities, particularly in family childcare homes, programs for after school care, and care for sick children.

"Right now there are no facilities for infant and toddler (up to 23 months) care in Pleasanton," explained Miller. "And we have a great need for programs for after school care and care for sick children. The recruitment function of the Hacienda program will work to try to fill some of those needs."

Advertising and canvassing programs will be part of the recruitment plan, as well as contacting churches and other community groups. In addition, RFD will provide technical assistance and information to assist with the licensing procedures for new facilities and orientation and training sessions will be offered to newly licensed programs.

"We're very excited about this program," said Freis. "The Valley has been a model for children and families, and we're really enthusiastic about establishing a model childcare community with Hacienda."

Resources for Family Development was established in 1976 by Freis and Miller as a resource and referral agency for the Livermore/Pleasanton area. Since its establishment, the agency has been providing the focus for addressing unmet childcare needs and acting as the coordinating organization for children's services in the Valley. It currently provides services to over 3,000 parents, 47 childcare centers and nursery schools, and 288 family childcare homes in the Valley. It is a non-profit corporation that services childcare resource and referral needs for over 250 families a month.

Resources for Family Development has achieved a national reputation for the design and operation of its comprehensive agency.

To see a reproduction of the original article and edition of Pleasanton Pathways, visit: April 16, 1984 Pathways.