Case Study
Behind North Carolina’s New Data Platform Powered by Upfront
As a lead agency for North Carolina’s entire Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) network, Child Care Resources Inc. (CCRI) supports families, providers, and regional partners in ways that go far beyond what appears on a website. Together with Upfront, CCRI has built an integrated statewide system that redefines how child care data is collected, managed, and acted upon — connecting every piece of the ecosystem in one place.
For Families: Search, Connect, and Access Care in Minutes
CCRI’s new public online search portal - FindChildcareNC.com - is the most comprehensive child care search in the state. Families can:
Filter by schedule, age, quality rating, pricing, languages, special needs, and more.
View real-time vacancy data, so they’re not calling closed or full programs.
Access the tool seamlessly from any device, with full mobile optimization and multilingual support.
Find results ranked for SEO to ensure every family searching online can discover it.
Behind the public search is a robust referral intake system used by family specialists statewide. It allows CCR&R staff to:
Create referrals in minutes using the same real-time vacancy data that powers the public search.
Manage family cases through a full call intake workflow, with automated surveys and tracking.
View dashboards showing call volume, trends, and response rates — so operations can continuously improve.
For Providers: Easy Account Management and Professional Growth
CCRI’s work extends equally to supporting the providers who make North Carolina’s early care and education system possible. The provider portal enables every licensed program to:
Claim and verify their account in less than two minutes.
Update data directly — from vacancies and pricing to hours and contact information — ensuring accuracy across the system.
For Professional Development and Training, CCR&R teams can:
Publish courses in a public catalog for providers to register through directly.
Providers are able to pay online for training through a fully integrated payment system that automatically routes funds to the correct region.
For staff, create, duplicate, and edit courses effortlessly, tracking participation across every topic and geography.
Access dashboards that show which regions are most active and where additional capacity is needed.
The Technical Assistance and Coaching module gives CCR&R specialists the tools to quantify their impact with early educators. Staff can:
Log visits, create new coaching sessions, and manage provider engagement.
Use configurable assessment templates that automatically calculate results and outcomes.
Generate analytics to show where coaching efforts are most concentrated and where support gaps remain.
For All: Real-Time Data and Reporting That Drives Change
Every module connects into a single data and reporting backbone. CCRI and regional partners can:
Run pre-built report templates or create custom self-service exports across families, providers, training, coaching, and referrals.
Access real-time supply and demand maps visualizing where care is available — and where it’s not.
Analyze affordability deserts by viewing program costs as a percentage of median household income (MHI), revealing where child care is financially out of reach for families.
Why It Matters
The launch of this statewide system is more than a technology upgrade — it’s a rethinking of how North Carolina serves its families and early educators. From the first call a parent makes to the data driving state policy decisions, CCRI’s infrastructure ensures that every interaction is informed, efficient, and equitable.

