Family Resources

Helping children grow and families thrive.

Explore Family Resources

Every family needs support from time to time. Whether you’re searching for child care, looking for parenting resources, exploring developmental services, or connecting with community programs, BELN is here to help.

Browse the trusted resources below to explore services that support children and families throughout our community. If you’d rather receive personalized guidance, our team is here to help you connect with the right resources for your family’s unique needs.

If you’re not sure where to begin, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Through our free Family Support Services, we provide one-on-one guidance to help your family find the resources, programs, and services that best meet your needs.

Free Family Support

Finding the right support can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. BELN offers free, one-on-one Family Resource Navigation to help families access the services and programs available throughout Ravalli County and beyond.

Our Family Resource Navigators work alongside families to answer questions, identify needs, and connect you with trusted community resources.

We can help you:

Find child care and explore available options
Access the Ravalli Child Care Advantage Waitlist Portal
Connect with parenting programs and family support services
Learn about developmental screenings and early childhood resources
Find financial assistance, food, housing, and healthcare resources
Navigate local programs and community services
Identify resources that meet your family’s unique needs

Whether you have one question or need ongoing support, we’re here to help you find the right resources for your family.

Looking for Child Care?

Finding the right child care can feel overwhelming, but the Ravalli Child Care Portal makes it easier for families to explore trusted local licensed child care providers that fit their unique needs.

With just one application, you can choose which providers you would like to apply to — making it a simple and convenient way to explore quality local child care options in one place.

Explore Community Resources

Browse the trusted organizations and programs below to find support for children, parents, caregivers, and families throughout Ravalli County and Montana.

Resources for Children

Conscious Discipline

A multidisciplinary approach based on three distinct brain-body states in adults and children that drive behavior.

Developmental Milestones

How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts and moves all offer important clues about your child’s development.

Bitterroot Family Guide: Play, Explore & Find Support

A resource-packed guide for families featuring things to do, community events, and local supports to help children learn, grow, and thrive.

PBS Kids

Resources to help you make the most of PBS KIDS and support your child's learning every day.

Zones of regulation

Teach Kids to Manage Big Feelings Through Effective Social Emotional Learning

Imagination Library

FREE Program - Sign your child (ages 0-5) up to receive a book in the mail every month with young children.

NAEYC

Find research-based resources, tips and ideas for families—from child development to reading, writing, music, math, and more!

hand2mind

Trusted by teachers for more than 50 years, hand2mind has created engaging, classroom-tested materials that empower students to learn by doing.

Resources for families

Ravalli Child Care Portal

Searching for child care doesn't have to be overwhelming. Use the Ravalli Child Care Advantage Waitlist Portal to search participating providers and submit one application to multiple waitlists.

Buy Eat Live Better

Find recipes, resources, and nutrition education classes offered by the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program through MSU.

DPHHS State Licensing

Welcome Families. Child care can be a challenge. We have the programs, resources, and information you need to feel confident making the right child care decisions for your family. Follow this link for a full list of resources for families or use the navigation bar on the right!

Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship

Montana's Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship to help families with low income cover the cost of Child Care.

Parenting Montana

Easy-to-use tools to support your child’s success from birth through the teen years.

Childcare Providers Dashboard

Did you know that the Bitterroot Valley is classified as a "childcare desert"? This means that there are not nearly enough quality childcare opportunities in the area. Use this map to streamline your search in care.

WIC

Montana's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Family Routine Guide

This guide helps parents and caregivers in developing a plan to support young children who are using challenging behavior. 

Milestone Tracker App

Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing.