The NSU Child and Family Network is a part of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, which is in the College of Science and Technology of NSU. The NSU-CFN is a multifaceted program providing services for parents and their children, child care center caregivers and directors, family child care home providers, and employers in a 30 parish area throughout Central and Northwest Louisiana. The main office is in Shreveport and a satellite office in Alexandria at the England Airpark campus of Northwestern enable us to serve all of the central and northwest area of the state.

The NSU Child and Family Network operates a child care resource and referral program. This service provides parent referrals, consultation on child care issues, services to employers, and forums on the business aspects of child care. Child care resource and referral services are funded by the Child Care and Development Fund and corporate contracts. The corporate contracts also include worksite seminars on family-related topics.

A child care technical assistance project includes visits to family child care providers who are registered through the Department of Social Services. Required Orientation to Family Child Care training is conducted by NSU Child and Family Network. Child care center technical assistance is a service that enables NSU to provide assistance to centers on such topics as room arrangement, activities, and implementation of strategies for improvement. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale is used to help centers improve and both the Family Child Care Environmental Rating Scale and the Parents as Teachers program are used to help family child care providers improve.