Find child care you can trust.

Answer a few questions and create a plan that can grow as your child grows.

BANANAS Inc.

M-Th: 9:30-4:15, F: 9:30-12:30
Services in Amharic, Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Mandarin), English, Spanish

BANANAS provides support and services to families, caregivers, and child care providers to ensure our youngest learners are ready for success in school and life. We do this by providing child care referrals, payment assistance programs, workshops, playgroups, coaching, and support groups in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont, Emeryville, and Alameda.

BANANAS Inc. Website

Main Office
5232 Claremont Avenue, Oakland CA 94618
(510) 658-0381
Contact
Program highlights
Child Care Initiative Project

The Child Care Initiative Project (CCIP) is a training program to assist aspiring home-based child care providers improve the quality of care they offer. The CCIP training series provides help with the licensing process, tips for getting started, home visits, pre-license inspections, and customized 1:1 support. The program also offers learning opportunities and workshops on topics ranging from business practices to healthy and safety and more. CCIP training is available to anyone interested in family child care licensing. Providers who currently offer home-based child care (licensed or not), or anyone interested in starting one, is encouraged to learn more.

Provider Trainings

Child care provider trainings are designed to provide supportive, relevant information to professionals in the child care field and those interested in becoming providers. Register for classes online at bananasbunch.org

Parent Workshops & Coaching

BANANAS offers workshops, support groups, and parent education series courses to help you improve parenting skills and gain support. Every parent could use some perspective and advice as children do not come with instructions and raising them can be challenging. BANANAS understands and also has a free WarmLine Coaching program offering two consultation sessions with a parenting expert. Parents of children 0-5 living in Northern Alameda County with priority to residents of specific zip codes are eligible; contact referrals@bananasbunch.org for more information.

CPR & First Aid Training

First Aid & CPT trainings are offered in English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese with a 2-year certification. These are mandatory trainings with child care professinals. We also offer Preventive Health in English, Spanish, and Chinese for anyone looking to open or re-locate a child care business.

Alternative Payment Program

Many working families in low-wage jobs depend on government subsidies for child care expenses. BANANAS is the clearinghouse for these subsidies in Northern Alameda County. We advise parent as to whether they qualify and help parents sign up on eligibility lists.

Navigation Services for Families

BANANAS collaborates with Alameda County Social Services Agency, First 5 Alameda County, and Family Front Door on the CARE program, assisting homeless families with navigating the child care system. We assist families in paying for child care by connecting them to subsidized child care programs. Families who need immediate child care services may receive a temporary voucher that helps them pay for child care. We also offer the Foster Child Care Bridge program. The Foster Care Bridge Navigator supports foster families in Alameda County in finding child care and supports child care providers' professional development around integrating trauma-informed practices into their program through offering training opportunities and coaching.

Resource Library

BANANAS maintains a library of handouts that cover a wide range of topics for parents and providers, from child development to choosing child care to licensing requirements, snack idea, and how children learn from play. A variety of handouts are printed in both Spanish and Chinese. You can find the handout in our office and at banananasbunch.org

Play Groups

BANANAS playgroups are designed ecspecially for extended family caregivers: Family, Friends and Neighbors (FFN) who care for young children. FFN caregivers are grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, neighbors, and friends. Our playgroups offer a space to connect with one another and build community. They are free, and will have children laughing, exploring, and creating and we will discover the many wonderful ways that play inspires learning.

Community Resources-Online Jobs Board & Virtual Boutique

We welcome both parents and licensed child care providers to post jobs on our online board! To post a job or search our listings visit https://bananasbunch.org/job-listings/ The BANANAS Virtual Boutique is a way we give our community the opportunity to donate/search for baby items during a time of less physical contact. Please use this site as a way to donate and search for gently used community items while the physical BANANAS Boutique is closed. https://bananasbunch.org/virtualboutique/

Child Care Referrals

We believe all parents and guardians should have equal access to information regarding available child care services. This is why we provide a child care referral list of licensed child care program providers to use when searching for child care. This information is provided free of charge. However, the information we provide is not meant to be a recommendation. We only provide parents and guardians with the information–it’s up to them to make their own decisions. We cannot guarantee or vouch for the quality of any provider or program included on a child care referral list. We urge all parents and guardians to look into each program and find one that fits their unique needs.