Licensing is critical infrastructure in the family child care system: Through licensing, family child care providers are publicly recognized as child care professionals. In recognition of the important impact of state licensing policy and practice on family child care, Home Grown brought together its first-ever Family Child Care Licensing Work Group. The Work Group consisted of family child care professionals who convened regularly to develop Home Grown’s understanding of state licensing for family child care and develop recommendations for these systems. This report represents their work.
Building Belonging: Valuing Family Child Care via State Licensing Systems
Announcing the Enriching Public Pre-K Through Inclusion of Family Child Care (EPIC FCC) initiative
The EPIC FCC initiative seeks to support state, city, county and tribal government leaders in expanding the participation of family child care (FCC) educators in their pre-K systems or engaging FCC educators in these pre-K systems for the first time. Home Grown is committed to ensuring that home-based child care providers can fully participate in well-resourced early childhood initiatives, including pre-K. Learn more and apply.
Annual CACFP Reimbursement Rate Adjustment Does Not Close the Cost Gap: Home-based Child Care Programs Need More Than Pennies
The annual CACFP reimbursement rate increase is insufficient to meet the needs of home-based child care providers. With only a 1% increase for home-based providers, the rising costs of groceries continue to strain their budgets. This modest adjustment fails to cover the expenses of providing nutritious meals to children. Advocacy for more robust and sustained investment in the CACFP is essential to ensure that providers can offer high-quality care and nutrition.