This report explores the unique role and challenges faced by immigrant Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers in Colorado, who provide essential child care for over half of the state’s children under age five. Despite their importance, these caregivers face significant obstacles in accessing federal support through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which reimburses child care providers for nutritious meals served to children. Many immigrant FFN caregivers, who are often license-exempt and care for children informally, face barriers to CACFP access, including fears of deportation, bureaucratic complexity, and language barriers.
Expanding Access to the Federal Child and Adult Care Food Program for Immigrant Family, Friend and Neighbor Care Providers in Colorado
What Does Recognition and Respect for Family Child Care Providers Really Mean?
Family child care providers value licensing systems because of how these systems provide accountability and incentivize quaity care, while recognizing them as child care professionals. What providers want is simple — inclusion and representation in the decision-making bodies that regulate their work. In this blog, FCC providers share why they value and respect licensing systems and how that respect can be reciprocated through better representation of providers in those systems. Read the blog post here.
