Search
Close this search box.

Network Benchmarks and Indicators Toolkit

This Toolkit is intended to help you implement the Benchmarks for High-Quality Home-based Child Care networks. It includes materials that you can use to meet the WHY, WHAT, and HOW benchmarks. These materials have been developed and used by networks across the U.S. Some are examples of mission statements, provider leadership meeting agendas, anti-bias checklists, description of services, and recruitment fliers that you can adapt for your own network. Others are forms such as provider needs assessments and provider feedback questionnaires that you may want to modify for your network’s purposes. In addition, you will find links to websites that provide a variety of information related to services for providers.  

This toolkit is intended as a working resource to which additional materials will be added as they become available.

USING THE TOOL KIT

The Toolkit is formatted as a filterable Excel sheet. Sortable columns are included for type of benchmark (why, what, how), benchmark (A-K), indicator (A.1-K.3), type of tool (website, agenda, survey, budgeting tool, etc.), and file format (.docx, .jpeg, .pdf, etc.). You may see some resources listed more than once if they are applicable to more than one benchmark and/or indicator.

Currently, there are some benchmarks and indicators for which we do not yet have any applicable tools. If you believe that your organization has something that would be useful to the field, please submit it for review for inclusion in future versions of the toolkit via email.

Child Sitting

We Can’t Forget Home-based Child Care Providers as We Celebrate National Black Business Month

Toys

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.
cacfp

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.