Research Brief: Identifying Practices and Features of High-Quality HBCC Networks

Woman and two young children wearing masks sit on a couch reading books together.

This research brief presents findings from a targeted literature review on home-based child care (HBCC) networks that support HBCC providers, including regulated family child care (FCC) providers, and/or family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) providers who are legally-exempt from regulation. The review was conducted by the Erikson Institute to inform the development of the benchmarks and indicators for HBCC networks that are described in the companion brief, Strengthening HBCC Networks: An Evidence-Based Framework for High Quality.

Stephen Cutty, a home-based child care provider in California, is one of a small number of male child care providers. He calls running his business "the greatest experience of [his] life."