Blogs and Articles

Home Grown is pleased to introduce the cohort of incredible provider leaders in our Leading from Home initiative. The Leading from Home initiative launched in February 2021 with the goal of identifying and supporting provider leaders leading grassroot networks in their communities. Home Grown created Leading from Home with the belief that it is critical to engage providers and parents in policy change and to support the leadership of providers and their ability to influence policy and systems.

Home Grown recently partnered with the Urban Institute and Child Trends to take a closer look at the CACFP and opportunities for home-based child care provider participation. The two resulting reports present interesting overlaps in their findings and recommendations, including the importance of building relationships, cross-system collaboration, and centering the realities of HBCC providers and caregivers

As we collectively see, learn, and support FFN caregivers, we will better value and include these essential caregivers and the children and families they serve in early childhood systems. With new federal investments, now is the time to embark on this journey to make our system more inclusive and equitable.

If you haven’t received a PPP, it is a great time to get in on the program before it ends. The application for a first time PPP is straightforward and forgiveness (the process of removing the debt so you can keep the funds) is easier than ever. The PPP deadline has been extending until May 31, 2021.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act Leave provides home-based child care providers with the opportunity to receive funds that can support them with expenses needed to run their organizations. There are two programs through which home-based child care providers can provide this leave: the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family & Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA).

Each state sets its own regulations for child care, including everything from licensing requirements to subsidy rates. This variation is more evident than with home-based child care, where even the definition of what it means to be a provider is inconsistent. This 50 state policy scan of data illuminates these differences and highlights some trends.

In December 27, 2020 a new program was approved that builds off the EIDL, called the Targeted EIDL. The EIDL and Targeted EIDL are similar programs but are distinctly different. Targeted EIDL is intended to help level the playing field and compensate for some of the inequities of the EIDL advance last spring and accordingly is limited to specific communities.

The strain it has put on all of you is only matched by the strain it has put on your businesses, pushing you to the breaking point in many cases. The good news is that much needed help has arrived. A new stimulus bill was signed on December 27th, 2020. There are some familiar programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as well as some old ones that are being implemented in new ways, like the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the George Kaiser Family Foundation built an online platform, Kith.care to support essential workers in qualifying and paying their relatives for in-home child care.

Home Grown’s program succeeded in helping some home-based providers access PPP funds, but many were shut out of this public funding in a time of crisis.

We must make sure working families can find safe, affordable, accessible child care, and we need not look farther than our homes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, home-based child care (HBCC) has remained open, struggling to respond to increased child and family needs and new health, safety, and business challenges. New attention and funding are needed to ensure that home-based providers can fully participate in and support access to these critical services.