Blogs and Articles

In the United States, immigrant stories can start differently but eventually resemble each other. Leticia Barcenas and Claudia Valentín live in diagonally opposite corners of the country—Portland, Oregon, and New Orleans, Louisiana, respectively—they come from different countries—Mexico and Honduras—and began their American Dream with different plans—Leticia wanted to work to make money and support her family; Claudia looked for ways to educate young people in the diaspora—but they eventually discovered that their destiny was inevitably tied to the success of child care in their communities.

Home Grown celebrates the new Council of Economic Advisers brief, Child Care Is Infrastructure: Evidence from Universal Pre-K. For over 3 years we have invested in co-funding research that highlights the importance of including Family Child Care (FCC) in public pre-K systems and are excited to be working with NIEER this fall to support a cohort of public pre-K systems with targeted TA and evidence-based tools to modify their pre-K systems to include FCC.

Home Grown introduces the third cohort of provider leaders in our Leading from Home initiative. The members of this cohort represent providers and caregivers from diverse experiences, languages and identities.

From presidential candidate Kamala Harris to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, many leaders credit home-based child care providers with raising them up and saving their careers. In celebration of FFN Appreciation Week, we spoke with three distinguished leaders in the child care sector to hear how their experiences with FFN care shaped who they are today.

Deborah Young, a grandmother from Boulder, Colorado, has spent decades caring for children and empowering communities. Through her experience as a single mother and educator, she has supported immigrant and refugee women, helping them turn caregiving into sustainable businesses. Her community-driven approach focuses on connection, trust, and collective wisdom to nurture both children and communities. Young’s lifelong mission exemplifies the power of home-based child care in transforming lives.

Black home-based child care providers, who are often overlooked but vital to their communities. These caregivers not only nurture children but also provide education and resources to families in need. Despite their essential work, they face significant challenges, including low wages and outdated reimbursement systems. We need policy changes to better support these small businesses.

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.

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.

Home Grown Collaborates with Partners and Providers to Develop Detailed Comments to USDA.

Dawn Holden Woods shares some key advice for home-based child care provider leaders working with funders.

The founders of Black Californians United for Early Care and Education (BlackECE) share how they create spaces of inclusion for Black early child care educators.

The serious deficiency process is a tool used to help regulate CACFP but often subjects home-based child care providers unfairly to swift and harsh penalties.