As Home Grown reflects on 2022,  we find it was a year that is hard to characterize. It was a year of a lot of ups and downs, a few wins and many losses, but most importantly, a year in which we learned a lot. In 2022, we came to better understand the challenges facing

The holidays are a time when many people gather around meals to celebrate the season. Home-based child care providers dish up an extra helping of love with celebratory treats and traditions.

This month Home Grown celebrates three years of creating and funding crucial supports for home-based child care. Launched in October, 2019, the organization’s collaborative model for innovation and replication has generated life-changing programs and policy initiatives for providers, families, and children across the nation. Collaboration Sustains Momentum  Unlike most “big bets”—high-risk, high-reward initiatives backed by

I am a product of a family, friend and neighbor (FFN) caregiver. Both of my parents came to the United States escaping war in their home country of Nicaragua. While they were both educated in their respective countries, when they came to the U.S. they had to work any job that they could find to

Home Grown’s Thriving Providers Project (TPP) is garnering national attention. Launched this summer in Colorado and coming soon in Nashville, Tennessee and other communities, TPP will send monthly, unconditional cash payments to home-based providers for at least one year. This project hopes to inform early childhood payment system policy reforms at the local and national

On September 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families issued two Notices of Funding Opportunities for the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) Renewal Grant (HHS-2022-ACF-OCC-TP-0180) and the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) Planning Grant (HHS-2022-ACF-OCC-TP-0001). These combined opportunities will offer $266

Home-based child care providers care for more than 12 million children under the age of 13, including 6.4 million children ages 0-5.  A significant portion of these children are experiencing hunger: 23% of families with young children experienced hunger in February 2022 and among lower-income families, that number climbs to ​a staggering 45%. Sadly, the providers caring for

When it came time to select child care, Crystal Johnson says, “I chose my neighbor for my baby, because I wanted that one-on-one care.” Johnson knows child care. She is both a parent and the Child Care Systems Improvement Coordinator for the Nevada Division of Welfare & Supportive Services Child Care and Development Program. She

The Biden-Harris Administration’s announced student loan relief plan has the potential to significantly aid home-based providers and the early childhood workforce. Loan forgiveness lifts the burden of student debt from a workforce experiencing a great deal of material hardship, and represents progress towards restoring dignity and economic security to early childhood professionals. As federal and

More than 12 million children under the age of 13 in the United States are in the care of a home-based child care provider. These providers are often referred to as community anchors because of the extended hours they work to support the families who trust them to care for their children. Many home-based child