Promising Practices for High-Quality Home-Based Child Care Networks: Focus Group Briefs

Drawing from multiple focus groups conducted with network leaders and providers, this series of briefs examines the underlying values and goals of home-based child care networks, network services offered to providers, and network implementation practices that research suggests most likely contribute to positive outcomes for providers, children, and families.

Guiding this series is the Strengthening Home-based Child Care Networks brief which describes a set of 11 evidence-based benchmarks and indicators for high- quality networks grouped into three broad categories: “Why” benchmarks unpack fundamental values and goals of a network; “What” benchmarks articulate network services that meet goals for providers, children, and families; “How” benchmarks reflect evidence-based implementation strategies used by networks.

Supporting Providers as Equal Partners also available in Spanish and Chinese:

Supporting Providers’ Economic Well- Being and Sustainability

Network Practices Around Equity and Social Justice also available in Spanish:

Homes are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Chimney Rock Village, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Navigating Grief Around Hurricane Helene and Hopes for the New Year

Home-based child care provider Danithza Baker shares how navigating the aftermath of Hurricane Helene is shaping her hopes for the new year.
Rest

The Gift of Rest and Self-Care This Holiday Season

Home-based child care providers share how they rest and care for themselves during the often busy and demanding holiday season.
Licensing

What Does Recognition and Respect for Family Child Care Providers Really Mean?

Family child care providers value licensing systems because of how these systems provide accountability and incentivize quaity care, while recognizing them as child care professionals. What providers want is simple — inclusion and representation in the decision-making bodies that regulate their work. In this blog, FCC providers share why they value and respect licensing systems and how that respect can be reciprocated through better representation of providers in those systems. Read the blog post here.