Anne Vilen writes about child care, education and mental health from her home in Asheville, North Carolina. Find her on X: @Anne_Vilen
Anne Vilen
Writer
Articles by Anne Vilen
Roots and Offshoots: Family Child Care Programs Celebrate Lunar New Year
Family child care providers have a unique ability to celebrate special holidays for the children they care for throughout the year. For Lunar New Year 2025, we spotlighted some of the celebrations happening in HBCC around the country.
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 quality care. 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.
A Love Letter to FFN Caregivers
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.
Caring for Kids and Empowering Communities: Grandmothers Make the World a Better Place
Deborah Young, a grandmother from Boulder, Colorado, has spent decades caring for children and empowering communities. Her community-driven approach focuses on connection, trust, and collective wisdom to nurture both children and communities. Read more about Deborah's life and work here.
Growing Up Vulnerable: Books that Celebrate the Village That Raises Our Children
In honor of World Book Day, we are highlighting three books that recognize that children learn most from caring adults, including the family, friends and neighbors who are the village raising 11.5 million kids in America today.
William Penn Foundation Underwrites Continuity and Stability for Philly Child Care Providers
Quality Influential Professionals (QIP), is a a child care network of more than 80 licensed home-based providers in Philadelphia. QIP was recently granted a sizable investment from the William Penn Foundation to support home-based child care providers and ensure families can keep choosing home-based care.
Voices from Home: Shaping the National Conversation about FFN Care
The Voices from Home collective exists to shift the narrative around supporting family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers. This initiative works to to increase resources for FFN caregivers, particularly via inclusion in public funding and systems of support.
There’s No Place Like Home: Family Child Care Providers Struggle to Find Affordable Housing for a Small Business
The lack of affordable housing and unfair regulations are significant barriers for home-based child care providers who wish to settle into communities and grow their businesses.