Search
Close this search box.

Anne Vilen

Writer

Anne Vilen writes about child care, education and mental health from her home in Asheville, North Carolina.  Find her on X: @Anne_Vilen

Articles by Anne Vilen

Rest

The Gift of Rest and Self-Care This 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.
Grandmother and granddaughter together outdoors

A Love Letter to FFN Caregivers

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.
Deb Young 1

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. 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.
home grown child care

Child Care Insurance Is Expensive, Hard to Find, and Complex: One More Burden for Home-Based Providers

Home-based child care providers have to carry additional insurance for their businesses, but obtaining the coverage is not as straightforward — or affordable — as it could be.
HomeGrownFFN Reading

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.
Policyworkgroup

Policy Matters: Home-Based Providers Take Our Case to the Statehouse

Learn how Home Grown's Policy Work Group is working to help inform and shape policies that support home-based child care providers.
Holidays1

A Home Grown Holiday Wish List

This season of giving, please join us in asking policymakers to support legislation that provides kids and caregivers with gifts that keep on giving throughout the year. This blog highlights the top five things on Home Grown’s holiday wish list.
Thank you child care

We’re Grateful for Our Child Care Heroes!

This Thanksgiving, Home Grown is sharing gratitude for the home-based child care providers who keep America working.
Adrienne and Diane

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.
vfh image

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.
Home Grown1

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.
VPConsultingAZ_0038

The Love’s Baked In: Holiday Foods Nurture a Child’s Belly and Soul

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.
VPConsultingAZ_0029

Thriving Providers Project In the Spotlight

The Home Grown Thriving Providers Project, which hopes to inform early childhood policy reforms at both the local and national level through monthly cash payments, is getting national attention for its work.
Benu Chabbra_50448385

The Kids Are Alright: Children (and some Grown-Ups) Explain How Home-Based Child Care Prepared Them for School and Life

Five former home-based child care attendees - ranging from ages 7 to 34 - share about their experiences and why that time was so transformative and instructive.
VPsfii_0051 (1)

Generations of Kids Get Their Smarts and Their Resilience in Home-Based Child Care

Research has shown that high-quality home-based child care provides children with significant positive lifetime outcomes. Read more about provider Benu Chhabra.
draft_0018

Home-Based Caregivers Provide More than the Essentials for Parents Who Don’t Work 9-5

Home-based child care is the best choice for many parents who work non-traditional hours because they are flexible, accessible, and create a nurturing family atmosphere for children.
Photo Cred: M By Michaela Photography

Home for the Holidays

Home-based providers celebrate holidays and the cultural traditions with the families they serve, which strengthens children’s cultural identity and sense of belonging.