Anne Vilen

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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