While I am clear-eyed about the many hardships ahead for home-based child care, I am also excited to step into the policy window we now have for universal child care and to work within our community to help define its trajectory.
A policy window is defined as a moment when a policy problem, a policy solution, and a political opportunity converge, creating space to advance a policy that did not previously exist. I believe we are in such a moment for universal child care, and I hope we can take full advantage of it.
The policy problem is well understood and clearly articulated: parents cannot find or afford the child care they need and want. An overall affordability crisis is plaguing American families, and child care often carries the heaviest price tag in the family budget. There is also a clear policy solution, universal child care! Treating child care as a public good, one that we all contribute to and all benefit from, ensures families have access to the care they need at low or no cost.
This vision is feasible to implement. States like Vermont and New Mexico show us what the nuts and bolts of universal child care can look like: adequate reimbursement rates, strong support for educators, parent-friendly enrollment practices, and data systems that help us understand program impact and success. Most importantly, we are in a political moment where affordability is an electorally potent issue at all levels of government and where an affordability message that includes child care can win, as we have seen in New York City.
Using this window to achieve universal child care in as many places as possible will be a tall order, especially in a moment as challenging as this one. There is much work ahead. At Home Grown, we are committed to the following actions in 2026 to use this policy window to advance home-based child care and better serve the children and families who rely on it.
Define universal child care ambitiously
There is currently no shared or overarching definition of what universal child care means, who is included, how it is funded, or how it is implemented. Each community will need to make decisions based on its own assets and needs. As a national movement, however, we must articulate a vision for universal child care that is bold, ambitious, and not constrained by current political or resource limitations.
At Home Grown, we ask: What does a universal child care approach look like when it centers home-based child care and the children and families who already rely on or prefer this form of care?
As a field, we must negotiate what this term means, when we use it, and what essential components are required for child care to truly be universal. We need to grapple with difficult questions: Can a program that excludes family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care be considered universal? Is a program limited only to working families universal? Can a system that excludes non-citizen children truly claim universality?
Make it work where it is seeded and hold one another accountable
Across the country, we are seeing emerging examples of universal child care that hold the promise of illuminating a path forward for the rest of us. We should invest in helping these efforts succeed and in ensuring the programs are worthy of emulation.
In most places, partners on the ground are doing everything they can to make these programs work. Still, there are opportunities to offer insight, share effective practices from other communities, suggest partners, and create connections that strengthen these early efforts. At Home Grown, we are asking ourselves: How can we best support these communities? How can we learn from them? And how can we join forces to build a movement where universal child care is the norm rather than the exception?
At the same time, we must raise our voices when universal child care programs leave out essential elements. When programs exclude critical caregivers, certain families, or the provisions necessary to stabilize the sector, we must speak up. Together, we can ensure that the voices and lived experiences of home-based child care providers guide these assessments — and collectively hold communities accountable to prioritizing the most marginalized families and care providers.
Celebrate leaders who prioritize universal child care
In a political environment marked by polarization, negative rhetoric, and genuine threats to community well-being, many politicians are focused on playing defense or running against something. Too few are proactively advancing a vision for a better future through new programs and investments that support families.
We must make it clear that leaders who champion universal child care are the leaders we want and that we will stand with those who choose to lead with courage, imagination, and commitment to families.
Build powerful coalitions across the map
Fully seizing this policy window requires strong, coordinated coalitions led by providers and families who can keep child care on the policy agenda. Home Grown will continue to invest in provider leaders and provider-led organizations as they build power and influence in local, state, and federal policy arenas.
We will also continue to partner with values-aligned organizations and coalitions that share a vision of child care as a public good, one that is accessible to every family, regardless of income, immigration status, or geography.
Use what we learn to make progress where full universality isn’t yet possible
In places where universal child care may not yet be achievable, we can still make meaningful progress by seeding and strengthening the essential components of this vision. Expanding inclusion of diverse providers, improving access for immigrant children, and increasing support for families who cannot work are all critical steps.
These efforts help lay the foundation for a future system and prepare us to push for the federal changes needed to make universal child care a reality everywhere.
At Home Grown, we know that 2026 will be difficult in many ways. We remain steadfastly committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with the home-based child care community through these challenges. And we will continue to look ahead to better days, including days when publicly funded, universal child care is available to every family.
