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United Way for Greater Austin

COVID-19 Impact

Many home-based providers in Austin, Texas are ineligible for other public supports and funding streams. This includes providers likely to be immigrants without documentation serving children of essential workers who are also undocumented and are unable to participate in the child care subsidy system supported by the State.

According to a recent survey in Austin/Travis County, 44% of family child care homes were closed. The biggest concerns among providers were the ability to pay staff and whether families will come back after the pandemic is over.

Emergency Fund

To address these income gaps, the Success By 6 Family Child Care Emergency Fund is supporting providers to sustain the supply of home-based child care in Austin/Travis County. The fund will award 54 providers grants of up to $1,500 with the goal to address both immediate needs and long-term sustainability and quality of the in-home child care ecosystem.

Home Grown is a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care with a mission to increase access to and the quality of home-based child care. 

Home Grown reading a book

Responding to Crisis: Cash Aid in Times of Disaster

Emergency funding is deeply ingrained in the work of Home Grown. Home Grown has developed a national team of organizations and partners to design and set up of the Home Grown Home-Based Child Care Emergency Fund for Severe Weather & National Disaster Response.
Colorful cubes, paints, pencils, blocks, modeling clay on orange background. Interesting math, games for preschool for kids. Education, back to school concept

Student Loan Debt is a Critical Factor in the Early Educator Compensation Crisis 

Home-based providers earn the lowest wages in the child care system, with many making just $10,000 per year, while continuing to serve underserved families. Despite their essential role, they are often left out of policy discussions and loan forgiveness programs, contributing to ongoing financial strain. This new fact sheet sheds light on the earning challenges for family child care providers.
Home Grown FFN1

Home-based Child Care Providers Share Reflections on Their Hispanic Heritage

In the United States, immigrant stories can start differently but eventually resemble each other. Leticia Barcenas and Claudia Valentín live in diagonally opposite corners of the country—Portland, Oregon, and New Orleans, Louisiana, respectively—they come from different countries—Mexico and Honduras—and began their American Dream with different plans—Leticia wanted to work to make money and support her family; Claudia looked for ways to educate young people in the diaspora—but they eventually discovered that their destiny was inevitably tied to the success of child care in their communities.