Home-based child care programs, often referred to as family child care, are a popular choice for many families seeking early childhood education and care. These programs operate within a provider’s home, offering a more intimate and familiar setting compared to larger child care centers. Many parents find home-based care appealing due to the flexible schedules, affordability, and the potential for a caregiver who shares their cultural or linguistic background. However, it’s crucial to understand what defines a home-based child care program and why they are a vital component of the early childhood education landscape.
Despite their popularity and importance, home-based child care programs often face systemic challenges. They are frequently overlooked in early childhood investment strategies, and providers may lack equitable access to essential resources and professional development opportunities. Recognizing and addressing these disparities is key to strengthening the entire early care and education system.
Core Principles of Home-Based Child Care
To effectively support and integrate home-based child care into the broader early care and education system, several core principles should be considered. These principles ensure that home-based settings are recognized, respected, and resourced appropriately:
- Integrated System: Family child care, along with family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care, whether licensed or license-exempt, must be recognized as an integral part of a mixed delivery system for early care and education. This means acknowledging the diverse landscape of care options and valuing each type.
- Needs-Responsive Strategies: Approaches to supporting home-based providers should be tailored to their unique needs and reflect the specific nature of home-based care. Generic solutions designed for center-based care may not be effective or appropriate for home settings.
- Equitable Resourcing: Funding and resources for home-based child care strategies and system components should be on par with those allocated to center- and school-based programs. This equitable distribution is essential for ensuring quality and sustainability across all care settings.
- Systemic Approach: A comprehensive, systemic approach is necessary to fully leverage federal initiatives and private funding opportunities for family child care. This involves coordinated efforts across various levels and sectors to maximize impact.
- Equity and Inclusion: An equity lens, with a strong focus on racial equity, must be central to all strategies and approaches related to home-based child care. This ensures that services are accessible and culturally responsive to all families and providers.
Challenges Facing Home-Based Child Care Providers
Home-based child care faces numerous challenges that hinder its growth and sustainability. These challenges require multifaceted solutions and dedicated attention from policymakers and stakeholders in early childhood education:
- Provider Decline: There is an alarming decline in the number of home-based child care providers. This is partly due to an aging provider population and a lack of younger individuals entering this profession. This decrease in providers limits family choice and access to care.
- Inappropriate Regulations: Regulations and requirements for home-based providers are often designed with center-based care in mind. These regulations can be overly burdensome or ill-suited for the home environment, creating unnecessary obstacles for providers.
- Isolation and Limited Access to Support: Home-based providers often experience isolation and lack access to the quality supports and funding opportunities available to centers. This includes resources like infant/toddler contracts, state preschool funding, and quality improvement initiatives.
- Impact of COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges, leading to the closure of many home-based child care sites while simultaneously increasing the demand for this type of care. This has further strained the system and highlighted the vulnerability of home-based providers.
Family child care providers are decreasing, which has significantly curtailed family choice for parents seeking child care solutions.
Data reveals a concerning trend. Between 2005 and 2017, approximately 90,000 licensed family child care homes closed, according to the National Center for Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA). While overall licensed child care capacity increased during this period, this growth was primarily driven by the expansion of child care centers, not home-based programs. Furthermore, the federal Office of Child Care reported a significant 35 percent decrease between 2011 and 2016 in the number of children from low-income families receiving child care assistance in home-based settings. These statistics underscore the urgent need to address the challenges facing home-based child care and to invest in its future.
Supporting Home-Based Child Care: A Multi-faceted Approach
Organizations like the BUILD Initiative are actively working to strengthen home-based child care through multi-faceted and systemic approaches. BUILD assists state leaders in evaluating their mixed delivery systems and ensuring that family child care is recognized and supported as a core partner. Their approach involves:
- Strategies to Increase Supply: Helping states identify and implement strategies to increase the number of home-based child care providers and expand access to care for families.
- Quality Support Systems: Designing and implementing quality support systems specifically tailored for family child care, with the necessary depth and long-term commitment to drive meaningful improvement.
- Family Child Care Networks: Supporting the development of staffed family child care networks to reduce provider isolation, facilitate peer learning, and connect providers to resources.
- Business Practices Assistance: Providing training and support to help home-based providers strengthen their business practices and operate sustainable programs.
- Cross-Service Connections: Fostering connections between home-based child care and other early childhood services to create a more integrated and comprehensive system of support.
- Professional Development: Increasing the availability of high-quality professional development opportunities specifically focused on the unique needs of home-based care settings.
Home-Based Child Care as a Core Component of Early Education
Home-based child care plays a significant role in the early care and education system. The National Survey of Early Care and Education estimates that approximately one million paid providers care for over three million children from birth to age five in their homes. This includes various forms of home-based care, such as regulated, registered, and family, friend, and neighbor care. Data from the Office of Child Care indicates that about 24 percent of children receiving child care funded by the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program are in family child care. In many states and territories, this percentage is even higher, highlighting the significant reliance on home-based care for subsidized child care.
Despite its prevalence, home-based child care providers may feel disconnected from the broader early childhood education community and may have limited access to professional development opportunities. State systems often face challenges in effectively reaching and supporting these caregivers. While state regulations for licensing home-based care vary considerably, research consistently points to key factors that contribute to quality in family child care. These include licensing itself, professional support, training, financial resources, and provider experience. High-quality home-based child care has been linked to positive outcomes in children’s cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development.
The federal emphasis on family choice and the inclusion of home-based care in key early childhood initiatives like the Child Care Development Block Grant, Early Learning Challenge, and Preschool Development Grants Birth-Five has increased state-level attention on home-based care. The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified this focus, underscoring the critical need to strengthen and support home-based child care programs.
Explore Resources for Home-Based Child Care
For those seeking more information and resources on home-based child care, the following reports offer valuable insights and guidance:
- State Plans to Strengthen Home-Based Child Care: Ideas from States Awarded Preschool Development Birth-five Grants – This report summarizes state strategies for strengthening home-based child care, drawn from applications for Preschool Development Birth-Five Grants.
- Engaging Family Child Care in QRIS – This report explores the critical importance of integrating family child care into Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) and provides strategies for effective integration.
- Child Care and Early Education Equity: A State Action Agenda – This resource outlines the crucial role of state policymakers in promoting equity within early education, including home-based child care.
By understanding what home-based child care programs are, recognizing their core principles and challenges, and exploring available resources, we can collectively work towards strengthening this vital part of the early care and education system and ensuring that all families have access to high-quality, affordable, and nurturing child care options.
