Policy & Practice | February 2022

CHILD CARE continued from page 11

challenging. Communities that exclude these caregivers from the systems of support isolate them and limit access to critical resources for the children and working families they support. As we look to the future, our primary recom- mendation is to include FFN care in early childhood education systems of support; and to create differentiated and appropriate systems to support and strengthen 8 health and safety, quality, financing, and access to comprehensive services for FFN caregivers and the children and families they serve. Beyond that, we encourage leaders to consider the following recommendations: 1. Create appropriate and supportive systems for validating the safety and legality of this care. 2. Provide appropriate and responsive support to FFN caregivers informed by their needs, and the needs of the families they are caring for, that build on their strengths and the science of early childhood develop- ment. Encourage the use of child care funds to offer research-informed quality supports that encourage and support developmentally appropriate experiences for young children. Learn more about some of these approaches in the Compendium of Resources (www.promisestudio.org/ hbccn-supports-compendium) . 3. Ensure FFN caregivers can access critical supports for children such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to ensure care- giver hunger does not exacerbate child hunger. 9 4. Prioritize the economic well-being of FFN caregivers as a founda- tion for meeting parents’ needs and engaging providers in quality supports, including: • Provide regular, stable income to FFN caregivers via subsidy programs 10 • Provide benefits counseling to FFN caregivers that assures newly realized income does not jeopar- dize existing benefits • Provide benefits counseling to FFN caregivers, and the families they

serve, to maximize available income and resources such as the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit 11 • Support asset-building activities once income is stabilized (e.g., debt reduction, saving, homeowner- ship, and retirement preparation) 5. Invest in the creation of compre- hensive networks 12 of support on behalf of FFN caregivers that are able to engage caregivers in quality supports that are differentiated and appropriate to their setting. Reference Notes 1. Center-Based Early Care and Education Providers in 2012 and 2019: Counts and Characteristics; https://www.acf .hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ opre/cb-counts-and-characteristics- chartbook_508_2.pdf 2. Characteristics of Home-Based Early Care and Education Providers: Initial Findings from the National Survey of Early Care and Education; https://www.acf.hhs .gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/ characteristics_of_home_based_early_ care_and_education_toopre_032416.pdf 3. https://home.treasury.gov/system/ files/136/The-Economics-of-Childcare- Supply-09-14-final.pdf 4. Elliot Haspel, author of Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It 5. https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/ employee-retention-credit 6. https://www.zerotothree.org/ resources/2889-the-grand-plan-executive- summary#downloads 7. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/ files/documents/opre/NSECE-chartbook- homebased-may-2021.pdf 8 . https://homegrownchildcare.org/ wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ HG-Supporting-Strengthening-FFN-Care- 5-25-2021-v3.pdf 9. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/ files/publication/104166/the-child-and- adult-care-food-program-and-home- based-child-care-providers-expanding- participation_1.pdf publication/child-and-adult-care-food- program-and-home-based-child-care- providers 11. https://nwlc.org/resource/claim-your- money-the-child-and-dependent-care- credit-in-2021 12. https://homegrownchildcare.org/ building-comprehensive-networks/ 10. https://www.urban.org/research/

program or access quality improvement incentives or emergency aid grants. FFN caregivers are largely under- supported by public systems, thus weakening systems of support for working families. Despite these many challenges, we have seen innovations, resilience, and emerging models of support for FFN caregivers: n Oklahoma created a web-resource (www.kith.care) to help essential health care workers identify and compensate relative caregivers. n Nebraska allowed families to use state child care assistance for in-home, regulation-exempt child care (https://governor.nebraska.gov/press/ gov-ricketts-issues-executive-order-pro- vide-childcare-relief-announces-covid- n Colorado is using America Rescue Plan Act funds to expand access for FFN to a research-backed training program called Providers Advancing School Outcomes (PASO) (https:// coparentcoalition.org/paso). n Nevada is developing networks of support for various in-home caregivers and replicating a well- evaluated FFN support program called Kith and Kin (https:// candelen.org/kith-kin). 19-business). This assistance is no longer available as of press time. Reaching and meeting the needs of FFN caregivers can be challenging for existing child care agencies and their business partners. Because many FFNs speak a language other than English and may reside in households with mixed or unknown immigration status, providers can be unwilling to engage in services or mistrustful of institu- tions. Community-based partners with workers who represent the community are often more successful at engaging and serving these child care providers. More broadly, when child care systems do not see and include FFN care in their scope, it very difficult to serve themwell. Every state in the country defines and regulates FFN care differently, which makes national solutions particularly Meeting the Needs of FFN Caregivers

February 2022 Policy&Practice 21