Cohort

Hands On Alabama Initiative

We surveyed childcare providers in Alabama and found they felt unsupported, undervalued, and lacked resources to further
their knowledge and careers in the childcare profession. To address this, we created Hands On Alabama Initiative (HOAI), a resource center for home educators. HOAI will provide a community for educators and associates to obtain a childcare license through the Alabama Department of Human Resources with a step-by-step guide. Educators will gain additional credentials by sharing information on programs to get an Associate’s/Bachelor’s Degree, or Child Development Associate Credential (CDA). HOAI will provide a resource toolbox with activities, lesson plans, books, templates, Competency Goal Builders, Philosophy Builders, and more. We have partnered with Alabama Partnership TEACH to provide scholarships and cover 80% of CDA costs.

The Toma Foundation

The Toma Foundation’s “Empowerment and Professional Development for Family Childcare Educators” project aims to uplift family childcare educators by providing essential resources, training, and support to manage their businesses professionally and successfully. The goals include enhancing professional skills, offering business management tools, and ensuring access to high-quality materials. The project will secure funding through grants and donations, acquire a dedicated training and resource distribution facility, and organize workshops on various relevant topics. Challenges such as trust and facility acquisition will be overcome through building credibility, forming partnerships, and maintaining transparent operations. Ultimately, the initiative aims to foster professional childcare businesses, benefiting the children and families they serve.

Hispanic Family Child Care Association

This association uplifts Spanish-speaking family childcare providers, a vital yet underrepresented early education workforce segment. Offering comprehensive Spanish resources, it breaks down language barriers. Monthly gatherings cultivate community, exploring licensing through translations. The newsletter informs providers in their native tongue. It empowers educators to find their voice, encouraging leadership, professional membership, and advocacy at all levels. Dismantling historical marginalization, it validates their immense contributions. Recognizing providers as accomplished business owners and skilled educators deserving equity, meeting them linguistically creates growth pathways. Elevating their voices uplifts the workforce, propelling early childhood education towards merited respect. Equity, inclusion, and empowerment underpin this heartfelt endeavor.

Family Child Care Educators Association

We are a non-profit organization of Latina educators that promotes educational equity and strengthens collaboration with families and institutions. We work to improve network coordination and support academic programs. We seek to restructure the system to represent educators, advocating for fair wages and accessible professional development. Members benefit from leadership training, NAFCC membership, and training to support their colleagues, valuing their work and ensuring ongoing professional development. Our plan includes implementing NAFCC and CDA accreditations in Hartford and Connecticut, empowering educators toward self-sufficiency in child care. Our primary goal is to encourage active participation in advocacy, leadership, and professional development on the part of educators, driving substantive change at the state and national levels.

Family Child Care Locator

The Family Childcare Locator (FCCL) App is a convenient and user-friendly tool designed to help families easily find nearby childcare providers for their child(ren). With just a few taps on the app, parents/caregivers can access a database of licensed family child care homes in their area, complete with detailed profiles, availability, pricing, and reviews from other parents. The app ensures that families have access to quality childcare options at their fingertips, making the process of finding and choosing the right provider/educator stress-free. The app will help close the childcare vacancies gap and allow families to attend conventions, meetings, vacations, and training while having a licensed Family Childcare provider at their fingertips.

The 1st State Family Child Care Association

The 1st State Family Child Care Association is more than a community of caregivers; we are catalysts for change, pioneers, and guides towards a brighter future in childcare. Our mission is to create an environment where every provider’s voice is valued. We partner with the provider’s advisory board, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Social Services to address key issues like equitable pay and retirement benefits. Collaborating with the University of Delaware, we foster growth and innovation among providers. By working with organizations like the Delaware Association for Education of Young Children and local legislators, we advocate for policies benefiting childcare providers and families. Together, we lead a transformative journey of advocacy and excellence, shaping a better tomorrow for children and families.

Early Childhood Initiative of America

Early Childhood Initiative of America is an international organization that orients, guides, and helps channel the early education community, to empower it and bring out its best version, with the purpose of promoting holistic development
of children, from birth to eight years. Through preparation and presentation of content that promotes the interest of all those involved as well as support and knowledge strategies through online and in person information, making collaboration agreements for the exchange of resources that allow the community to learn about other types of practices for common objectives.

The Early Childhood Initiative of America provides resources to work with educators nationwide, children, families, and communities to promote high-quality early care and allow continuous improvement of services. Together, with the early childhood community we work to accomplish the vision that all young children succeed and learn in a society dedicated to making sure they reach their full potential.

From the Ground to the Table Childcare Farm: A Learning Garden and Food Pantry

From the Ground to the Table Family Childcare Farm is a community organization working to create a sustainable food/ learning system in Brevard County, FL. The organization was created because previous funding that was available to family childcare businesses came to an end, leaving many looking for ways to keep their doors open. The goal is to assist family child care providers and the community with a food pantry and a learning garden. Providers and community members will have the opportunity to bring the children in their care to the garden. We will provide lesson plans that can be used before the children visit the garden. Everyone will have the opportunity to pick fruits and vegetables while learning about them. There will also be a play and picnic area for everyone to enjoy.

Family Child Care Association of Nevada

We began in Las Vegas, now uniting educators statewide! Our vision as leaders is to foster a nurturing and collaborative space where family child care owners and educators come together to uplift the communities we serve. Through mutual support, advocacy, and continuous improvement, we aspire to elevate each other as exemplary family child care educators. As a statewide association, we provide opportunities to support, connect, and collaborate with educators to ensure quality and innovation in our profession by providing resources around licensing and professional development; pathways for advocacy; and championing innovation and quality in our field. Our educators, along with the children and families we serve, deserve a future where every family child care center is thriving with the best care and education.

WSCL Network of North Dakota

The WSCL Network of North Dakota connects childcare providers across the state. WSCL stands for “We Share, We Care, We Love,” reflecting our mission to support providers, families, and children.We share information and experiences with others to become knowledgeable about family childcare across North Dakota. We care for our community (children, families, providers) and want to provide the best quality care and growth in our industry. We love our line of work and want to advocate for a better outlook for our profession and better futures for the children we serve.

Based on input and feedback from providers, we will offer a platform for connection, resources, and professional development through monthly Zoom sessions with open discussions and keynote speakers. Our goal is to improve the quality of childcare in North Dakota by fostering a collaborative and supportive community.

3R (Restore, Refresh, and Reset)

Why is self-care important for family childcare educators? When educators feel well-rested and supported, they can be better educators for the children in their care! The Restore, Refresh, and Reset (3R) events consist of early childhood educators across Tennessee joining together to stay connected and supported. After, COVID-19 educators felt stressed, disconnected from other educators, and disconnected from early childhood rules and regulations.

We will provide a space for educators centered around self- care activities and mental health awareness. During these events, we will also offer networking, training, and sharing of resources to support each other in improving our professions and businesses.
Having an educator who is restored, refreshed, and reset is vital to providing the best care for the children!

Early Childhood Educators Community Connections Coalition

The Early Childhood Educators Community Connections Coalition will bridge the gap with existing organizations and create a community of partnerships that strengthen and elevate the field of early childhood educators. Our coalition will unify us as a community locally, across our state, and nationally. ECE Community Connections Coalition will serve as a hub for the business owner, ECE professionals, and families. Our network will allow us to collaborate and make resources and information more available and accessible to all ECE professionals and the families we serve. The information we plan to provide for this community will include, but not be limited to, child development resources, professional development training courses, advocacy opportunities, as well as small business training and resources.

Connecting Communities Together Network

The Connecting Communities Together Network will inform providers in rural communities about the Alabama Quality Stars Program and will share the testimonies of the providers and our own journey with becoming Star rated. The network is currently serving four providers in obtaining their credential. As the Alabama Quality Star Program is updated, the network will communicate changes and what is needed to meet the domain. Peer to peer mentoring is essential through Zoom, personal meetings, and/or telephone conversations. We will gauge the success of our project by the number of providers that successfully earn their star rating. Parent engagement will help us to be successful in gathering information and using the needed information for the continued development of their children. The families will be aware that the program they attend strives to perform with a higher level of excellence.

Inside Out: A Series of Mental Health Workshops for
Childcare Providers

Our goal is to educate childcare providers on the signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. We will accomplish this by providing a safe online space for providers to meet with their peers and mental health professionals where they will learn the tools to mitigate these symptoms. We will provide surveys at the beginning, middle, and end of the series to assess stress levels and symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Family Child Care Careers, Pathways to Success!

Our goal is to provide a pathway for family child care to advance in their career goals. We would like to create a space that goes beyond child care. A space where family child care providers can grow in their leadership skills, meet their full potential, and provide the pathway to reach their career goals as early childhood professionals. We will accomplish this goal by working with partners that share this vision.

Georgia Family Childcare Essentials

We are establishing a platform that will meet the needs of the community, families, and ECE professionals to equip them with everyday essentials to maintain high-quality standards. Many industries had to take a hard, long look at their business/community practices during the initial days of COVID-19. Family Childcare, as an industry of small, minority business owners, was no different. Approaching three years later, many leaders in the ECE field took time to be advocates for self and their communities. They also reflected on some lessons learned that could help newcomers to the ECE field and mindset shifts that could occur for seasoned educator professionals. We want to identify six specific areas where we can assist the everyday family childcare educator increase the quality of their programs and meet some of their regulatory standards in the process. Establishing a meeting place and shared platform will meet the needs of the community, families, and ECE professionals.

Connecting Kindred Spirits

Connecting Kindred Spirits is created to provide connection and support for Family Child Care providers in Kansas. We will share Second Helping as a strategy to support providers with their business. As the organization grows, we want to create a learning library with curriculum tubs for family child care providers and start a wholesale collective for food and supplies where providers would benefit from discounts and split the costs.

The Maryland Family Child Care Collaborative: We Are Better Together

Our vision is to promote high quality, professional Family Child Care and Early Education systems to support children, families and thriving communities by Developing and implementing an incubator that supports individuals who want to start up their own family childcare business or increase the program quality of their current childcare program. We are going to accomplish this goal by promoting and encouraging quality professional home-based childcare and early education through professional education, mentoring, and advocacy.

The Massachusetts Association of Nature Inspired Family Childcare Educator

Our newly created Massachusetts Association of Nature Inspired Family Daycare Educators will be a robust web based community where educators can learn and grow from and with each other to embrace a nature-based approach to childcare. We will strive to make sure that providers in the state will have equitable nature-inspired resources for their programs. These resources will include tools that support creating outdoor spaces where children can learn, play and grow.

Elevate Ohio Family Child Care Educators: Ohio’s Family Child Care Network

Our vision is to create a state-wide family child care network that will unite the Family Child Care Educators in Ohio. Through this network, we will strive to empower and support all family childcare educators across all 88 Ohio counties for the purpose of giving them a unified voice at the table for advocacy and any changes in legislation that may affect their small businesses. We will offer mentoring, advocacy, professional and small business professional development, and ways they can operate high quality family child care programs in their respective areas.

South Carolina First Responders Child Care Alliance

We are creating an alliance/collaboration of community partnerships that support and provide accessible and flexible child care options for First Responders. We will accomplish this by creating community partnerships with our state Child Care Resources & Referral, first responder agencies, and family child care providers. First responders will be able to call in and get a list of Family Child Care providers with flexible hours that meet their needs and are open to shift changes.

W.E.L.P. – Washington Early Learning Pathways

W.E.L.P. is a bridge to support early learning providers moving into higher rated, nationally accredited programs and state entitlement for ECEAP. Our goal is to provide accurate information to parents and providers to ensure culturally responsive choice of program type, style, and delivery. The pathway for providers will include a needs assessment, aligning the program standards of ECEAP and creating an individual plan to support provider and parent choice.

Walk4Family Child Care – A Family Child Care Walkathon

The Walk4Family Child Care vision is to bring awareness to the Family Child Care education space by highlighting the faces of the workers through the lens and experiences of the proximity experts. Breaking down these barriers and myths surrounding the field, i.e., babysitting versus in-home-based teaching, would bring about a change in equity among the pay scale, resources, and funding streams. Further, we are raising funds for advocacy efforts to promote unity across the cities and states while increasing the number of young FCC teachers and programs within the metropolitan area, embedding quality measures as the floor at the entry to the business. The goal is to replicate this walkathon in other cities throughout the United States.

Healing Hannah’s Heart: City of Mobile Home Child Care Re-Zoning

The purpose of our project is to educate the City of Mobile Officials and families about the existence of high-quality Family Child Care Educator Programs in our communities. Our goal is build an alliance with the City of Mobile Zoning/Use Variance Department that will open the avenue for family child care educator programs to increase the number of children in our programs from 5 to 10 children within the city limits of Mobile, AL.

The Family Child Care Providers Podcast

The Family Child Care Providers Podcast empowers Family Child Care Educators to feel apart of the early education field, provide resources and ways to advocate for themselves and their communities. This will be accomplished through monthly podcast interviews that highlight those within the field and those who provide resources to Family Child Care Educators. Thereby creating a network throughout the country that will inspire and promote the field of Family Childcare Educators.

Holistic Community Gardening

We hope to Accomplish: Common unity of health awareness, along with positive social interactions. Hands-on insightful knowledge of the complete gardening process, detailing the projected responsibilities, and commitment involved in creating a live flourishing community garden. The community volunteers will learn about the diversity of herbs, vegetables, and fruit that grow in our climate and their benefits.

Action Plan: Create a planning committee that will consist of individuals who will provide education and assistance to the volunteers. There are several steps to creating a community garden. Education, establishing a team, and planning are vital to having a successful community garden. Once these steps are completed. The next steps in this process are funding, property, planting and upkeep.

Getting to know ‘us’… Family Child Care

It has become even more apparent during the pandemic that our local elected officials, families and potential families don’t understand the business structure that makes up a family child care program or the importance for choosing licensed, high-quality programs. We want to work on strengthening our advocacy practices and work on building relationships with our local elected officials. We would also like to create a series of short videos that target each audience – local elected officials, families currently enrolled in our programs and potential families – educating them on family child care and getting them to understand our programs more than they currently do.

Montana Family Childcare Network

The Montana Family Childcare Network (MFCN) is for Registered Family, Friend & Neighbor and Family/Group Educators. MFCN will support these educators in mentorship, advocacy, professionalism and business practice development, and promoting high quality care and education in home based childcare settings. MFCN is uniting Family Childcare Educators from across Montana for the purpose of giving the collective a place at the legislative table and a voice to be reckoned with. MFCN is achieving this through collaborations with the National Association of Family Childcare, Montana Association for the Education of Young Children, Raise Montana, Zero to Five/United Way of Montana, and other early childhood supportive organizations.

Family Child Care Association Instilling Tolerance & Hope (F.A.I.T.H.)

F.A.I.T.H. is a 501c3 established to support Family Child Care Providers in the state of New Jersey. Our goal is to set a standard where in-home childcare is the premier choice within New Jersey. We will accomplish this by mentoring the provider and developing essential business and professional skills that are needed to create lasting connections and relationships in their communities. F.A.I.T.H. is dedicated to supporting the providers through educational training webinars and networking.

Garden Boxes

Our Garden Boxes are setting up early educators for sucess. They’re giving the children a choice of food on their plates and teaching them to choose a healthy food to help reduce childhood obesity. We’re measuring the provider and the families horticulture knowledge and providing them horticulture training and field trips to Seed 4 Change urban farm which provides hands on training.

ANI – Advocating for the Need of Inclusion in Early Childcare Environments

ANI’s goal is to achieve a series of inclusive environments in which all families feel safe and supported—a place where everyone belongs.

ANI will accomplish this through an intiative of two phases, in which therapeutic supports and resources are integrated into early childcare environments, supporting whole families in an inclusive design. Phase I will include the promotion of an internal inclusive relationship with children, families, and community partners; while Phase II will expand externally to teaching early childhood professionals to develop their inclusive relationships while using the ANI design.

Bridging the Gap

Our Community Project was based on “Bridging the Gap” between Hispanic/ Latino Child Care Providers and other surrounding communities. We invited this community of Providers to network and complete CDA trainings and other professional development classes.

We had an interpreter speaking in Spanish to empower them by learning best practices within their own community. This learning bridge has built up the Hispanic Providers’ confidence level within our ECE community. It has created a lasting professional relationship and partnership within different communities.

The Family Childcare Coalition

Leading the charge, The Family Childcare Coalition is a Non-profit Co-op that is owned and operated by providers for providers. We’re seeking to build leaders who can help lead and grow advocacy projects, such as our 10,000 signatures for Worthy Wages. FC3 invites you to take a stand to tell your representative to support Worthy Wages for the workforce behind the workforce.

Austin Family Child Care Association

We are forming a family child care association in Austin, Texas that is targeting small individual family child care providers. The association will educate them on resources available to them at local, state and national levels to operate according to best practices and be deemed high quality facilities.

Growing Milton, VT Early Childhood Network

This project will be a vessel to bring the community together as one voice advocating for change. This will include early childhood educators, families, and children in the community of Milton, Vermont. This will be done by offering opportunities to Early Childhoood Educators and families on how to effectively advocate for change, which will include sharing advocacy tools and information on public policies.