New Policy Snapshots Provide Guidance for Integrating Family Child Care Homes into Public Preschool Initiatives

For Immediate Release:
June 3, 2025

Contact: 
Ashley Davison, NIEER, adaviosn@nieer.org, (848) 932-3142 (o), (609) 969-1587 (m)
Allison Muhlendorf, Longleaf Strategies, allison@longleafstrategies.com, (334) 450-1027 (m) 

New Policy Snapshots Provide Guidance for Integrating Family Child Care Homes into Public Preschool Initiatives

Millions of U.S. families rely on home-based care settings, which are more likely to be in large urban areas with higher concentrations of poverty and more children from minority and non-English speaking backgrounds

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Three new Policy Data Snapshots from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) look at how operating statutes, program evaluation, and funding streams currently help or hinder the integration of home-based “family child care programs” (FCCs) in publicly-funded pre-K programs, and how those mechanisms can be improved to facilitate better FCC participation.

In 2024, NIEER, with the support of Home Grown, launched the Enriching Public Pre-K Through Inclusion of Family Child Care (EPIC FCC) initiative. Through this effort, NIEER’s experts worked with pre-K system leaders and FCC educators in Alabama; Nevada; Durham, North Carolina; and Michigan to examine their pre-K and FCC systems and develop policies and funding mechanisms to support FCCs in their publicly-funded pre-K systems. 

The three new Policy Data Snapshots, which are part of NIEER’s FCC & Pre-K Policy Guides series, were developed as a result of discussions that occurred during the EPIC FCC initiative. 

“Children enrolled in high-quality preschool programs enter kindergarten better-prepared than their peers and these benefits continue into their later educational years in academic and social-emotional outcomes,” said researcher GG Weisenfeld, NIEER Associate Director of Technical Assistance. “Supporting family child care providers to deliver high-quality pre-K in state- and locally-funded programs would help more children obtain the benefits of preschool programming while supporting a workforce that has too often been excluded from public early childhood initiatives.”

As more states are moving to a universal pre-K model, new statutes and regulations are being written, which present more opportunities to create mixed-delivery preschool systems that are inclusive of FCCs. The first brief in the new series highlights Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood and Universal Preschool Program legislation, which defines that state’s mixed delivery model, and explicitly mentions “family child care homes” as eligible providers. 

The second brief looks at the program evaluation process, which allows funders, families, and the community to understand and improve the effectiveness of publicly-funded preschool programs. The Data Snapshot highlights Multnomah County, Oregon, which developed an evaluation plan for its voter-approved preschool initiative that is inclusive of FCC educators, incorporates perspectives from FCC educators, and helps facilitate coaching and professional development that is meaningful and relevant to FCC educators in their unique setting. 

The third new Data Snapshot identifies pre-K funding sources, including state, local, federal, and those from the private sector. It examines which funds currently support FCCs, and how. In Maryland, for example, FCC providers can either apply directly to the state to be a pre-K contractor or apply to be a pre-K provider through the Family Child Care Alliance of Maryland. FCC educators generally operate small programs, so the extent to which policies allow FCC educators to blend funding and receive payments in a timely and predictable manner may reduce unnecessary administrative burden and increase their ability to provide more seamless services to families.

Additional data snapshots in the series will be released in the coming months. 

The percentage of US children enrolled in state-funded preschool programs reached an all-time high in the 2023-2024 school year, with 37% of 4-year-olds and 8% of 3-year-olds enrolled.  However, despite these efforts to expand pre-K, many children still lack access to publicly-funded preschool, and most importantly, many lack access to a program that is high-quality. 

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The National Institute for Early Education Research at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, New Brunswick, NJ, supports early childhood education policy and practice through independent, objective research and the translation of research to policy and practice.