Strengthen and Improve the Recruitment and Retention of Family Child Care Providers: Research Study
Key Research Questions
New Family Child Care Providers:
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Why are new entrants attracted to the child care sector, and specifically being a family child care provider?
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What challenges to entering the field still exist?
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What supports do they find most helpful in attaining licensure and starting their businesses?
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What support might be helpful as they seek to continue their work in the field?
Former Family Child Care Providers:
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Why have some family child care providers recently left the field?
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What would have supported those who left, such that they might have stayed in the field?
New Family Child Care Providers:
Formalize and Strengthen Relationships
Recommendations:
Cultivate Relationships
Actively cultivate relationships between prospective and current family child care providers and
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state licensors
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veteran family child care providers
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families
Current
Repository
Develop a single, up-to-date, repository of useful policies, professional development, business support, and more, in multiple languages, specific to family child care providers
Working
Group
Develop a working group that includes providers and state licensors to ensure supportive and aligned policies and procedures
Strengthen Program Viability
Benefits Pilots
Explore and pilot initiatives that focus on providing family child care providers with health care, retirement, and other benefits
Digital Literacy
Strengthen and deliver digital literacy supports
Business Supports
Expand the communication and provision of business support, both during the licensing process and beyond
Continue to provide Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) and other business support funds
The FCC New Entrant Survey is led by Drs. Kimberly Lucas and Wendy Wagner Robeson. Dr. Lucas is a Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. Dr. Robeson is a Senior Research Scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women.
Suggested Citation: Lucas, Kimberly D., Wendy Wagner Robeson, Haein Kim, Alyssa Lima, Khaing May Oo, Sandra Madu, Noely Irineu Silva, Innocentia Ashai, and Constance Pagan Salazar. 2024. “Understanding ‘Post-Pandemic’ Family Child Care Providers: Survey of New Entrants and Those Who Left the Field.” Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.
