Learning Roundtable #2: Centering Family Child Care

Background:

Family child care plays an important role in the child care landscape, though often gets less attention when it comes to policy discussions. When selecting child care, parents may consider their own beliefs and values, the child care options in their own community, and their ability to afford the options that are available to them1. In contrast to with licensed child care centers, family child care providers may offer less expensive services, flexible hours, community based locations, smaller groups of children, and more comfortable environments for parents and children. From 2001 through 2019, New Jersey saw a steady decline in registered family child care providers, and then a steeper drop in numbers in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the numbers began slowly rising again.

Goals:

• To acquire a foundational understanding of the role of Family Child in New Jersey, including how it is defined, how it is regulated, and what we know and don’t know about capacity and utilization.
• To learn about working with family child care providers as partners and leaders in our communities.
• To learn about initiatives and innovations focused on strengthening New Jersey’s network of family child care providers.
• To build relationships among coalition partners and with state leaders.

Agenda:

• Welcome/opening remarks
• Review of agenda and goals
• Introductions
• Family child care facts and figures briefing by the Rutgers Center for Women and Work
• Presentation by New Jersey Communities United: Working with Family Child Care Providers as Partners and Leaders in Our Communities
• Presentation by All our Kin: Strengthening Family Child Care Supports in Mercer County: A Partnership Between All our Kin, the Burke Foundation, and the Macmillan Family Foundation
• Q&A and discussion
• Closing and next steps

Speakers:

• Trina Scordo, Executive Director, New Jersey Communities United
• Jennifer Drake, Director of Network Development, All our Kin