Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care: Strategies and Resources
Many children are being cared for by family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) in home settings. FFN care is also known as kith and kin care or informal care, as opposed to care provided in more formal center-based and family child care settings. The following are examples of national and State initiatives, as well as additional resources for information about FFN care. These examples do not include all national and State efforts, but are meant to represent a range of approaches taken to improve FFN care quality. NCCIC does not endorse any organization, publication, or resource.
National Initiatives
- Early Head Start Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Project (EHVP)
Funded by the Head Start Bureau, the EHVP began in 2004 with 23 Early Head Start programs participating with the objective to develop and implement strategies for improving the quality of infant and toddler child care provided by Early Head Start kith and kin caregivers. The pilot is being evaluated by collecting information from three main sources: interviews and focus groups conducted during two rounds of site visits to pilot sites; a management information system designed for use by the pilot sites, and observational assessments of caregiving environments. More information is available at www.mathematica-mpr.com/earlycare/homevisiting.asp.
- National Alliance for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care (NAFFNCC)
NAFFNCC is a workgroup initiated by the Institute for a Child Care Continuum, Bank Street College of Education, that helps influence FFN policies, enhance providers' access to services, and increases the awareness of the role FFN providers play in the child care system. For more information, visit www.bnkst.edu/naffncc/ or call 212-875-4624.
- Sparking Connections, Families and Work Institute (FWI)
Sparking Connections is a demonstration and evaluation project of FWI. It is a three-phased, 4-year national initiative to demonstrate and evaluate strategies to support FFN caregivers through partnerships with retailers and other nontraditional partners. The Sparking Connections National Consortium—a 2-year evaluation and demonstration project (Phase II)—began in December 2003 following the publication of FWI’s Sparking Connections report. More information is available at www.familiesandwork.org/sparking/home.htm.
- Sparking Connections Phase II: A Multi-Site Evaluation of Community-Based Strategies to Support Family, Friend and Neighbor Caregivers of Children: Part I: Lessons Learned and Recommendations (2006), by Nina Sazer O’Donnell, Moncrieff Cochran, Kristi Lekies, David Diehl, Taryn Woods Morrissey, Nancy Ashley, and Paula Steinke, is available at http://familiesandwork.org/eproducts/sparking-phase2.pdf.
State Initiatives
California
- Crystal Stairs’ License-Exempt Assistance Project (LEAP)
Crystal Stairs, Inc., a child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agency, operates LEAP, a training and support program designed to reach out to nonlicensed relative or nonrelative caregivers. The project offers support and technical assistance to providers who wish to obtain their child care licenses and offers training and workshops related to enhancement of child development and running a child care business. For more information, visit www.crystalstairs.org or call 323-299-8998.
Hawaii
- Tūtū and Me
Tūtūs (i.e., grandparents) are the primary caregivers for approximately 20 percent of Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian children through age 5. Tūtū and Me—a free, mobile early childhood and parent-education program—is designed to help elderly caregivers of Native Hawaiian children be effective in preparing these children for school. Tūtū and Me is supported by the Partners in Development Foundation. For more information, visit http://tutuandme.org or call 808-524-7633.
Kansas
- Kansas Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (KACCRRA)
Relative Care Provider Outreach Project
KACCRRA instituted a Relative Care Provider Outreach Project, funded by the Kansas Health Foundation. Through this project, relative child care providers received training and education through home visits. The project included the following activities: identifying relatives providing child care to a member(s) of their family, contacting each of the providers by letter, following up with telephone calls, and offering to bring a child care gift package to their homes. During home visits, project staff discussed providers’ daily child care routines, child development topics, developmentally appropriate activities for children, and other topics. For more information, visit www.kaccrra.org or call 785-823-3343.
Minnesota
Washington
- Child Care Resources (CCR)
CCR is a CCR&R agency in Seattle/King County. Among its resources for providers, CCR has information about informal child care, including Taking Care of Children: Resource Guide for Informal Child Care Providers. This booklet is available at
www.childcare.org/ffn-care/FFN-Resource-Guide_English.pdf. It is also available in Amharic, Chinese, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Additional information about CCR’s resources for informal child care providers, including an introduction to this type of care and State definitions, is available at www.childcare.org/providers/index.htm or by calling 206-329-1011.
Additional Resources
- “Demographics of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care in the United States” (August 2008), Reviews of Research, Research Brief, by Amy Susman-Stillman and Patti Banghart.
www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_835.pdf
- Assessing Initiatives for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care: An Overview of Models and Evaluations (March 2007), by Toni Porter, Bank Street College of Education.
www.researchconnections.org/SendPdf?resourceId=11787
- Close to Home: State Strategies to Strengthen and Support Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care (2007), by Karen Schulman and Helen Blank, National Women’s Law Center.
www.nwlc.org/pdf/CloseToHome2007.pdf
- “Measuring Quality in Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care: Conceptual and Practical Issues” (2007), Research-to-Policy Connections Brief No. 6, by Erin J. Maher, University of Washington’s Human Services Policy Center.
www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_719.pdf
- Assessing Quality in Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care: The Child Care Assessment Tool for Relatives (2006), by Toni Porter, Rena Rice, and Elizabeth Rivera.
www.bankstreet.edu/gems/ICCC/CCATRfinal5.8.06.pdf
- Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care: Strengthening a Critical Resource to Help Young Children Succeed (2006), by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
www.aecf.org/kidscount/sld/db06_pdfs/essay.pdf
- National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families, Care in the Home: A Description of Family Child Care and the Families and Children Who Use It: Wave 1 Report (2006), by Jean Layzer and Barbara Goodson.
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/nsc_low_income/reports/
care_in_home/care_in_home_title.html
- Toward a National Strategy to Improve Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care (September 2006), by J. Lee Kreader and Sharmila Lawrence.
www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_676.pdf
- Perspectives on Family, Friend and Neighbor Child Care: Research, Programs and Policy (December 2005), by Toni Porter and Shannon Kearns, Juliet Bromer, Sarah Ocampo-Schlesinger and Vicki McCarty, Pamela Jakwerth Drake, Bayla Greenspoon and Sarah Neville-Morgan, Kathy L. Reschke and Susan K. Walker, Mergitu Argo and Hueiling Chan with Christina Malecka.
www.bankstreet.edu/gems/ICCC/OPS15.pdf.
- Supporting Family, Friend and Neighbor Caregivers: Findings From a Survey of State Policies (January 2005), by Toni Porter and Shannon M. Kearns.
www.bankstreet.edu/gems/ICCC/surveypaperfinal.pdf
- Doting on Kids: Understanding Quality in Kith and Kin Child Care (December 2003), by Toni Porter, Rena Rice, and Sally Mabon.
www.bankstreet.edu/gems/ICCC/Doting%20on%20Kids.pdf
- Change and Stability Among Publicly Subsidized License-Exempt Child Care Providers (2003), by Marcy Whitebook, Deborah Phillips, Joon-Yong Jo, Nancy Crowell, Sara Brooks, and Emily Gerber.
www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/pdf/license.pdf
- Understanding Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care in Washington State: Developing Appropriate Training and Support (February 2002), by Richard N. Brandon, Erin J. Maher, Jutta M. Joesch, and Sharon Doyle, for the Human Services Policy Center, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington.
www.hspc.org/publications/understanding_family.aspx
Updated October 2008