Home Grown is a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care. Home Grown’s mission is to support systemic change across the country for all home-based child care providers.
Drawing on learning from guaranteed income initiatives around the country and best practices in early childhood education, we know that supporting and stabilizing providers and caregivers will improve the availability and quality of care for children and families. This initiative seeks to demonstrate the impact of direct cash to reform child care payment policies and influence future decisions around compensation for home-based child care providers.
Home-based child care providers care for approximately 11.5 million children, with 60% of them aged 0-5 years old. Home-based child care providers are also the preferred child care provider for a variety of families, including Black and Latinx families, rural families, families with nontraditional or unpredictable work schedules, and those with low incomes.
Despite their essential role, home-based child care providers often face significant financial hardships, with 30-40% needing a second job to achieve financial stability. This financial insecurity impacts both caregiver and child well-being, as material hardships can reduce emotional well-being and undermine the quality of care.
By providing direct cash assistance through Beam’s platform, the Thriving Providers Project ensures that home-based child care providers can offer equitable and quality care to the communities they serve.
$1.25M disbursed
172 applications processed
95 providers awarded