A Family Child Care Messaging Toolkit

Family child care, like all child care, has always been essential. Yet, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, family child care has never been more at risk. Now more than ever, we need to tell the story about the critical role that family child care plays in a comprehensive child care system that meets the diverse needs of all families--especially those with infants and toddlers. We need to uplift the small group size, flexible hours, mixed-age groups, and strong, trusting relationships that have always been the hallmark of family child care. And we need to let policymakers know what family child care providers need to survive, sustain, and support children, families, and the economy during the pandemic and beyond.

Thanks to the partnership and support of ZERO TO THREE's Think Babies, we are excited to offer the following materials to help allies, advocates, and family child care providers themselves lift up what makes family child care essential:

A Think Babies Toolkit for Family Child Care

This toolkit is designed to complement ZERO TO THREE's Think Babies toolkit and is tailored for use by family child care providers, parents, advocates, and allies to elevate the important role of family child care in a comprehensive, mixed-delivery child care system that meets the needs of all babies and their families. It includes key messages and talking points about family child care, sample social media posts, and tip sheets for meaningful family child care provider engagement in advocacy. You can download the toolkit here.   

Social Media Graphics

We've created some social media graphics to accompany the sample social media posts in the toolkit. You can access the graphics here. 

COVID-19 Supplement

This supplement to the above toolkit focuses specifically on the critical role that family child care has played during the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to play in states' economic recovery. Use these messages and resources to advocate for the funding and support needed to build a stonger, more sustainable child care system for the future. You can download the supplement here.