Child Care Crisis Archives - Early Learning Nation

Child Care Centers Embedded in Empty Classrooms Support Teachers, Schools

Micro-centers rely on flexible licensing to provide child care at K-12 schools, helping parents with costs and schools with teacher retention.

Mark Swartz·Mar 25, 2025·4 min read

Midway between Nashville and Atlanta, the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, makes original use of a resource that other communities possess...

Families and Providers Deserve More Notice When Child Care Programs Close

When a program closes its doors abruptly, parents are left scrambling for care, providers are out of work and children lose the stability they need.

Elliot Haspel·Mar 19, 2025·6 min read

Imagine getting an email that your favorite restaurant has decided to close at the end of the month. That’s sad,...

How COVID Shaped Child Care and Early Learning

The pandemic temporarily devastated American child care. Five years later, a number of effects have rebounded, but experts say challenges persist.

Kendra Hurley·Mar 13, 2025·8 min read

In March 2020, when states and cities ordered widespread school closures in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19, many...

Cuts to Colorado Early Intervention Program Threaten Therapies for Young Children with Disabilities

State cuts threaten therapies for Colorado children with disabilities.

Ann Schimke·Mar 6, 2025·3 min read

Speech therapy, physical therapy, or other services for some Colorado babies and toddlers with developmental delays could be pared back...

Could New York Become the First Major City to Offer Universal Child Care?

Several mayoral candidates and an organized advocacy campaign are pushing to expand free child care access to children as young as 6 weeks old.

Bryce Covert·Mar 4, 2025·6 min read

New York City could well become the first major city in the country to enact a universal child care program,...

A New Documentary Makes a Powerful Case for Early Education

The film “Make a Circle” aims to raise awareness about the child care crisis and to advocate for investment in high quality child care.

Mark Swartz·Feb 26, 2025·5 min read

Updated March 4, 2025 A startling statistic scrolls across the screen: “25 million parents in the United States rely on...

How Intergenerational Day Centers Benefit Children, Families, Seniors and Providers

Kindness Creators, a child care program housed in a senior facility in Illinois, builds empathy, fosters community and combats social isolation.

Mark Swartz·Feb 13, 2025·4 min read

Jaime Moran brings her mother, Joan Johnson, to work each day at Kindness Creators, the child care program she co-directs...

What We Can Learn From Red States’ Approaches to Child Care Challenges

Which policies have earned cross-partisan support and could be a good fit for North Carolina’s early care and learning landscape?

Katie Dukes and Liz Bell, EducationNC·Feb 12, 2025·13 min read

Policymakers across the political spectrum ran for office on child care issues in 2024. From the presidential campaigns to local...

Family Child Care Providers See Gains Under Vermont’s New Child Care Law

Act 76, the state’s version of near-universal child care, is giving family child care an overdue boost.

Rebecca Gale·Feb 11, 2025·7 min read

Chelsea Chase’s house sits on a rural road in Vermont, four miles from interstate 91. A row of cubbies filled...

For Child Care Providers, Wildfires Are Just One More Crisis

More than 500 child care spaces were in areas affected by the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires, according to L.A. County figures.

Libby Rainey·Jan 27, 2025·4 min read

In an instant, Blanca Carrillo and her daughter Aurys Hernandez lost everything. Their home in Altadena was also the place...

Pilot Program Insulates Home-Based Child Care Providers from Income Volatility

The Thriving Providers Project, backed by philanthropic dollars, deposits $500 per month into the bank accounts of participating child care providers.

Mark Swartz·Jan 23, 2025·4 min read

Carmen Reaves has worked in child care for 25 years. Parents drop their children off at her home in the...

Philanthropic Partnership Aims to Expand Access to High-Quality Child Care

The Investing in America Child Care Partnership has raised $9.6 million to increase child care supply and improve the quality of care.

Mark Swartz·Jan 9, 2025·5 min read

What do semiconductors have in common with child care? An AI query (made possible, of course, by a semiconductor or...

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