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SEWARD, Alaska 鈥� It was 2018 when Casie Warner first realized there was a major problem in this popular cruise port, nestled on an inlet about a two-hour drive south of Anchorage. At the time, Warner worked as a home visitor, providing advice, support and resources to low-income parents with young children.

Time and time again, Warner would hear the same story from parents: 鈥溾�業 wasn鈥檛 able to make my medical appointments. I didn鈥檛 have child care,鈥欌�� said Warner. 鈥溾�業 couldn鈥檛 pick up an extra shift at work because of child care.鈥欌��

Warner set out to find a solution. But Seward, like many rural communities across the country, is considered a child care desert, where options are scarce and there are no quick fixes.

Then, some unexpected help arrived. In 2021, Norwegian Cruise Lines donated $1 million to Seward to help with post-pandemic economic recovery. The city council voted to spend the money on the two issues deemed to be the most relevant for residents of the town of 2,800: housing and child care.

Five years later, licensed child care slots are up by 150 percent.

In rural communities, the availability of affordable child care is a key component of economic success. At a time when child care shortages are pronounced, especially in rural areas, Seward鈥檚 approach of prioritizing child care and investing in new programs and providers offers a potential road map for other communities looking to strengthen their child care industry, support the local economy and eventually retain or attract new residents.

鈥淭he hope is that if we can address child care, that perhaps it will have a bigger ripple effect,鈥� said Courtney Bringhurst, a Seward city planner. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that it will help more families be willing to relocate to Seward and stay,鈥� she added. 鈥淚f we can get more families to stay, that will help strengthen our schools, which will give more opportunities and interest for other businesses to come to Seward.鈥�

Although Seward鈥檚 success so far in expanding child care slots shows what鈥檚 possible with more money, experts caution that in most places, public dollars, not private donations alone, will need to fill the gap.

鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible math otherwise for these programs to continue operating, particularly in rural communities,鈥� said Hailey Gibbs, associate director of early childhood policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

About in the U.S. live in a rural community, and though they need and use child care as much as their urban counterparts, they face many more problems getting it. In sparsely populated areas, families are likely to live far from the few providers that exist. The most used child care option for rural families is a provider that operates from their home, but those small businesses are squeezed by low profit margins and high costs.

According to the Center for American Progress, almost all 鈥� 鈥� of Alaska鈥檚 children live in a child care desert, defined by the think tank as an area where there are three or more children for every licensed child care slot. The problem is even more acute in rural areas that are also low income: In those parts of the country, there are nine babies for every one licensed child care slot, CAP says.

Alaska鈥檚 economy pays a penalty for the lack of child care 鈥� according to a from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the state lost $165 million because parents couldn鈥檛 access child care to go to work or school.

But the economic effects are only part of the story. Rural families are more likely to experience food insecurity and to be on public assistance, and rural children under 5 have one of the nation鈥檚 . Poverty and food insecurity are linked to poor school performance, which high quality child care could alleviate 鈥� but that care is not an option for many.

鈥淲e know that fewer than half of children from low-income families are ready for school at age 5, and the gaps are just so much larger in rural communities,鈥� said Karen Harrison, lead adviser for workforce development at the global nonprofit Save the Children, which runs several rural child care initiatives in the United States. 鈥淢any families in rural communities are left without options.鈥�

In Seward, Ella Wright said she and her husband spent the first five years of their daughter鈥檚 life working part time in nursing and mental health jobs respectively, due to the lack of child care. Until her daughter got a spot at a part-time preschool at age 3, 鈥渨e had no breaks,鈥� Wright said.

In 2023, about half of Alaskan parents who were surveyed said that, like Wright, they could not fully participate in the labor force because of child care access and affordability.

The picturesque town of Seward, framed by snow-capped peaks on the Kenai Peninsula, cannot afford to lose workers due to a lack of child care. Summers in Seward are lively. On days when cruise ships are in port, tourists meander up and down the main street, stocking up on souvenirs and taking pictures in front of Resurrection Bay鈥檚 ice-blue water. During these months, seasonal workers flood the town to work at restaurants and shops.

But the town鈥檚 year-round employers, including a state maximum-security prison and a medical facility, face . The shortages have been so pronounced that in 2023 the town had to temporarily close its small local jail, diverting people in custody to state-run facilities, until it could hire more employees.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to maintain a strong, year-round economy, because we can鈥檛 maintain families year-round in Seward,鈥� said Bringhurst, the city planner. 鈥淧eople just can鈥檛 maintain a job if they don鈥檛 have reliable child care.鈥�

The donation from Norwegian couldn鈥檛 have come at a better time for the town. In 2019, a child care program closed unexpectedly just three years after it opened, eliminating 20 child care spots from the community. (Qutekcak Native Tribe, a Seward-based social services agency that ran the program, did not respond to a request for comment.)

Then in , a preschool program funded by federal Title I money closed after the local elementary school no longer enrolled enough children from low-income families to qualify for the funding. That left two licensed programs and 20 slots for more than 80 children who needed care.

Norwegian鈥檚 donation was part of to Alaska port communities that were affected by Covid-related tourism drops. Warner had transitioned from her role as a home visitor to running a child-focused nonprofit, Happy Youth Programs and Educational Resources, or HYPER, which was chosen to lead the town鈥檚 new child care strategy.

Using half of the $1 million donation, HYPER trained providers so they could meet requirements for state licensing and offered start-up funds to help cover the high costs associated with launching or expanding home-based child care businesses. The organization also developed a retention bonus program to boost salaries for providers, paid for early educators to attend trainings and established a year-long subsidy program to help families pay for child care.

Seven miles north of downtown Seward, off the only road into town, Josie McClain鈥檚 home-based child care program is tucked away in a clearing down a long gravel driveway. The town鈥檚 investment has made an immense difference for McClain, who has a degree in elementary education and launched her program in late 2019 after years of running the local teen and youth center for the city.

On a recent morning, a dozen children roamed around a playground fenced off in front of McClain鈥檚 house. McClain and her assistant watched, sometimes stepping in to comfort crying toddlers, fix broken sandals and navigate arguments over the swings.

A little girl shuffled over to McClain, her rainbow-colored sandals on the wrong feet, and pointed through the playground fence, across the yard, to a sea of yellow dandelions.

鈥淚 see a lot of flowers!鈥� exclaimed the little girl.

鈥淪hould we make dandelion jelly this week?鈥� McClain asked. The little girl nodded eagerly.

鈥淚鈥檒l look up a recipe,鈥� McClain promised. She kissed the girl on her head and sent her off to play.

The weight of her role in the community isn鈥檛 lost on McClain. The children in McClain鈥檚 care have a deep attachment to her. Several call her 鈥済randma鈥� and, during the day, wander over to cuddle on her lap or give her a hug.

Many of the parents McClain serves wouldn鈥檛 be able to work if it weren鈥檛 for her. Several work in critical industries, like the local bank, the school system and the hospital. As McClain looked around the playground, she pointed out children whose parents would have left Seward if she hadn鈥檛 had room for them. Hers is one of two 24-hour programs in Seward, offering reliable care for parents who work nights, as well as backup and emergency care when parents have unforeseen needs.

鈥淭here isn鈥檛 any place for them to go,鈥� McClain said. 鈥淭here isn鈥檛 an alternative.鈥�

Running her program has involved sacrifice. On weeks when she can鈥檛 make the more than two-hour drive to Anchorage to load up on more affordable food and supplies, she must pay more at the stores in Seward. Recently, a federal food program for child care lowered their reimbursement rates, meaning she gets less money for the healthy food she serves children five times a day. To save money, she鈥檚 teaching herself how to can food for the winter. She hasn鈥檛 taken a vacation in years.

HYPER鈥檚 support and recent efforts from the state have helped ease the load a bit. In 2023, McClain was able to expand her child care program thanks to money from the organization. She used $10,000 from the nonprofit to help pay for a new screened-in porch to give children more room to play, including outside in cold and rainy weather.

鈥淚t made my small house one thousand times better,鈥� McClain said. She also got licensed as a group child care program, allowing her to take in four more children for a total of 12.

For the first time in years, McClain has been able to stop living paycheck to paycheck and save money. She receives an annual bonus of several thousand dollars from HYPER each year. For the year that HYPER subsidized parent tuition, McClain could count on a reliable payment each month instead of having to 鈥渉unt down money鈥� from families.

Recently, Alaska invested more in child care, from which McClain has also benefited. In 2025, the state allocated about $6 million more to expand eligibility for child care assistance, and this year, added close to another $6 million for annual grants to help child care programs operate. More is needed though, experts say. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved $6.4 million to help retain early educators, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy later those funds, along with that would have gone to Head Start, the federal and state-funded preschool program for low-income children.

While the cruise company鈥檚 donation funding boosted child care in Seward, and state initiatives have provided additional support, the town鈥檚 child care crisis is far from solved. Early childhood jobs, with their low pay and lack of benefits, are hard to fill, Warner said. McClain fears she will have to drop four children from her program if she can鈥檛 find someone to replace her assistant, who is leaving soon.

And although two new providers have opened with HYPER鈥檚 support in the last year, there is still a shortage of infant and toddler spots.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that the people who want more child care know how many hoops there are to jump through,鈥� said Katie Shepard, who co-runs the newest program in town, Timberline Learning Center. 鈥淎nybody else who is not just dying to work with the kids is not going to go through all that.鈥�

When Shepard wanted to open a part-time preschool program, the cost seemed insurmountable. HYPER provided a $30,000 grant to cover start-up costs, program supplies and business licenses. 鈥淯nless we had that kind of money to put into something like this, I don鈥檛 think it would have been possible,鈥� Shepard said.

On one summer morning, 10 children scampered around the community room of a Methodist church downtown.

鈥淲ho wants to play the bug game?鈥� asked one boy, who was sitting in the middle of the room with bug-themed bingo boards. Several children crowded around him.

At the back of the room, Shepard sat by a large poster where students could write their names and stick them by a picture of their favorite bug.

鈥淚 LOVE butterflies!鈥� exclaimed a little girl as she ran up to Shepard. With her teacher鈥檚 encouragement, she carefully glued her name on the paper. 鈥淕lue is so sticky,鈥� she said.

Nearby, Wright鈥檚 daughter sat at a table carefully placing pictures of bugs onto a clear piece of sticky paper. Wright has seen how her daughter, now 4, has thrived at preschool.

鈥淟anguage-wise she鈥檚 grown, she鈥檚 task-oriented. She鈥檚 an only child, so that socialization is key for her,鈥� Wright said. Last year, the family received a subsidy from HYPER to help pay tuition. 鈥淭hat was huge,鈥� she said, adding that the family was able to save more money. She will be able to take on more hours at work once her daughter enters kindergarten full time in the fall.

Looking forward, Warner is trying to find a permanent source of funding for child care to help more families. Ideally, she says, that funding will come from a tourism tax. Recently, a new cruise ship dock opened, which will allow larger ships 鈥� and more people 鈥� to dock in Seward. If key infrastructure needs like child care aren鈥檛 addressed, Warner fears people won鈥檛 be able to live there.

鈥淲e have to support our year-round economy,鈥� because, unlike the tourists, 鈥淲e also love to live here when it鈥檚 quiet and cold.鈥�

This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program. 

Contact staff writer Jackie Mader at 212-678-3562 or mader@hechingerreport.org.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Claire Stremple for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com.

A month into the school year, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district鈥檚 new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids and will soon place significant restrictions on older students.听

One first grade teacher has switched to jigsaw puzzles instead of having her students complete activities on a learning app. A middle school science teacher is considering how to teach Newton鈥檚 Third Law of physics with toy cars instead of a video simulation. Some teachers say they are struggling to adjust after years of technology woven into their curriculum.

鈥淥ur goals haven鈥檛 changed whether we鈥檙e on screens or not,鈥� said Armaghan Khan, an eighth grade teacher at Johnnie Cochran Jr. Middle School. 鈥淭he idea is still to provide quality standards of mind instruction. And so, what does that look like when you鈥檙e not on a screen? And for a lot of the newer teachers, myself included, we鈥檝e never really taught that way.鈥澛�

Passed in June, LAUSD鈥檚 generally prohibits use of district-issued devices for students in early education through first grade. It places caps on every other grade level 鈥� the higher the grade, the more screen time is allowed. And by the time students reach high school, they are allowed up to 90 minutes per week in each subject area.听

The new policy followed months of organizing by parents who argued that students 鈥� and teachers 鈥� had become too dependent on digital devices in classrooms. They argued that schools should prioritize teacher-led instruction, hands-on activities and interaction with peers. Some also said their children鈥檚 struggles to regulate their emotions were a direct result of using screens in the classroom.听

But the new restrictions on screen time have also meant that teachers have to rethink lessons built around laptops, tablets and digital instructional programs. Many are concerned about students with disabilities and English language learners who may disproportionately rely on technology, even though accommodations are possible.听

Corinne Hyde, a professor of education at USC, said she worries that the policy could unnecessarily restrict teachers鈥� ability to use technology when they believe it would benefit students.听

鈥淲e should trust teachers to make good instructional decisions, and that as long as we equip them with appropriate professional development and support, that they are fully capable of making the appropriate decisions about how to use technology in their classrooms, or if they should use technology in their classrooms,鈥� said Hyde.听

No screen time for LAUSD鈥檚 youngest learners聽

Last year, the youngest daughter of Julie Edwards, a parent and member of the group Schools Beyond Screens, would come home obsessed with JiJi, a penguin cartoon that appears on a gamified learning platform. Now, Edwards鈥� first grader comes home eager to talk about her friends and her school鈥檚 ticket-based rewards system, she says.听

鈥淭here鈥檚 still more work to do,鈥� said Edwards. 鈥淏ut I think everything is like moving in such a great direction, and I鈥檓 just really hoping that because this is happening on an institutional level, it really starts to filter down into families鈥� personal lives.鈥�

Edwards鈥� daughter鈥檚 teacher has made a number of changes to go screenless. So has Martha Medina, a first grade teacher at Logan Academy of Global Ecology, who also lost other classroom support. This year, she no longer has instructional coaches, who help with targeted learning interventions, or teachers鈥� aides.听

Medina had planned to have students rotate among three 15-minute stations so she could provide individualized attention. One station would be with her, another in the library and a third would use a learning app on an iPad.听

Under the new policy, Medina can no longer use the app as planned. Instead, students at the third station work on jigsaw puzzles or art-related activities designed to reinforce uppercase and lowercase letters.

She said the changes have made it much more difficult to run the three groups, limit constant disruptions and keep children on task.听

鈥淧arents are worried that the kids are going to be on the iPad all day,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just not the case in primary. There鈥檚 no way we can have the kids on iPads all day. There鈥檚 too much to teach.鈥澛�

Teachers prepare for changes ahead

Khan is among the upper-grade teachers who are adjusting their lesson plans to comply with limits that will go into effect in January.听

Under the policy, middle school students will be limited to one hour of screen time each week in each subject area.听

鈥淚 feel a lot of times the district leadership comes up with these ideas, and however well intentioned they are, they leave it to the rest of us to kind of figure out how to implement them, or just what the best case looks like,鈥� Khan said.听聽

He added that he has spent the past eight years building his curriculum around electronic devices. Like many schools nationwide, his school had been a 鈥渙ne-to-one,鈥� meaning each student has access to a device. Those devices had largely replaced textbooks, and, to some extent, paper and pencil.听聽

鈥淲e were using a lot of digital resources, and some of them have been really amazing,鈥� he said.听

One of Khan鈥檚 favorite tools is Gizmos, a program that allows him to show students simulations to explore science concepts that can be difficult to demonstrate in a classroom. For example, students visualize the heart pumping blood through veins and arteries throughout the body. Or, they can explore Newton鈥檚 Third Law 鈥� the concept that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction 鈥斅爐hrough a simulated car crash.听

鈥淚 can always get two toy cars and have them crash together so they can see the law and effect,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淏ut with the simulation, it lets me just get much more granular and just deeper into just how it applies to their everyday lives.鈥�

He also said technology has been particularly important for students with disabilities and English language learners, who may rely on digital tools for accommodations and language support.听聽

The district told EdSource that it has made professional learning opportunities available to school administrators and teachers, both in-person and virtually, to help with the transition.听聽

鈥淥ur goal is to ensure that all school sites are well-prepared with the tools, understanding, and support needed to effectively implement these guidelines in a way that supports student learning and well-being,鈥� LAUSD said in a statement.听聽

Khan said he has not had access to that support yet. Still, despite what he described as 鈥済rowing pains,鈥� he remains optimistic about the changes.听

鈥淚 do think there is merit in the idea. I don鈥檛 just want to be doom and gloom about having to switch,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to the challenge.鈥�

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And at least one weekend per month, she provides all-day care to several children whose parents have to report for duty at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

Jackson is also licensed to provide overnight care, which she does occasionally as needed. 

Through these unconventional arrangements, Jackson provides 鈥渘ontraditional hour care,鈥� and as her schedule suggests, it can take a lot of different forms. Nontraditional hour care is a poorly understood yet widely sought form of early care and education, generally defined as any care being provided before 7 a.m. and after 6 p.m. on weekdays, and any hours on the weekends. 

It鈥檚 estimated that about 40% of children under age 6 with working parents spend at least part of their week in childcare during nontraditional hours, according to a from the Urban Institute, a social policy research nonprofit. The report, which analyzed household survey data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education, found this type of care to be more common among children from low-income families or in single-parent or non-parent households, as well as infants and toddlers. 

Families have a diverse range of circumstances and needs when it comes to care, especially working families with young kids. Sometimes, one parent can cover while the other works, or a relative such as a grandparent can step in to help. But in other cases, families must seek more formal arrangements. That鈥檚 where providers like Jackson and Desiree Reid come in.

Reid has been a licensed home-based childcare provider in the Bronx for about a decade. Before that, though, she had a long career as a financial manager 鈥� a role that required her to work late into the night and on weekends at times. In other words, Reid needed childcare during nontraditional hours before she became a childcare provider herself. Back then, when her son was still very young, she鈥檇 scrap together help from her mother and godmother during the week, and on the weekends, she鈥檇 take him to work with her and they鈥檇 hole up in her office. 

So when Reid opened her own childcare program and realized a lot of her families were doing shift work and needed flexible hours, she found herself adjusting her schedule. 

鈥淎t first it started with maybe one parent saying, 鈥極h, Ms. Desiree, I have to work till 8:30 tonight,鈥欌�� Reid recalled. 鈥淲hat am I gonna do? Say, 鈥榣eave your job, come get your kid and figure it out?鈥� No. So I extended my hours.鈥�

The vast majority of nontraditional hour care is provided in homes, through a mix of licensed and unlicensed caregivers. Data varies, but across multiple sources, unlicensed care 鈥� and particularly unpaid unlicensed care 鈥� is the most used nontraditional hour childcare arrangement, followed by licensed home-based care, and then licensed center-based care. Erikson Institute, a graduate school in Chicago focused on early childhood education, cites data from the 2019 NSECE survey which that about 8% of centers and 34% of listed homes provide some form of nontraditional hour care, while the rest of the care supply is found in unlisted homes, often provided by relatives, but also some nannies, neighbors, friends and babysitters. 

For licensed providers, the shift into nontraditional hour care tends to come organically, as it did for Reid. Because home-based care is typically provided in a smaller and more intimate setting, providers often develop strong personal relationships with the families they serve. So when one family has a schedule change or needs extra help, providers may be inclined to accommodate them 鈥� sometimes without any additional pay, said Juliet Bromer, research professor at Erikson and University of Delaware. 

Different types of nontraditional hour care tend to get 鈥渓umped together,鈥� Bromer said. But that can conflate the distinct experiences of providers caring for children during early mornings, late nights, overnight and on weekends.

鈥淢aybe we shouldn鈥檛 be talking about nontraditional hour care as this monolithic thing, because it isn鈥檛,鈥� said Bromer, who has studied this domain in Illinois. 

Each type of care comes with its own sets of challenges, routines and objectives. During weekend care 鈥� the most time for children to be in nontraditional hour care, according to the Urban Institute 鈥� many providers tend to offer children more downtime than they would during traditional weekday hours, said Diane Schilder, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who led the think tank鈥檚 research on nontraditional hour care in 2023. That reflects what parents have said they want during weekend care for their children: a greater focus on play and rest, much like they would have if their parents were able to be with them. 

That鈥檚 true for Jackson, the provider in Alabama, who said the biggest difference in how she runs her program on the weekends, compared to a weekday, is that she gives the children more time to relax. 

鈥淭he schedule has been so rigid during the week,鈥� Jackson said. 鈥淚 get it. They need the downtime. 鈥� They need that time to just rest.鈥�

What that looks like in practice, she said, is extended time outdoors and more free time to do activities like puzzles and drawing. Just because their parents are at work, she said, doesn鈥檛 mean they shouldn鈥檛 get to unwind like other children do during their weekends.  

In New York, Reid鈥檚 weekend care is occasional, and a bit less predictable than Jackson鈥檚. She cares for the children of immigration lawyers, taxi drivers and nurses. Often, one parent is available on the weekend to care for their kids when the other is not. But sometimes, their schedules will overlap and they鈥檒l ask Reid to help. 

鈥淎s long as they can give me advanced notice and I鈥檓 available, sure,鈥� Reid said. 

鈥淚 have staff, so if I need to step back, staff can step up,鈥� she added, noting that she has one full-time and four part-time teachers to help with 14 children. 鈥淲hen I didn鈥檛 have staff, that was a different story. Oh, my gosh, that was exhausting.鈥�

Reid and Jackson, like most providers who offer care during unconventional hours, also care for children during traditional hours. Cynthia Davis, a home-based provider in Washington, D.C. who operates 23 hours a day, distinguishes between the two by calling one her 鈥渢raditional shift鈥� and the other her 鈥渢wilight shift.鈥� 

When she shifted into childcare a couple of decades ago, she decided that she would serve children from low-income families, whatever it took. 

鈥淚f I was going to have a program, I wanted to be sure I could serve all parents, regardless of what their shift was,鈥� she said. 

With her program located near a police station, a fire station and multiple hospitals, she has served children at all hours of the day 鈥� from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., from 3 p.m. to midnight, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the hours some of the parents needed,鈥� she explained. 

It鈥檚 a lifestyle that might wear on some people, but Davis enjoys it. 鈥淚鈥檓 a night owl,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I love overnight care. I love being up at night. Everybody is quiet. Nobody is disrupting you. It鈥檚 the daytime that wears me out.鈥�

When she cares for children overnight, her adult daughter who works at the program handles morning care so Davis can get some sleep. 鈥淚t鈥檚 why you need staff,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to balance it out. If you don鈥檛 have balance, you鈥檒l drive yourself crazy.鈥�

The most children Davis has cared for overnight, she said, is six. Eventually she learned that she couldn鈥檛 really care for infants overnight, since their sleep isn鈥檛 well established and they tend to wake the others. 鈥淥ver time you learn how the children鈥檚 patterns are,鈥� she said, noting that she鈥檇 strategically place an early riser farther from a child who sleeps in later. 

When children get dropped off for an overnight shift at Davis鈥� house, they must be bathed and ready for bed. She finds out from families what their bedtime routine looks like on a typical night 鈥� books, music, a bit of TV 鈥� 鈥渟o we can mimic what you鈥檙e doing at home.鈥� 

Most children sleep in twin-sized rollaway beds; she also has cribs, elevated cots, floor mats and air mattresses. She will put the beds out in the common area 鈥� spread throughout a spacious living room, dining room and back room 鈥� before the kids go to sleep. Then Davis posts up in her comfortable recliner chair. She has a refrigerator and table right next to the chair. She does not sleep when the babies sleep. 

In the morning, Davis helps the children brush their teeth, get dressed and eat breakfast. 

Soon, as she begins to think about winding down her working years, she plans to move away from traditional care and only offer the 鈥渢wilight shift.鈥� She鈥檚 a night owl, after all. 

Some center-based programs do offer care during nontraditional hours, but it’s uncommon and the programs that do so primarily serve a specific population, such as the children of shift workers near a large manufacturing plant or . 

鈥淭here are very, very few center-based programs that offer late night and overnight care,鈥� said Bromer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unpredictable. No one needs overnight care every night.鈥�

Many home-based providers will request a week鈥檚 notice or a few days鈥� notice for nontraditional hour care, but when families鈥� schedules are constantly changing, it鈥檚 not always possible. That is incompatible with the staffing setup in most centers, Bromer noted. 

Then there鈥檚 the practical reality, which is that 鈥� especially late at night, very early in the morning and overnight 鈥� want their children to be in a residential home, not a fluorescent-lit commercial building. 

Most centers don鈥檛 have space for beds, pointed out Natalie Renew, the executive director of Home Grown, a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based childcare. What they have, instead, is thin cots. If given the option, many families would likely opt for rollaway beds like what Davis has in her home over 鈥渇limsy cots鈥� in a center for their child鈥檚 overnight sleep. 

鈥淚n a home-based environment, children are an extension of the family, eating meals in the home, watching Jeopardy,鈥� Renew said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a little more intuitive.鈥�

For parents who work unconventional hours, it helps a great deal to know their child is sleeping in a bed inside someone鈥檚 home, even if it鈥檚 not their own, said Jackson. 

鈥淚t gives that parent more of a home feeling, versus in a commercial property, where it鈥檚 more of a business,鈥� she said. 鈥淔amilies need us. They need the continuity of care. They need to know their babies are being treated with the utmost of respect.鈥�

In many places, it can be hard to come by licensed providers offering care outside of standard business hours. Davis recalled a mom who would take the bus from southeast D.C. to her program in northwest D.C. to drop off her 6-month-old baby before going to her job as a security officer. She had to switch buses along the route, and when traffic was bad, it would take her two hours door to door. 

Access is one of the reasons that care from trusted family, friends and neighbors is by far the most popular option for parents who work nontraditional hours. (It is also the most care arrangement for families during traditional hours.) This could look like two neighbors who both work nonstandard hours taking turns watching each other鈥檚 kids in their homes. It could be a family friend helping out for a small fee. Often, though, it鈥檚 a grandparent or other family member.

These types of informal arrangements make up the 鈥渂ulk鈥� of nontraditional hour care, said Bromer of Erikson. Parent surveys have found that they prefer this care type for its flexibility, affordability and nurturing environment. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not paid care,鈥� in many cases, Bromer added, 鈥渂ut it is childcare.鈥�

Tonia McMillan is an FFN provider in Southern California caring for her grandchildren during nontraditional hours. McMillan had a nearly 30-year career as a licensed home-based provider, during which time she did occasionally provide care outside of standard hours to families. She retired from that career in 2023, feeling ready to close that chapter. 

But then McMillan鈥檚 two adult sons 鈥� both single dads 鈥� had new babies on the way. At the time, she and her sons decided to 鈥渁ll get under the same roof鈥� to help each other with expenses, and that included childcare. 

Today, McMillan lives in a five-bedroom house with her sons and two of her four grandchildren 鈥� now ages 9 and almost 2 鈥� whom she regularly cares for in the evenings. During their dad鈥檚 late-night shifts with a trucking company, McMillan feeds them and puts them to bed. Some days, if he gets home especially late, she鈥檒l also get the kids up in the morning, give them breakfast and get the older one to school. It works well, she said. 

鈥淭he only difficulty for me is my age,鈥� said McMillan, who is 67. 鈥淗aving to lift car seats in and out of cars 鈥� That鈥檚 part of the reason I retired. There鈥檚 such a physicality to doing childcare that people don鈥檛 realize. But here I am again.鈥�

There are days when McMillan has to make sacrifices to be able to care for her grandchildren 鈥� she鈥檚 very social, she said 鈥� and that can be discouraging. But she loves that she is able to help and said she鈥檒l keep doing it for as long as her son needs her. 

Still, she doesn鈥檛 view it as charity, and she doesn鈥檛 want others to see it that way either. McMillan gets about $1,200 per month in subsidy reimbursements from the state of California to take care of both children. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see this role being downplayed or portrayed as 鈥榶ou鈥檙e the grandmother, it鈥檚 your duty,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hat strips away the importance of this work 鈥� how it fills a void, how it takes care of a gap. But it also binds families and makes them stronger and able to do what needs to be done for their children, for their household. It is such an important role that serves such an important purpose.鈥�

McMillan emphasized the importance of being able to provide childcare to her grandchildren in a space that is both theirs and hers. She can put the two children down in their own beds and then retire to her own room. 

鈥淚 can walk around in my moomoo,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to worry about if my hair is combed.鈥�

But the value runs deeper than that, too. 

鈥淭he comfort of being in a familiar surrounding with a familiar person who loves them unconditionally, it matters,鈥� McMillan said. 鈥淢y son doesn鈥檛 have to worry about calling or checking in, any of that. Just the trust factor alone carries so much weight. It carries so, so much weight.鈥�

By mid-afternoon, Nabila Chehab has worked nearly a full day running one of Colorado鈥檚 universal preschool sites out of her home. She鈥檚 been awake since 5 a.m. and on her feet for hours. 

By 2 p.m., two 4-year-old girls from the preschool program remain in her care. They will be picked up in the next hour or so. Then the doorbell rings and two more girls 鈥� 5-year-old Amira and 2-year-old Nadine 鈥� burst through the front door and head straight to the back of the house, joining their peers in Chehab鈥檚 classroom. 

Chebab鈥檚 first shift of the day is almost over, but her second shift is just starting. 

Around 2:30, she prepares an afternoon snack of watermelon and Goldfish for the four girls. It is the first of several meals she will prepare for Amira and Nadine over the next seven hours while their mother works at a food and beverage stand during a concert at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, about 30 miles away. (社区黑料 is using the children鈥檚 first names only to protect their privacy as minors.)

As they munch on their snack, three more kids arrive. These are Chehab鈥檚 grandchildren 鈥� ages 6, 5 and 1 鈥� and the older two sit around the table as she prepares fruit and crackers for them as well. 

The naturally lit, brightly colored back room is alive with the chatter and boundless energy of young children. If Chehab is losing steam, she doesn鈥檛 show it. The 61-year-old just smiles and serves. 

By day, Chehab is a licensed home-based childcare provider. Her program, which can accommodate up to six children at a time, has earned the from the state. These days, she is primarily focused on serving 4-year-olds in Colorado鈥檚 relatively new , although she enrolls younger children as well.  

Chehab is only a few years into this arrangement. Before opening her program, she cared for her grandchildren as an unlicensed . And prior to that, she worked as a teacher for 15 years and a director for five years at center-based programs, she said. 

Chehab is licensed with the state to provide care from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, but she continues to help families outside of regular business hours. On Saturdays, she hosts a three-hour Arabic class for young children. (Chehab moved to Colorado from Lebanon in 2009.) On Sundays, she cares for three young children while their parents work. And then, about once a week as needed, Chehab cares for Amira and Nadine in the evenings while their mom works at the concert venue. 

The kind of childcare Chehab provides on weekends and some evenings, often referred to as nontraditional hour care, is used by about under age 6 with working parents. It is most often provided in people鈥檚 homes through a mix of licensed and unlicensed care. This type of care can take place in the early mornings, late in the evenings, overnight and on weekends, based on the diverse needs of families. Often, providers like Chehab make themselves available during nonstandard hours only after a family that is already in their care has a change in plans or needs more help. 

That鈥檚 what happened with Amira and Nadine. 

Last school year, Amira was enrolled in Chehab鈥檚 universal preschool program. Nadine would occasionally join her older sister at Chehab’s house, so both girls became familiar with the provider. 

The girls鈥� mother, Marissa Kishell, has been working at Red Rocks since 2022, she said, taking shifts about three nights a week during peak season, which spans from spring to fall. Kishell鈥檚 mom 鈥� Amira and Nadine鈥檚 grandmother 鈥� would watch the girls at night while Kishell went to work, but when the girls鈥� grandmother got in a serious car accident in fall of 2025, she was unable to care for them for several months. 

Kishell enlisted Chehab鈥檚 help in the evening for the first time back in January, when she had a one-off work event, she recalled. When the Red Rocks concert season kicked off this spring, she began to turn to Chehab more often. 

鈥淣o one had ever watched them, especially at night, except for me and my mom,鈥� Kishell said. 鈥淲ith everything that goes on these days, it鈥檚 hard to trust your kids with people.鈥�

She worried, initially, about how it would go 鈥� but more so about how she would do leaving the girls than how they would do with Chehab. 

鈥淪he鈥檚 always so welcoming. Her house is cozy and clean,鈥� Kishell said of Chehab. 鈥淚 was never worried about if they would be OK.鈥�

Now, Kishell will typically get her work schedule about a week in advance, she said. Then she鈥檒l ask her 73-year-old mom 鈥� who watches the girls for free 鈥� which nights she can take them. Often, Kishell said, her mom will commit to all three nights but then, as the week goes on and she becomes more tired, she might ask to offload a night or two. (Her mom recovered from the car accident, Kishell said, but her energy level is not the same.) That鈥檚 when Kishell will ask Chehab, who lives about a 5-minute drive away, to take the girls for a night.

After hours of playing, the girls tell Chehab that they鈥檙e hungry. With Amira and Nadine in the kitchen alongside her, helping as much as they can, Chehab prepares a meal of lamb ribs, brown rice, Lebanese yogurt, salad, hummus and bread. The girls sit down to eat around 5:30 p.m. with Chehab, her husband Yassine Ahmed and a family friend. 

This is one of the elements of Chehab鈥檚 care that Kishell deeply appreciates. Both of her girls are 鈥渧ery comfortable鈥� at Chehab鈥檚 house and 鈥渉ave a lot of fun there,鈥� Kishell said, but it鈥檚 more than that.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice for me that they get more of a home environment, and they鈥檙e having a home-cooked meal, and it鈥檚 more of a structure,鈥� she said, 鈥渢han going to a random babysitter鈥檚 house.鈥�

That鈥檚 important to Chehab too. It鈥檚 central to her philosophy as a provider. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 treat my families like clients,鈥� Chehab said. 鈥淚 treat them like family.鈥�

Kishell pays about $30 per hour for Chehab to watch the girls in the evenings 鈥� $15 per hour per child 鈥� which she figures is about what she鈥檇 have to pay for the average babysitter. With Chehab鈥檚 experience and classroom materials and quality rating from the state, she feels it鈥檚 a great outcome for her and the girls. 

After dinner, Chehab helps the girls wash their hands then takes them on a walk around the neighborhood, during which they spot airplanes flying overhead. 

Back at Chehab鈥檚 house, she takes the girls into the greenhouse in her backyard, where they look for ripe vegetables to pluck and place in nets. Chehab鈥檚 garden is varied and sprawling. Inside the greenhouse, she has tomatoes and cucumbers, along with herbs such as parsley, cilantro and mint. Elsewhere in the backyard, she grows green grapes, sumac, apples, pears and peaches, although she said the fruit trees have not borne fruit during this especially hot summer. 

Both Amira and Nadine come out of the greenhouse with a few cherry tomatoes and finger-length cucumbers. 

鈥淭his one is so big!鈥� Amira says, admiring her cucumber. 鈥淚 want to take mine home.鈥�

Chehab helps the girls wash and pack their vegetables to take home later. 

Kishell saw the vegetables from the garden when she got home that night. The girls also brought home a flower craft they鈥檇 made. These kinds of keepsakes make Kishell especially grateful. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they would get quite the same experience with anybody else,鈥� she said. 

Kishell鈥檚 appreciation is not lost on Chehab. 

鈥淪he values my work with her kids,鈥� Chehab said of Kishell. 鈥淪he sees how they improve.鈥� 

At about 6:45 p.m., Nadine begins to rub her eyes and show signs of sleepiness 鈥� she skipped her nap today, Chehab said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 ready for bed.鈥� Instead, Chehab will try to keep them occupied until pickup, which Kishell prefers.  

Kishell鈥檚 husband, Mo Shesao, will pick up the girls at 9 p.m. Shesao has his own car shop, where he works as a mechanic. He usually stays until the work is done, Kishell said, so if someone brings their car in midday and needs it back by the next day, he鈥檒l keep at it until he鈥檚 finished. 

Some nights, the girls stay at Chehab鈥檚 later 鈥� until 10 or 11 p.m. On those nights, Kishell will pack them a bag with toothbrushes, hairbrushes and pajamas so they can get ready for bed before they are picked up. Occasionally, Chehab said, Nadine will fall asleep at her house. Usually, though, they鈥檒l wait until they are in the car or at home. Both children are accustomed to a 10 p.m. bedtime at home anyway, Kishell said. Since she stays home with them during the day, they have nowhere to be in the mornings and will often sleep in.

Chehab reads stories with the girls until about 7 p.m. Nadine picks out, 鈥淏ig Gorilla: A Book of Opposites,鈥� and Chehab quizzes the girls on opposites. 

鈥淲hat鈥檚 the opposite of short? What鈥檚 the opposite of night? What鈥檚 the opposite of heavy?鈥�

Next, Chehab sets up a paint station for the sisters. They don aprons and each pick out three colors and a paintbrush. As the girls get going, Chehab says to Amira, 鈥淭ell me about your picture.鈥�

Amira has combined her three paints to create a dark blueish-brown hue, which she is trying to use to cover the entirety of her paper. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be different,鈥� Amira says, answering Chehab. She thinks about it more, then adds: 鈥淪pooky.鈥�

As they finish up, Amira tells Chehab and her sister, 鈥淣ext time, I鈥檓 going to take this to the museum 鈥� so they can hang it up.鈥�

It鈥檚 August, so at 7:30 p.m., it鈥檚 still light outside. The trio heads outside to sing and dance with scarves. Chehab gives no indication that her stamina is flagging. She continues to play with and engage the girls as if the day is new. 

Around 8 p.m., the sky darkens and the girls go inside to have one final snack. They eat pretzel sticks and drinkable yogurt with straws in the basement while Chehab finds them an age-appropriate show to play on the television for 15 minutes. (She watches the clock closely to make sure they don鈥檛 get more screen time than that.) 

Once the girls are settled with their snacks and show, Chehab and her husband roll out their prayer mats and kneel to pray a few feet away. Amira can be heard slurping the last few sips of her yogurt while her caregiver quietly recites her prayers.

Around 8:30, after night has fallen and with only a half-hour left at Chehab鈥檚, both girls become more subdued. They lay together on Chehab鈥檚 couch, still giggling and muttering, but more softly now. 

At 8:55 p.m., a car horn can be heard from the driveway. Moments later, the girls race to the front door to greet their dad. Then they give hugs and kisses to Chehab and tell her goodnight. As quickly as they鈥檇 entered the house earlier that afternoon, they now exit it, leaving a strange stillness in their wake.  

Chehab鈥檚 night is nearly over too. She will prepare her Turkish coffee for the next morning, take a shower, pray once more and then go to bed. She鈥檒l wake up tomorrow, without an alarm, at 4:30 or 5 a.m., she said. Then she鈥檒l head to the gym, where she swims every day, and return home, ready to greet another group of young children. 

This story was supported by New America鈥檚 Better Life Lab Childcare Reporting Grant.

At 10:30 p.m. on a Monday in the Bronx, it鈥檚 bedtime for many children. But at Juana Grisel Pe帽a鈥檚 apartment, 2-year-old Brandon is just arriving. Pe帽a, who goes by Grisel, greets him with a hug as he joins three other children 鈥� 7-year-old Sage and brothers Legend, 2, and Legacy, 1 鈥� who are playing with toys in another room as they wind down for the evening. (社区黑料 is using the children鈥檚 first names only to protect their privacy as minors.)

The four children are spending the evening at Al Despertar, a licensed, home-based childcare program Pe帽a runs out of her apartment, which sits three blocks from Yankee stadium. Their parents are working late-night or overnight shifts: one at the MTA, another at a local grocery store, and a third at Amazon. Some of the children will stay at Al Despertar late into the night, while others will sleep over and get picked up in the morning. 

From Monday through Friday, Pe帽a cares for up to six children in her overnight program, which runs from around 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. They arrive and leave at different times, depending on their parents鈥� work schedules. She has a staff of five childcare providers, three who typically work at the daytime program and two who assist her with night shifts. 

When Pe帽a started her program about 10 years ago, it was initially only open during the day, but she quickly noticed demand among working families with jobs that stretch beyond traditional business hours so she adjusted course to meet their needs. Over the years, she has transformed nearly every corner of her home around the children she cares for. Her living room is filled with learning activities and brimming with toys; bilingual signs about handwashing and nutrition standards hang in the bathroom and kitchen; and a pile of sleeping mats are neatly stacked in a closet of the second bedroom in her apartment, ready to be set up each day for the children.

鈥淚 want the parents to go to work and be in peace,鈥� Pe帽a said. 鈥淚 remember when I had my kids I didn鈥檛 feel that peace when they were in someone else鈥檚 care and I don鈥檛 want anyone to feel that way. I understand it鈥檚 not easy.鈥�

Pe帽a鈥檚 program meets a significant need for parents. Research by the estimates that 40% of young children under age 6 with working parents spend at least part of their week in childcare during nonstandard hours like early mornings, evenings or weekends. The care can be tough to find though since not all licensed childcare providers operate during those hours. 鈥淚 went through a lot of trouble trying to find this place,鈥� Sage鈥檚 dad said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of overnight daycares.鈥�

There are countless small, yet meaningful moments that define the kind of care Pe帽a offers 鈥� whispered bedtime stories, shared mealtimes and comforting nighttime and morning routines that help children navigate transitions.

The photographs below, taken at Pe帽a鈥檚 apartment during one of her overnight shifts in August, offer a glimpse inside one provider鈥檚 experience operating around-the-clock care, revealing a side of childcare that鈥檚 rarely seen.

8-11 p.m.

11 p.m.- midnight

5:30-8:30 a.m.

This story was supported by New America鈥檚 Better Life Lab Childcare Reporting Grant.

Now, Illinois providers aren鈥檛 getting written up by the state for failing to carry quarters, but the fact that they could be because this outdated regulation has remained in the state鈥檚 licensing manual is problematic.

Childcare regulation is an active topic across many state legislatures and now, with the newly proposed Head Start rule, at the federal level as well. Every state has its , and stakeholders increasingly see streamlining regulations 鈥� while preserving health and safety standards 鈥� as one key to a healthier childcare system. As policymakers take steps to reform childcare regulation, they need to not only get rid of outdated rules, but also consider that interpretation and implementation drive how a regulation plays out in practice. 

Take fire code regulations, for example, which are set at the state and local level, and are core to child safety. To become licensed in any state, a childcare program must be compliant with these regulations, but that can be a complicated process, or even a barrier to entry. A 2025 about California鈥檚 childcare sector published by the Goldman School of Public Policy at University of California, Berkeley found that inconsistency in messaging and interpretation were widespread. 

Madeline Bradshaw, the report鈥檚 author, noted that 鈥淧roviders participating in this research consistently reported receiving conflicting information from fire officials and licensing agencies about what fire safety requirements apply to their specific childcare settings鈥� and that many 鈥渞eferenced receiving inconsistent messaging or inconsistent information, whether between fire officials at the state and local levels or even among fire officials within the same department.鈥� California also ran into issues in 2023, when a lack of communication about a statewide building code update created confusion between what fire marshals and state licensors required. That and left some on the hook for costly renovations in order to become compliant.

This is not a problem endemic to one specific state, though. This year, Colorado childcare owner RB Fast her Kafka-esque experience trying to expand her program by opening a new center. Confusion and conflicting directions from the city鈥檚 planning, zoning and fire departments have led to significant delays, financial hardship for her and her staff, and has prevented her from serving more families, she shared. 

In April, a report published by Opportunities Exchange, a nonprofit consulting group focused on early care and education, of a Massachusetts provider who 鈥渋dentified a classroom space that met the 35 square foot of usable space per child required by their childcare licensing authority.鈥� The report went on to explain that the provider 鈥� later learned that the local building occupancy code required 35 square feet per person, including adults. The discrepancy was not identified until renovations were well underway, ultimately forcing the provider to reduce enrollment capacity and absorb lost time and income.鈥� 

Beyond fire and building codes, which apply to many industries, there are unique regulatory interpretations that come into play specifically for childcare programs 鈥� and perhaps none have been in the news this year more than one about bananas. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat from Washington state, raised the issue when she introduced the Cutting Red Tape on Child Care Providers Act. Colloquially known as the 鈥渂anana bill,鈥� the measure would prohibit states from creating barriers to preparing fresh fruit and vegetables, including washing, peeling and cutting produce. On April 30, the U.S. House passed a large agricultural 鈥溾�� that incorporated provisions of the banana bill.

The banana kerfuffle stemmed from a Washington state requiring childcare programs to have multiple sinks if providers prepare and serve food and to have at least eight feet between that food preparation area and the sink used for handwashing after diaper changes. The rule was intended to avoid cross-contamination, but it鈥檚 been for being interpreted by certain state inspectors as requiring the equivalent of a commercial kitchen in order to peel and slice bananas. Even though a spokesperson from the state鈥檚 Department of Children, Youth, and Families the Department 鈥渉as never penalized a childcare provider for incorrectly serving fruit,鈥� the example has become an avatar .

Even when the scope of a regulation is clear, the capacity of a given governing agency to play their part can create bottlenecks. Consider the fingerprint background check requirement for new childcare employees, a step that is not particularly open to interpretation. A that requires background checks be processed through two state agencies 鈥� Georgia鈥檚 Department of Early Care and Learning and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation 鈥� is in some cases causing weeks-long delays in getting new hires through the process. One provider having four new hires stuck waiting for their background check forms to be processed. 

However, this kind of regulation isn鈥檛 always harmful to providers: of new background check requirements in Minnesota that went into effect in 2017 found that those requirements were not associated with increased closures among licensed family childcare providers and in fact appear correlated with fewer closures, suggesting that the implementation of those regulations has gone far smoother.

The disparate experiences of providers 鈥� often shaped by their geographic location or which inspector shows up 鈥� points to the need for local, state, and federal leaders to focus not only on the content of the regulation book, but how regulations are playing out in practice. If the goal of childcare regulation is to shape a system that promotes health, safety and quality with abundant supply, then policymakers must think beyond the words on the page and consider how rules and regulations are being implemented in everyday programs. 

Ensuring that relevant departments have consistent guidance, are adequately staffed, , and have updated technology in order to process forms in a timely manner is core to effective rollout. State policies should also be reviewed regularly, with an eye toward outdated or out-of-touch requirements that may hinder providers鈥� ability to best serve children and families. And when a new regulation is put into play, clarity and coordination should be the watchwords. 

Nationwide, nearly 40,000 Head Start jobs could be cut, affecting the program鈥檚 teachers, home visitors, child development specialists, family service workers and many other positions, according to an from Together for Head Start, a coalition of national, state and local organizations that formed in 2025 to protect and strengthen Head Start amid growing threats from the Trump administration. 

The analysis draws from projections made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in its proposed rule, 鈥�,鈥� which was published on Aug. 7 and is now in a 60-day public comment period, set to end on Oct. 6.

Other impacts, the analysis found, include a 6% to 9% pay cut among some staff, including directors, fiscal officers and staff who oversee health services, as well as stagnant wages for teachers, even as they are expected to care for up to 32% more children. 

The proposed rule would also reduce healthcare services for children and families by up to , which could result in many families seeking out medical, dental and mental healthcare elsewhere, with some having to travel to access that care or, in some cases, going without it altogether.

To come up with these numbers, Together for Head Start analyzed projections detailed in the proposed rule change, which included a evaluating the potential costs, benefits and outcomes of the regulation if it were to be implemented. 

The proposed rule would give individual programs more discretion, but it鈥檚 hard to predict the precise impact, since some programs may make more changes to their operations than others. For that reason, HHS offers three scenario-based models for each regulation change over a five-year horizon: a low, primary and high estimate based on how many programs take advantage of the change. Together for Head Start used the high estimate scenario throughout its analysis. The group also used from Child Care Aware of America about the price and affordability of childcare to draw some conclusions. 

The administration mentions the word 鈥渇lexibility鈥� 160 times in its proposed rule, suggesting that fewer regulations and performance standards will give Head Start operators greater freedom in how they run their programs. Leaders at HHS are also quick to tout the they estimate would follow these changes by 2031. (The Head Start program is currently at about $12.4 billion annually.)

Staff involved in the leadership and operations of Head Start programs, however, have a much more bleak interpretation of the proposed overhaul. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a $2.2 billion savings. It鈥檚 a $2.2 billion cut in workforce and services,鈥� said Rhett Cecil, executive director of the Indiana Head Start Association, which is part of the Together for Head Start coalition.

In the analysis from Together for Head Start, which includes state-by-state impacts, Indiana is projected to lose nearly 600 jobs. That amounts to about 15% of the state鈥檚 Head Start workforce, Cecil said. The analysis also estimates that Indiana would face a $2.6 million decline in funding for healthcare services under the rule, and that each family accessing Head Start services could face an average annual increase of $622 in childcare costs per child. 

These changes, Cecil said, would 鈥渉andcuff鈥� families, particularly in rural areas. Half of Indiana鈥檚 Head Start programs operate in rural areas, he said, where Head Start is often the only provider of health screenings, disability screenings and mental health services for young children. 

鈥淚f we take that away,鈥� he asked, 鈥渨hat does that do to half our state?鈥�

Cecil is in favor of a comprehensive review of the , he said. He believes there is room for improvement. 

鈥淏ut you can鈥檛 do that without looking at the six decades of research and data that have been built around Head Start, then going out into the field and talking to seasoned leaders and practitioners in classrooms,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l really tell us where changes could get made.鈥�

The changes being proposed now, he said, seem to have come from people sitting in an 鈥渋vory tower somewhere in Washington, D.C.,鈥� without the involvement or consultation of people on the ground. 

Kara McFalls, executive director of the Pennsylvania Head Start Association, doesn鈥檛 buy the narrative the administration has put forward either. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 false flexibility,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t will only increase stress and burden dramatically.鈥�

Together for Head Start estimated that Pennsylvania would lose more than 1,300 jobs and almost $6 million in funding for health services, and that each family would face an average annual increase of $635 in childcare costs per child. The latter estimate comes from in which children receive 99 fewer hours of Head Start annually 鈥� a cost-saving mechanism for the government, but one that would place the burden on families to find alternative care arrangements for their children while they work.

That additional financial strain on families with children in Head Start 鈥� who are, by definition, living in poverty 鈥� would be enormous, McFalls said. To be for Head Start, a family of four must earn less than $33,000 per year, which equals 100% of the federal poverty level. For a family of two, such as a single parent and a child, it鈥檚 around $22,000. 

鈥淚t would be devastating for them,鈥� McFalls said of the projected $635 increase in annual childcare costs. 鈥淭hat could be their ability to stay in their housing. 鈥� That could be the difference of food on their table, food for all the people in their family for months. That could be the difference in their ability to fix their car to be able to go to work.鈥�

That鈥檚 to say nothing of the nearly 8% of children currently enrolled in Head Start who could lose access to the program altogether because their eligibility is based on family self-attestation. (The HHS proposal would as a way to satisfy eligibility requirements.) Many of these families are experiencing housing instability or homelessness and cannot provide the documentation needed to prove eligibility, said Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, senior vice president of government relations and federal policy at Start Early, a nonprofit advocacy organization that launched Together for Head Start and provided support for the recent analysis. 

鈥淭his whole [proposed rule],鈥� she said, 鈥渋s reducing access 鈥� and reducing equitable access 鈥� to families we know could use Head Start, deserve Head Start and for whom Head Start could actually make a huge difference in their lives.鈥� 

Sanchez Fuentes is not alone in worrying about what will happen to the Head Start workforce once teachers are asked to care for increasing numbers of children. The proposed rule change would remove Head Start鈥檚 notably low adult-to-child ratio requirements and ask that programs defer to state licensing guidelines. 

Currently, only two states align with Head Start ratio standards for 2-year-olds, and five states align with ratios for 3-year-olds, according to from the Children鈥檚 Equity Project at Arizona State University. That means a Head Start teacher working with 3-year-olds in the 45 other states could see their classroom size balloon. Rather than two teachers caring for 16 children, as is currently required in Head Start classrooms, that same pair of educators could end up serving up to 30 children in some states, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.

鈥淭hat is not education,鈥� said Cecil. 鈥淭hat is simply crowd control.鈥�

Increased class sizes, on top of reductions in support staff and essential services, could eventually lead qualified staff to leave Head Start, said Sanchez Fuentes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 only going to compound the pressure on people who are there every day,鈥� she said. 

When Sanchez Fuentes thinks about the legacy of Head Start over its past 60 years as a federal antipoverty program, she sees it as a leader in the field of early care and education, 鈥渁t the forefront of innovation,鈥� using science and data to inform its programming. Head Start expanded to serve infants and toddlers under Early Head Start in the 1990s, when 鈥渘obody was paying attention to babies,鈥� she said, offering an example. 

鈥淭o suddenly be at this point where 90% of those things are going to go away? It鈥檚 heartbreaking,鈥� Sanchez Fuentes said, referring to the fact that the administration is proposing Head Start standards be reduced from 133 pages to about a dozen. 

鈥淲e will no longer have this foundational piece of quality that鈥檚 good for kids,鈥� she added. 鈥淲hat does that say about how we care about our kids?鈥�

Nearly 86,000 of California鈥檚 children ages 0 to 3 鈥� more than 5% of the state鈥檚 infants and toddlers 鈥� are estimated to have experienced homelessness in 2023-24, according to new data analysis by SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.

This is a 15% jump from about 74,000 young children in the year prior.

Only about 12,000 of those children in 2023-24 were enrolled in early learning programs. It is often in early learning programs where staff members are able to identify children experiencing homelessness and provide critical services for their development.

That just 14% of the youngest children experiencing homelessness are in these programs is potentially a troubling sign, experts say. It may indicate the state is not set up to accurately identify and reach most of these children.

鈥淲e just don鈥檛 have the full picture,鈥� said Erin Patterson, a senior director at SchoolHouse Connection. 鈥淒ata reporting infrastructure everywhere is lacking when it comes to infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness. There is no singular federal agency or program that captures everything.鈥�

This is after years of sustained efforts by child homelessness experts that have led to heightened attention and short-term funding for students experiencing homelessness and the significant barriers K-12 schools face in identifying them. That focus has not always included the youngest Californians 鈥� infants and toddlers 鈥� in part because the state鈥檚 early learning system is far more fragmented.

This data from SchoolHouse Connection, an organization that advocates for homeless students, and Poverty Solutions, a University of Michigan initiative to prevent and alleviate poverty, was shared with EdSource ahead of the Sept. 23 release of their third on the prevalence of homelessness among children 0 to 3 nationwide.

The nearly 86,000 homeless infants and toddlers were 5.19% of about 1.6 million children ages 0 to 3 in 2023-24. The number is an estimate, taken by looking at the percentage of first grade students who were identified as homeless during the 2023-24 year and applying it to the census age group percentages for children ages 0 to 3.听

To get to the number of children accessing early childhood programs, the researchers looked at enrollment data from Early Head Start, home visiting programs and local educational agencies, which are required to identify younger children experiencing homelessness if they receive federal funding.

Some children might have been identified and are simply not reflected in the estimate, in part because data access is extremely limited and fragmented across multiple public agencies, say the researchers.听

Student homelessness across the K-12 system has risen 4% in the most recent data available. In years prior, it rose by up to 15%, according to state data.听

Child homelessness experts contend the rise in student homelessness reflects several factors, including California鈥檚 skyrocketing cost of living and the end of pandemic-era housing protections.听

At the same time, they point to short-term infusions of funding that have helped schools improve data collection systems and identification practices that allowed them to begin supporting more students.听

Homeless liaisons have attributed many of those gains to of $800 million for schools nationwide, of which California received $98.76 million. The one-time pandemic-era funding was dedicated entirely to identifying and supporting students experiencing homelessness.听

Child homelessness experts say data shows the funding worked: after what appeared as a significant dip in student homelessness rates at the peak of the pandemic, there was a sharp increase once schools reopened. They attribute this dramatic shift to the identification efforts by liaisons, who by then had the funding to hire staff to make phone calls to families they knew were struggling, distribute gas cards to help families get their children to school, pay for emergency temporary housing for evicted families and more.听聽

The closest California has come to matching those pandemic-era dollars is approved by the state Legislature this year. It will support identification efforts, though it remains unclear how the state will distribute the funding.

鈥淭he state鈥檚 really going to have to be targeted about where this money goes, and I think a set-aside amount for identifying our youngest learners makes a ton of sense because that $116 million is not going to reach everybody,鈥� said Joseph Bishop, executive director and co-founder of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.听

But experts warn that without long-term funding to maintain those efforts in the TK-12 system, it will be even more difficult to build similar identification capacity in the early learning space to ensure children 0-3 can also be connected to services they need as their families find permanent housing. At the same time, they foresee that more children are likely to be in need in coming years.

鈥淕iven what we know about worsening economic conditions, we can certainly surmise that families with children, in particular, have been impacted by housing instability and homelessness,鈥� said Patterson. 鈥淭he tricky part, though, is pandemic funds are gone, and that means the capacity to identify has dwindled in many places, so we might be entering a phase where we see homelessness increasing, but identification is scaling back because of limited capacity, both in early childhood programs and among local educational agencies.鈥�

Why counting homeless infants and toddlers is tough 鈥� and why it matters

Not only is the data from SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions likely an undercount, but there are other factors that affect the ability to identify students. The early childhood services system in the state is more fractured than K-12, say researchers. And, there may be limited knowledge of the responsibility of local education agencies to identify and support homeless students.

Knowledge of how the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act applies to early learning programs is also less widespread. The law requires local education agencies, such as school districts and certain preschools, to identify and support homeless students, including those younger than 4, which is the age for entering transitional kindergarten.

How does the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act help?

When McKinney-Vento was enacted decades ago, it established a broader definition of homelessness for students. For example, the law considers a student homeless if they are staying with relatives or in temporary housing due to economic hardship, loss of housing or a similar reason.听

The law can apply to preschools under specific circumstances, including when a program is funded by a local education agency, like a school district. provides some detail into whether an early learning program might be a McKinney-Vento preschool.听

And if a homeless liaison identifies a homeless student with an infant or toddler sibling, the federal act requires them to refer the young child to early learning programs.

Even when McKinney-Vento does not directly apply, many early learning programs have adopted its broader definition of homelessness and require certain exceptions be made for homeless families. This could include allowing a child to begin attending the program while providing a grace period for families to produce enrollment documentation or giving priority enrollment to homeless families.

An apparent disconnect between early learning and the TK-12 school system

Child education experts have noted a disconnect between early learning programs and the TK-12 school system, where homeless liaisons are already stretched thin.听

鈥淭here鈥檚 a major flaw in not having those systems in place, and I think it can make the work of districts potentially more effective if we had earlier identification,鈥� said Bishop of UCLA. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know or have the continuity across systems to know where kids are coming from, even sometimes within districts, let alone before TK.鈥�

Bishop鈥檚 team published a report last week finding that were enrolled in California鈥檚 TK-12 public school system in the 2024-25 school year. This is an additional nearly 30,000 more students than what they estimated prior to the pandemic in 2018-19.听

While the report did not include children experiencing homelessness who were enrolled in early learning programs 鈥� Bishop said his team wanted to include them but faced challenges obtaining the data 鈥� it found that many of the highest counts of homeless students were in elementary school districts.听

Anticipating 鈥渨here the need is coming from鈥� via better identification and data collection could help districts better support their students.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e sometimes shocked when students are struggling academically鈥� once they reach elementary school, said Bishop. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the ripple effect of not having the early warning systems.鈥�

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Bornfreund 鈥� a senior fellow at New America, where she previously was director of early and elementary education policy 鈥� shines a light on academic pressure on young children. In her book, she digs into the history of kindergarten and how it鈥檚 changed, chronicles her visits to over 50 classrooms in 13 states, and speaks to education and policy experts about ideas for transforming kindergarten to prioritize how kids learn best.

Kindergarten is regarded as the connector between pre-K and early elementary grades, but Bornfreund views the entire journey from pre-K through third grade as critical for young children鈥檚 development. 

In order for these years to lay a sturdy foundation for everything that follows, the kindergarten experience should , including connections with peers and teachers. Over the years, however, kindergarten has become increasingly according to Bornfreund, particularly in the aftermath of the No Child Left Behind Act, which became federal law in 2002. 鈥淭he new emphasis on testing and accountability under the law put pressure on schools and teachers to achieve at higher levels for each child,鈥� she wrote.

The book laments the state of kindergarten today, where classroom experiences are overly scripted and funding is insufficient in many communities. At the same time, Bornfreund finds teachers who are providing meaningful experiences for young learners against the odds. In the conversation below, she shares her perspective on what a strong kindergarten experience looks like and offers insights on how schools, families and policymakers can reshape kindergarten to help children thrive. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why are children entering kindergarten with such a wide range of abilities?

That kindergarten year is the first accessible-to-all opportunity into formal public education. Even as widespread as pre-K has become, not everyone has access to that public opportunity, but every child does have access to kindergarten. If they attended a high-quality pre-K, the kindergarten year can often be somewhat of a repeat for them. If they were in childcare or any other kind of early childhood environment, it’s going to be pretty jarring. Or if they didn’t have any formal preschool experience at all, it can be fairly jarring. And so there does need to be more attention to 鈥� all the different types of experiences that children have before they get into kindergarten.

What are the key differences between children who have had some kind of formal experience before kindergarten and those who have not?聽

While pre-K often does build early literacy and numeracy skills, it’s also focused on the whole child. So the executive function that helps students to be able to sit and listen and line up and understand what it means to wait their turn, but also the social and emotional development. And that is one of the areas that is lacking in a lot of kindergarten [classrooms], not because teachers don’t understand that it’s important or don’t want to be able to focus more on the whole child, but because the schedule in many places 鈥� is so rigid, and the expectations of what teachers should be doing with students in kindergarten classrooms don鈥檛 allow for time to focus on those whole-child areas. 

Where did you find school districts that draw upon the research with the most fidelity?

The really transformed, starting with pre-K, and built their own curriculum. It’s called the focused on preschool, pre-K, kindergarten and they’ve also gone up to second grade.听 鈥� It engages students in a lot of playful learning practices, and it has a heavy focus on not just building those reading skills, but also building the background knowledge opportunities for children to talk and interact with each other. Boston has really transformed the majority of their elementary schools now, and that has spread. Those approaches have spread to other parts of Massachusetts as well as Maine. The Focus Curriculum is open source, so anyone can take and use it or adapt it for their state specifics or regional differences.听

Is it a more rigorous academic program or is it more play-based?聽

Both. It’s aligned with Massachusetts standards, and it incorporates within the curriculum these play-based approaches. 

And that’s something you’d like to see spread more widely?聽

Yes. Or other curriculum materials like that. And I would just say [that] for young kids, including kindergarten through at least second grade, the play-based approach is the rigor for those kids, because it’s how they learn best, when looking at the science of early learning and development. And it doesn’t mean free play, that kids are just doing whatever all day 鈥� Looking at Boston, that play-based learning is guided play. Teachers are curating the kinds of materials that are in different center activities. They are moving around the room when children are engaged in those activities, asking probing questions to 鈥� support children in using different vocabulary or getting at the specific standard that teachers are wanting to focus on in those particular centers. So it’s structured, it’s guided by the teacher and it’s rigorous. 

What鈥檚 your perspective on delaying kindergarten, as some experts recommend, especially for boys?

I would say that the problem isn’t that 5-year-old boys aren’t ready for kindergarten, or that some kids aren’t ready for kindergarten. It’s that kindergarten has become unready for 5-year-olds. Five-year-olds are active social learners, particularly young boys 鈥� and kindergarten teachers aren’t able to 鈥� or, in some cases, aren’t sure how to 鈥� deliver those active social learning opportunities. That’s the real challenge. So red shirting 鈥� or holding kids back a year isn’t going to solve that problem. 

Why is relationship-building so important in kindergarten classrooms?

Before children can learn from their teachers, they have to be able to trust them. That鈥檚 not a nice-to-have. Those relationships have to be in place between the teacher and the student, regardless of the grade, but it’s particularly important in kindergarten, when many children are coming together for the first time with another adult or with other children. They’re a core piece of that learning. 

How does technology support relationships and play? Or does it interfere?

I visited several classrooms in different places where children are on tablets 鈥� for much of the day or for too much of the day. There’s a place for technology. I think some of the programs that children are using are suited for supporting differentiation or just meeting specific skills that children are developing. 鈥� But the technology doesn’t build relationships. They’re a tool, not a teacher, and we shouldn’t treat them in schools as if they can replace a teacher and a relationship. 

Were there classrooms you walked into while writing this book and you were like, “Aha, this is it. This is what it ought to be like”?聽

There were a lot where I felt like I just wanted to stay all day, but in this one particular room [in Maine], I got into the classroom before students started coming in, and as students were coming in, the teacher was greeting them and asking them questions. This was a Monday. One question she asked was, “How did that softball game go this weekend?” 鈥� She was just picking up on things that she knew about students and digging in and asking them how certain things went and following up on that. And then students, during their morning work as everyone was coming in, there had been strong routines built because they knew exactly what they were going to be doing. They got their 鈥� morning STEM toys out, and they were sitting at tables and doing different things with their table mates. And that was just more of a before the day started free activity, a lot of choice in that, but kids were talking, they were working together. 鈥� Then they came together for their morning meeting. 鈥� That start of the day is a really important way to help children feel welcome and ready to learn and ready to be in a community with both their teacher and fellow classmates.

What else stood out from your travels?

I visited a classroom in Oklahoma [and] the teacher noticed the energy of her class was dipping. Her kids needed a break. So she called [for] a little dance party 鈥� two minutes to help everybody reset 鈥� and then got back to what her instruction was. In Ferndale, Washington, the superintendent has made play-based learning a priority for the whole district in kindergarten, and they鈥檙e moving it up to first grade too. The way that works is, there’s an hour of dedicated time that follows reading instruction. The students are essentially taking what they’ve learned in that reading block and then applying it to play-based learning. 

What鈥檚 one recommendation for making the transition from pre-K to kindergarten smoother?

One thing I would say is to give pre-K through first grade teachers dedicated time to plan together. 鈥� Having that dedicated time to think together and to plan together is one of the most high-leverage things that schools can do. Teachers appreciate it too.

What advice do you have for parents?聽

Ask questions about what kindergarten looks like. What opportunities are there for play-based learning, for building relationships, for science? One of the things I point out is that science is almost all but gone from a lot of kindergarten classrooms because there’s just not the time for it. So really probing and asking those kinds of questions of the teacher, but also of the principal is important for parents to be doing. 

What about policymakers?

Kindergarten is really the only grade where we fund it like an afterthought, but then [we] call it this important foundation. We should invest in what it takes to deliver on the teaching and learning that aligns with how we know students learn.

The program, which comes at no cost to families, added a new, pre-kindergarten grade level to public school districts throughout the state. The 2026-27 school year marks the second full year that all 4-year-olds in California are eligible for TK. 

It is, in many respects, a boon for families and the state. But for early care and education providers 鈥� many of whom have long depended on the lower cost of serving preschoolers to help offset the more expensive work of caring for infants and toddlers 鈥� the siphoning of 4-year-olds from their enrollment represents an existential threat to their businesses and, they say, the health of the sector and variety of options available to families statewide. 

Already, some private preschools have closed their doors permanently; others are trying 鈥� and often struggling 鈥� to pivot to serve younger children. 

鈥淧arents will likely have fewer choices for pre-K in the long run,鈥� said Anna Powell, associate director of research and policy at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淚f we sort of accept that the 4s and 5s will move into TK, many providers will not be able to serve 3s and younger. If that happens, we could see fewer options for younger children as well.鈥�

Details of the challenges that TK has created for California providers are captured in her organization鈥檚 , which used data collected from a survey of 10,000 early childhood educators and focus groups with center directors and family childcare providers. 

TK expansion is just one piece of California鈥檚 鈥� it鈥檚 even just one element in the Master Plan to achieve universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds 鈥� but it is the one that has received the most attention and investment by far, said Powell, lead author of the report. 

鈥淭K has reached critical mass,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat started as a trickle is now a tidal wave of movement. We have to reckon with that as a state.鈥�

In the 2025-26 school year, when all California children who turned 4 years old by Sept. 1 became eligible, about 52% of the eligible TK population had 鈥� more than 200,000 children, according to the California Budget and Policy Center. 

鈥淭his might seem like not a big deal,鈥� Powell added, noting that many people wonder why early care and education programs who have lost 4- and 5-year-olds can鈥檛 just pivot to care for more infants and toddlers. 鈥淭he business model has been calibrated where 4s and 5s are the biggest and most stable group. When you start to tinker with that, it can really raise problems for providers.鈥�

California is to roll out free, universal preschool for 4-year-olds, although no program ends up looking the same, given the fragmented system of early care and education in the United States, noted Powell. California鈥檚 approach of adding a new grade level to schools and making that the 鈥渙ne free choice鈥� for families inevitably pits the public option versus the private ones. 

An alternative, such as one , supports the mixed-delivery system of early care and education; the state pays licensed providers across a range of settings 鈥� such as centers, homes and schools 鈥� to serve 4-year-olds and lets families choose which setting best fits their needs. 

So when the public option is free, it becomes hard for private providers to find a winning argument with the families of 4-year-olds. 

That was true for Heather Posner. 

Posner is the former director of the , which closed permanently on June 12 after losing too much of its enrollment to the public TK program, she said. In the three years leading up to its full implementation in fall 2025, 鈥淚 lost a preschool classroom every year,鈥� Posner said. Her enrollment went from 30 kids one year, to 20 the next, and finally to 10 children last school year, she said. When the spring term ended, the school shut down. 

The garden school was licensed to serve children from age 2 to 6. Posner鈥檚 plan had been to 鈥減ick up extra 2s,鈥� creating classrooms for younger 2-year-olds and older ones. But between a low birth rate, hiring extra staff and all of the changes she would have had to make to the space to comply with licensing requirements for serving younger children, it just didn鈥檛 seem feasible. 

鈥淚t was kind of a double whammy,鈥� Posner said of losing older kids and being unable to adapt easily to serve the younger ones. 

In early care and education, staffing makes up the vast majority of a program鈥檚 costs. States set requirements for adult-to-child ratios based on age, since younger children typically need more attention and care. At a center-based program in California, three adults are required to care for 12 infants, while only one adult is needed to care for 12 4-year-olds. While childcare costs for infants tend to be higher than for preschoolers, it is not three times as high. As a result, older children help subsidize the cost of caring for younger children in many programs. 

Because of the challenges inherent in caring for infants and toddlers (defined as children under age 3), only one quarter of childcare centers in California are licensed to serve that age group, CSCCE found. The majority of programs, including the now-closed Carquinez Garden School, focus on serving older kids. 

Programs cannot pivot to serving infants and toddlers overnight, providers told CSCCE. Not only does it require more staff, it requires staff with different expertise and experience. 

鈥淥ur past research shows becoming an infant/toddler teacher is not a priority for preschool teachers,鈥� said Powell. 鈥淧reschool teaching is an identity.鈥�

Even for center-based administrators who want to make the switch, it鈥檚 not as simple as saying yes. Programs designed for older children typically have playground equipment higher off the ground that is not safe for children crawling or new to walking. They have fewer changing areas than would be needed for younger children. Prices would also need to be raised on parents to help afford the additional teachers. 鈥淎ll of those things would be necessary along the way,鈥� Powell explained. Several program leaders who have applied for a license to serve younger children told CSCCE they鈥檙e still in a queue with the state licensing division, waiting to get approved.

Family child care providers, who work out of their homes, face another set of constraints.

Rachel Bymun is the owner and director of Luv Muffins Preschool & Childcare, which she has run with her husband for the past 17 years. It is licensed as a large family childcare, meaning they can serve up to 14 kids. Only four of those children, however, can be under age 2, according to state licensing requirements. 

So even if Bymun wanted to transition to serving more infants and toddlers, she and other home-based providers are strictly limited in how many they can take. 

鈥淩eally everyone is struggling, maybe for slightly different reasons,鈥� Powell said of providers. 鈥淣one of them can beat the trend and keep their 4-year-olds.鈥�

Many are trying anyway, though. Bymun is one of the California providers who has been dabbling in marketing and education with families, she said. 

鈥淲e are trying to be more diligent about how we explain our program and what we do,鈥� she said, adding that she feels strongly that her program has several advantages over TK, even if the public program is free. 

For one, most traditional early care and education programs have smaller class sizes than TK. That means each child gets more attention and engagement from teachers, Bymun said. Another is that many children start in Bymun鈥檚 program and have 鈥渃ontinuity of care from 0 to 5,鈥� which she finds meaningful. Then there鈥檚 the fact that most TK programs are half-day, which is not a childcare solution for working parents; they still need to find another arrangement for their child for the second part of the day. 

TK is also more structured and academic. Some families now believe that, by age 4, that鈥檚 what their child needs to be 鈥渒indergarten ready,鈥� Bymun said. But she rejects the idea that 鈥渁 kid needs to be able to do a worksheet, sit at a desk and be quiet. We all know that鈥檚 not how kids learn, and it鈥檚 not best practice.鈥� 

Bymun鈥檚 program is nature-based and takes place primarily outdoors. Everything from reading, to dramatic play, to math instruction is held outside. That creates a stark contrast between her program setting and a school-based one, she said. 

Still, what Bymun and countless other California providers have found is that, even with their upsides, it鈥檚 hard to compete with free. Bymun鈥檚 preschool program is $360 per week for a 4-year-old, or about $18,000 a year. That鈥檚 a hard pill to swallow for a family who could otherwise choose the no-cost public TK option. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a lot more of us closing down, as it gets harder and harder to compete with 鈥榝ree鈥� and compete with the marketing of, 鈥榊our kids should go to TK,鈥欌�� Bymun said. 

Bymun was able to make inroads with her current families this year. She has 13 kids enrolled and is considered 鈥渇ull.鈥� One is school-aged, four are under age 2, and the rest are in that 2- to 5-year range, she said. This is the first year that she鈥檇 been able to convince her families with 4-year-olds to stay in her program instead of leaving for TK, she said. Next year, she said, could be a different story. 

鈥淧eople are ultimately price sensitive,鈥� said Powell of CSCCE. 鈥淓ven if they had a wonderful experience when their child was 3, it ends up not being much of a choice after all.鈥�

It鈥檚 not too late for the state and counties to step in to support providers during this period of upheaval and transition, Powell said. They could provide grants so teachers can get trained on working with children from birth to age 3 and programs can convert their facilities and equipment to better serve younger children. The state could focus on reducing turnaround times for centers that need to update their licensing to serve younger children. The state could increase reimbursement rates for providers who accept children whose families pay with subsidies. And the state could give more attention to the other pillars of its universal preschool strategy 鈥� not just TK. 

The impact on providers throughout the state is already being felt, Powell said, but 鈥淐alifornia doesn鈥檛 have to sit back and let this happen.鈥�

Multiple surveys of American parents over the past few years have revealed that pressures are mounting. In Stress in America 2023, an annual survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, parents were more likely than other adults to report certain stressors; reported that on most days, their stress is completely overwhelming. In April 2025, more than of parents of young children indicated experiencing emotional distress, according to data from the RAPID Survey Project. A survey published in May by New America found that who have children under age 6 expressed that they wished they had more quality time with their children. 

With this reality for parents, it鈥檚 no wonder that debates over the American childcare sector are intensifying as the midterm elections approach. 

A recent report, , reveals that in the absence of a functional childcare system that meets their needs, many families rely on a patchwork of informal and formal care for their babies and young kids. More than two-thirds of children under age 5, the analysis found, receive care from a relative and grandparents play a large and growing part in this picture, with nearly half of children under age 5 cared for by a grandparent.

Authored by economist Sarah Jane Glynn and published by the Roosevelt Institute, the report draws upon 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau鈥檚 , a longitudinal survey that provides detailed information on families鈥� childcare arrangements as well as income, employment, household composition and government program participation. Over the years, the U.S. Census Bureau has released reports on childcare using data from the survey, but the most recent version was published in 2013 with data gathered in 2011. Glynn鈥檚 analysis compares the data from 2023 with the data from 2011. 

: 鈥淔amilies are assembling care from the options available to them. A week of care might include a grandparent, an after-school program or a parent watching a child while trying to work. Some arrangements fit a family鈥檚 needs. Others reflect a more difficult reality of formal care that may be too expensive, too far away, or unavailable when parents need it.鈥�

In the interview below, Glynn, whose career includes time with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Center for American Progress, highlights how the current childcare economy differs from the more traditional center-based model often reflected in legislation and political debate. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

When analyzing the data, what are the big patterns you noticed?

The biggest change has to do with mothers reporting that they’re caring for their children at the same time that they’re doing other things. More than six times as many moms are saying that in 2023, relative to 2011. 

Do you anticipate that this trend will continue?

I think some of that is going to be sticky, honestly. We have seen some shifts in terms of expectations and the ways that people are organizing their work lives and their personal lives. And you can spin that in multiple ways. Whether it’s viewed as a positive or a negative, I think depends on perspective. 

Does this obligation of simultaneous work and caregiving represent a new way of balancing the economy on the backs of women?

Absolutely. And I think the age of the children really matters a lot here too, because if you’re thinking about a parent who’s a mom in her home office working, and her 8-year-old or 9-year-old is at the kitchen table working on homework in the afternoon after they’ve come home from school, technically, that mom is still supervising her child in some way. She’s still in the house. It’s what time-use researchers would call 鈥渟econdary childcare.鈥� You’re sort of supervising the kid and that you’re home if there’s an emergency or something, but you’re not actively engaging with them in the same way you would with a younger child. But we still see really high rates of moms reporting that they’re caring for their kid while they’re working or otherwise busy for children who are under 5. 

When you’ve got over a quarter of mothers saying that they’re watching their child who is under 5 while they’re working or doing something else, that is, to me, a very striking finding and is showing just how incredibly stretched those moms are, because that’s a lot to be juggling at the same time. You’re working, you’re going to school, you’re doing something else that requires your full attention and you’re taking care of a baby, a toddler, a preschooler. 

What other pressures are parents of young children facing?

Childcare prices have gone up at rates that are higher and faster than overall inflation. Everything has gotten more expensive, but childcare has gotten even more expensive in ways that are not just about what’s been happening across the economy more broadly. And there’s just extreme shortages in a lot of places where there are not enough slots. 鈥� Those waitlists can be really long. And anecdotally, I know people whose kids were entering pre-K when they finally got a call from the daycare center that they’d been on the waitlist for for three or four years.

What are the consequences of this situation?

Nobody wants children to be in an unsafe environment where there aren’t enough teachers, where the ratios are really bad, but that’s the scenario that we’re creating when we continue to erode job quality. Why would somebody want to enter into this field 鈥� even if they are passionate about it, deeply skilled and have a background in education 鈥� if people get burned out and leave because they can’t afford to continue working as early childhood educators? 鈥�

There’s a million different reasons why this is a market failure, but there has to be government intervention, in terms of funding, or we’re never going to be able to solve this problem. 鈥� I am heartened because there are multiple bipartisan bills in Congress right now. This is a bipartisan issue. Folks across the political spectrum understand why it’s a problem, that it requires a lot of money and that we鈥檝e got to figure out where that will come from.

Between 2011 and 2023, the years you analyzed data from, there were a number of factors that shaped your findings, including the pandemic and the rise of remote work. What else do you think comes into play? 

Some of them are what I would argue are more overall positive shifts, [including] heightened labor force participation among women, and among mothers specifically. 鈥� There were also some negative factors that were pushing folks into the labor force, like increased inflation and rising costs, but we had women and moms who, in other times might not have worked 鈥� who might have stayed home 鈥� going into the labor force during that time period. But you also have, at the same time, a lot of issues in terms of accessing childcare. We saw the number of childcare centers decline during the pandemic. A lot of those rebounded. There were a lot of efforts and a lot of money that was pumped into childcare as a result of pandemic spending to try to fix that problem. 

But the funding didn鈥檛 last.

No, it wasn’t sustained. So that’s part of the problem, too. Do folks have access? How uneven is that access? And so much of this depends on where you live, because there’s so much variation state to state in terms of the investments that are made in childcare access.

Which data trends surprised you?

One of the things that shocked me was how high the rate of grandparent care was. I did not expect to see such a large share of children being routinely regularly cared for by their grandparents. 鈥� I think about this in terms of people I know. My parents are not providing day-to-day care for my niece and nephews, but they do end up providing a good amount of childcare. And that’s great for us because my parents are retired. They are healthy and active and able to do that. That is a beneficial choice that my sister and my brother are making for their family when they have grandma and grandpa watching their kids. But for other families, maybe grandma doesn’t want to watch the kids or maybe she’s not in great health or doesn’t have great mobility, but she’s around and she’ll do it for free. And so it may not be the optimal choice that a family would want.

What kinds of research need to happen to build upon the data presented in this report? 

In this research, we’re really focused on the children. The kids are the focus. Where are they? Who’s watching them? The [next step] is looking at the parents and looking at work disruptions as a result of childcare problems. Who’s experiencing a work disruption 鈥� whether that’s having to take a day off, having to cut their hours, or having to leave work entirely because they don’t have access to reliable childcare? There were much higher rates of disruption than I expected to see. It was common in a way that really surprised me, even as someone who’s been studying this for over a decade, it still surprised me how frequent this was. The less surprising piece is that it’s mostly moms who end up experiencing those disruptions far more than fathers do. 

What鈥檚 the one big takeaway from 鈥淲ho鈥檚 Minding the Kids These Days鈥�?

If you care about the economy and the ability of people to work, then you should care about access to childcare and other forms of care as well, because it prevents people from being able to participate fully in the economy.

Before I understood federal funding, program performance standards or the complicated systems that make Head Start possible, I understood what it meant to be a Head Start child.

Years later, I returned, first as a center director and later as a regional director of a Head Start program in Fort Worth, Texas. I have experienced Head Start from both sides: as a child who benefited from the program and as a leader responsible for ensuring other children and families received the same opportunity.

So, when the current administration says its proposed reforms will strengthen Head Start鈥檚 core mission by giving local communities greater flexibility, I have a perspective that is both deeply personal and professional. Let me tell you why I know I鈥檓 opposed to the changes outlined .

Head Start鈥檚 core mission has never simply been about putting more children in classrooms. The program was built on the understanding that a child鈥檚 ability to learn is connected to everything happening in that child鈥檚 life. That is why Head Start has always been more than early education.

Head Start recognizes that supporting a child often means supporting the entire family so the program offers a number of wraparound services to support families in helping their children thrive. From connecting parents with healthcare, dental care and mental health resources when needed, to providing nutritious meals for children, it鈥檚 about working alongside parents in partnership. 

The would dramatically reduce the federal standards that have helped define what families can expect from a Head Start program. 

For decades, Head Start has operated with clear expectations around the comprehensive needs of children. Under this proposal, many of those expectations would no longer be spelled out in the performance standards. Programs would have significantly fewer federal requirements governing how they address healthcare and developmental needs. 

As someone who attended Head Start, I have some of my earliest memories of being cared for in a safe environment by trusted educators and receiving healthy meals each day. For some families with limited resources, knowing their children would receive two nutritious meals and a snack helps ease the burden of choosing between keeping the lights on and providing healthy meals. Head Start also gives parents the opportunity to work while knowing their children are safe, cared for and learning. For my family, Head Start was not simply a place for me to go during the day. It was a support for our entire family.

As someone who has led a Head Start program, I know what these actions look like in practice. It looks like a teacher noticing something about a child and knowing there is a system for responding to the issue. It looks like a family services worker helping a parent navigate resources they may not have known existed. It looks like identifying a concern early enough to intervene. It looks like following up instead of simply handing a parent a referral and hoping for the best. 

Sometimes, Head Start is the first system that truly sees a family. That visibility and acknowledgment can change the trajectory of a child or a family’s life.

The proposed rule would also move away from many of Head Start鈥檚 existing expectations for curriculum, teacher development, coaching, classroom size and teacher-child ratios, to rely more heavily on state childcare requirements. 

I have managed Head Start centers and also worked as a preschool teacher. I know what happens when you increase the number of children in a classroom without increasing the number of adults responsible for their care. Someone pays the price. It may be a decrease in the individual attention a child receives, a delay in the teacher鈥檚 recognition of a developmental concern or less time available to build relationships with families. Removing any of these standards will have a domino effect. 

I struggle to understand how we can say we are giving communities more power while simultaneously weakening one of the clearest structures through which quality early education exists. 

Children growing up in low-income families do not deserve a lesser standard of early childhood education because it is cheaper to administer. They deserve high-quality classrooms. They deserve teachers who have the capacity to see them. They deserve safe environments. They deserve access to support when they need it. Their parents deserve a voice, and their families deserve to be treated as partners. That is what makes Head Start so successful. That is what contributed to my success. 

For generations, Head Start has represented creating opportunity by investing in the whole child and strengthening the entire family, and we cannot strengthen that mission by stripping away the very things that made it powerful.

I am a product of Head Start, and Head Start did not change my life by doing less.

Under the existing model, one group of kids comes for the morning and another group comes in the afternoon. A full day of care would help working families and provide kids with twice as much time in a trusted learning environment.

Six months later, she鈥檚 still awaiting a response, leaving parents in limbo about whether they鈥檒l have childcare for seven hours each day or just 3陆, as they prepare to send their children to her program in just three weeks. 

鈥淲e’ve been working on enrollment, on recruitment, on getting families into the system,鈥� she said, 鈥�(but) families don’t want part day, so at this point, we’re going to have to backtrack.鈥�

Historically, such a request would have gone to a program specialist at Lykins鈥檚 regional office, who would have resolved it within about 45 days, she said. But, in January 2025, the Washington regional office was shuttered 鈥� along with across the country 鈥� consolidating Head Start鈥檚 and completely upending the processes program directors had come to rely on. The consolidated regional offices are each responsible for more programs, so now, Lykins reports to a new office that serves far more grantees and has reduced authority and capacity for support.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a systemic nightmare,鈥� Lykins said, adding that this request was just one of a number 鈥渢hat have not been responded to鈥� over the past year and a half. Ultimately, these delays harm families and lead to additional costs, she said.

Lykins鈥檚 experience is hardly unique. In a of 157 Head Start providers from 33 states, about how the challenges they鈥檙e facing are impacting children and families, nearly 79% of respondents reported an increase in administrative burden since the closures of regional offices, and 90% reported that the level of ongoing support has declined within the new structure. The survey, conducted by the Washington State Association of Head Start and , a national advocacy campaign, was distributed directly to Head Start program directors nationally. The results showed that these impacts aren鈥檛 merely bureaucratic: more than 75% of providers reported that the delays and lack of support have resulted in significant impacts on children, families and staff.

Many providers reported in the survey that significant decision delays have led to increased costs and damaged community partnerships and have left program leaders feeling frustrated and isolated. All respondents had experienced at least one decision delay, and in many cases the delays amounted to double or triple the wait time they used to experience when their regional offices were still functioning.

鈥淲hen we started reading through the results, what struck us was that it鈥檚 not like there鈥檚 one big smoking gun here. There鈥檚 just so many people who are experiencing so many frustrations and delays that it is really a systemic problem,鈥� said Katy Warren, deputy director of the Washington State Association of Head Start who helped lead the survey. 鈥淓very day that a Head Start director goes to work, they don鈥檛 know whether they鈥檙e going to be able to navigate these systems that used to be fairly smooth,鈥� she said, explaining that providers now wait weeks or months for communication from their regional offices.

The survey results were released just days after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a proposed rule change that would drastically reduce Head Start鈥檚 Performance Standards. Kennedy said his department was 鈥渞emoving unnecessary bureaucracy鈥� that would return the program to its roots, but critics argue that if these changes are instituted they will effectively gut Head Start鈥檚 core. 

The updated rules eliminate requirements for standards such as low adult-to-child ratios; services such as medical and dental care; developmental screenings and individualized services for children with disabilities. It would also require most programs to conduct all education in English only. A 60-day public comment period is currently open and will run through Oct. 6. 

In many ways, the closures of the regional offices and the proposed rule change go hand-in-hand, according to Warren.

鈥淥ne of the reasons why we are skeptical about the good intentions of the administration to improve the operations of Head Start programs and services is that we haven鈥檛 seen a real commitment to that over the last year,鈥� she said. Staff layoffs, a shift of decision making from the regional offices to the Office of Head Start, and administrative delays 鈥� often stemming from a lack of clear and timely communication, have 鈥渘ot indicated a priority of efficiency and effective service to children,鈥� Warren added.

Head Start has come under threat repeatedly since the start of the second Trump administration. In addition to the consolidation of the regional offices, the program has faced proposed funding freezes and delays, and workforce reduction.

Providers and grantees who reported to the shuttered regional offices largely heard about the fallout through word of mouth and panicked texts and LinkedIn posts. Many said they didn鈥檛 receive any official notice from the federal government until a boilerplate email arrived in their inboxes two days after the change and a number of them told 社区黑料 they went for months without a replacement program specialist.

In total, the regional staff who were laid off or furloughed 鈥� some of whom had worked at the offices for decades 鈥� served 22 states, a number of territories, and hundreds of thousands of children, pregnant women and their families. Local program leaders had long relied on specialists within their regional offices to help navigate everything from grant proposals to building repairs.

The recent survey asked providers to share the impacts of a number of these hurdles on the children and families they serve, with a particular focus on the closures of the regional offices. 

鈥淲hat took 5 minutes now takes hours,鈥� wrote one grantee from Washington.

鈥淚 have received no individual support or check in to see how I or the program is doing since the transition,鈥� wrote a new Head Start program director in Illinois.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a constant whir of panic,鈥� wrote a third from Virginia.

Nearly half of all respondents said delays or uncertainty around funding, along with reduction in staff support from the Office of Head Start has led to difficulty hiring and retaining qualified teaching staff. One-quarter reported additional administrative burden leading to delays in communication with parents and just over 17% reported an inability to purchase or repair equipment.

Lauri Frichtl, executive director of the Illinois Head Start Association, a nonprofit that supports Head Start programs across the state, said that last winter, one of her program鈥檚 buildings flooded after pipes froze and burst over the holiday break. She recalled one of the program directors reaching out to the Office of Head Start for assistance, but that help didn鈥檛 come in time. Ultimately, they were forced to move forward without federal guidance 鈥渂ecause they couldn鈥檛 wait,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou need immediate answers when you鈥檙e in that crisis.鈥�

Frichtl said that before the Illinois regional office closed, she received quick and helpful responses to similar issues.

鈥淯sually you had your program specialist and you had a relationship with them and you were in direct contact with them, and you had immediate feedback, and everything worked well. You may not have liked all of their responses, but at least you had feedback,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 kind of just up in the air. You wait and see.鈥�

Darcee Kilsdonk, executive director鈥� of Clackamas County Children鈥檚 Commission, a nonprofit organization that runs 13 Head Start centers in Oregon, has also experienced administrative delays and challenges after the loss of her regional office. Last August, following inquiries from parents, she submitted a request to redesign the center鈥檚 schedules to align them with local public schools.

Historically, such an application would have been resolved in a month or two, she said. But a year later, she鈥檚 still awaiting approval. 鈥淓very single month I ask about it. Every single month they say 鈥榠t鈥檚 in process.鈥欌�� 

Eventually, Kilsdonk gave up and decided to prioritize the needs of her families, making the schedule change in defiance of the Office of Head Start. 鈥淚 was very open with them that I was going to do it anyway,鈥� she said.

Since the closures of regional offices, Kilsdonk said she has wasted an incredible amount of time trying to navigate the new system, including a four-month period during which she had no program specialist assigned to her at all.

鈥淚f taxpayers knew what this means to the most vulnerable children and families, I cannot believe that they wouldn鈥檛 say, 鈥楨nough is enough,鈥欌�� she said.

Not all providers reported such stark changes and turmoil though: Just under 25% of respondents said their program had not experienced related impacts at all.

Wanda Minick, executive director of the Florida Head Start Association, said that in her nine years doing this work, 鈥渨e鈥檝e always had an issue with communication from our regional office, point blank. There has always been a delay in response.鈥� While Florida鈥檚 regional office was spared during the closures, it still faces increased burdens since they鈥檝e taken on additional states. Over the past year and a half, she said the delays have largely 鈥渟tayed status quo.鈥�

In all, the survey鈥檚 findings point to an already stressed system facing mounting hurdles and unpredictability, leaving providers and families unsure about the program鈥檚 future.

鈥淚t just feels like a huge, heavy blanket over the top of a program,鈥� said Warren. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e constantly under this heavy weight of uncertainty and delay.鈥�

In many cases, though, people are looking to move because they want to start or grow their families, said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, a real estate brokerage &苍产蝉辫;鈥� making the matter of childcare particularly relevant to their search. 

With housing and childcare for many families鈥� two biggest expenses 鈥� an intersection that Redfin explores in a 鈥斅� leaders at Redfin have been looking for a way to bring childcare into their own platform for some time.听

Now, they鈥檙e debuting a new feature, in partnership with Winnie, a national online childcare marketplace, that gives families visibility into nearby early care and education programs right there on the property listing they鈥檙e viewing. 

鈥淪earching for a home often coincides with having a child,鈥� said Fairweather. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e trying to do the calculation on how much house you can afford, it鈥檚 helpful to know what your childcare options are before committing to that mortgage.鈥�

Beginning today, Winnie鈥檚 childcare data from more than 250,000 licensed early care and education programs nationwide is available on every for-sale property listing on Redfin鈥檚 mobile and desktop websites. The integration will be available on Redfin鈥檚 mobile application for iOS and Android by the end of September, said Isabelle Novak, a spokesperson for the real estate company. 

The childcare feature will live right alongside the K-12 feature from GreatSchools 鈥� a nonprofit that rates schools 鈥� that has been available on Redfin for over a decade, Novak added. Prospective buyers, scrolling down a property listing, will see a 鈥淜-12鈥� option and a 鈥淧reschool & daycare鈥� option.

The 鈥淧reschool & daycare鈥� feature pulls the Winnie profiles of nearby providers 鈥� including licensed center-, home- and school-based early childhood programs 鈥� displaying up to five options along with the ages each program serves and its distance from the home. A buyer can click the name of a previewed program to see a pop-up that offers more details, including a provider鈥檚 website URL, hours of operation, description, address, options for financial assistance, language and any parent reviews that have been published to Winnie. 

For further information, buyers can click through to the provider鈥檚 profile on the Winnie website, which may have information like available slots and tuition rates, said Sara Mauskopf, CEO and co-founder of Winnie. Winnie pulls from public state licensing databases to create provider profiles on its site, Mauskopf said. From there, providers can update their pages with additional information. About a quarter of the 250,000 provider pages on Winnie have been claimed, Mauskopf added, and providers who are active on the Winnie platform will frequently update the number and type of open spaces they have in their program, since it can change 鈥渄ay-to-day.鈥� 

Mauskopf believes this partnership will be very valuable to young families for whom 鈥渃hildcare is a necessity, not a nice-to-have,鈥� she said. 

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really critical for families to be thinking about childcare upfront and not as an afterthought,鈥� she said.

Mauskopf, a mom of three, recalled that when she and her husband were trying to find a home in their area, their focus was on home prices, not care options. After they鈥檇 moved, they ended up 鈥渟crambling at the last minute to secure childcare,鈥� even having to consider whether one of them would need to step away from work until they could find childcare for their kids. 

That鈥檚 as important for families moving to quiet rural areas as it is for those in large metro areas, she said. They will want to know if they have many options or few, and if those are within walking distance or require a drive. 

鈥淥ne of the things we know is true is that there are sometimes areas where there is no childcare nearby 鈥� childcare deserts,鈥� Mauskopf said, referencing often used to describe areas that lack access to licensed programs. 鈥淭hose might actually be affordable places to live,鈥� she added, but if care is sparse or unavailable, that could be a dealbreaker for some families. The new feature can help families see whether there are care options near the home they鈥檙e eyeing. 

Indeed, Novak at Redfin said that the childcare integration will only show providers within a 10-mile radius of the address. If there are none, a message will appear noting that no programs were found within that distance of the home. 

One detail that many families will be seeking is the cost of childcare in a given area. Unfortunately, Mauskopf said, a lot of early care and education programs still require families to tour the space before sharing prices, 鈥渨hich is crazy,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unlike any market.鈥� 

That may soon change, though. She has recently to a shift in the industry, in which providers are starting to post tuition information publicly 鈥� a change likely driven by the fact that families are asking AI about program rates, she noted. 

鈥淎 lot of providers, for the first time, are willing to list prices online, since AI will just give you an answer anyway,鈥� Mauskopf said. 

A majority of programs are still requiring parents to come in first, she said, but there鈥檚 increasing willingness to share costs upfront. She hopes that shift will continue and can soon be reflected in the Redfin integration so families can have a complete picture of their costs before making a move.

Updated August 18, 2026

A few years ago, Eric Gil was living at his uncle鈥檚 place in Waterbury, Connecticut, where he shared a bedroom with his brother and cousin. With eight people in the house, it was crowded. 

He was trying to get out, but rental prices in Waterbury 鈥� which currently average 鈥� were prohibitively expensive. Housing costs in New Haven, where he works as an assistant preschool teacher at Friends Center for Children, a nonprofit early care and education program, were even higher.

鈥淚 was looking everywhere,鈥� Gil recalled. 鈥淚t was out of my budget. It was like, for monthly rent, 40% of my monthly income. It was outrageous, basically.鈥�

He and other early childhood educators are among the in the United States, often earning less than dog walkers. But short of a complete overhaul of the current early care and education system, that seems unlikely to change anytime soon. 

Thus, Gil remained in his uncle鈥檚 house, with a long daily commute to his teaching job and no clear way out. That is, until Friends Center offered him an opportunity to move into his own place just minutes away from his job 鈥� for free 鈥� through its , which covers the full cost of housing for select staff.

Friends Center, a early learning program with four locations across New Haven, currently employs 47 teachers, many of whom are in situations that resemble Gil鈥檚. On their salaries, the area鈥檚 housing costs have left many of them in less-than-desirable living arrangements. 

It鈥檚 an issue that Friends Center has been trying to solve for years. Back in 2019, the organization wanted to get to the root of the problem and raise salaries, said CEO Allyx Schiavone. But after months of trying to figure out how to budget for salary increases, Schiavone realized they couldn鈥檛 cover them without more public funding or raising tuition for families. 

So they tried to do the next best thing and reduce what was overwhelmingly the biggest expense for employees. 

鈥淎t that moment,鈥� Schiavone said, 鈥渨e decided, as an organization, we were going to tackle that: We were going to figure out how to give teachers free housing.鈥�

The teacher housing initiative formally kicked off in 2020, when the first teacher moved into a three-family home. Today, 10 teachers, including Gil, live in free housing provided by Friends Center, with two more slated to move in this fall. The nonprofit has set a goal of housing 30% of its growing teaching staff by 2028, which Schiavone said it is on track to do; the center expects to double its housing inventory over the next three years. 

As the teacher housing initiative is scaling up in New Haven, the work is catching on elsewhere too. Early childhood educators in Missouri, Michigan and Georgia are also getting free housing now, with inspiration and support from leaders at Friends Center. 

When the initiative began, the first two properties 鈥� a three-family home and a single-family home 鈥� were donated to Friends Center, creating four housing units for staff members. In addition to donated properties, Friends Center also has a partnership with Yale School of Architecture, in which graduate students design and construct about one home per year for an early childhood educator. All the properties involved in the initiative are owned by Friends Center, making the organization both the landlord and employer of all teacher residents.

The benefit of free housing can be a game-changer for teachers. In Connecticut, early childhood educators earn, on average, about $31,000 per year, according to the most recent from the Early Childhood Workforce Index, and the median in the state is about $24,000 per year, according to Zillow.

Friends Center pays its staff well above the state average, Schiavone said, but it鈥檚 still 鈥渘ot a livable wage.鈥� 

When the organization decided to provide free housing to its teachers, it intentionally started with those who needed it most 鈥� typically the lowest-income earners with dependents. 

The first tenant, housed in 2020, was a single mom. The next year, another single mother, Paris Pierce, moved into a single-family home with her young children. Both homes were purchased by donors for Friends Center.听

Pierce said she loves the charms that come with her old house, like the stained-glass windows. She loves all the natural light that floods in, too, and the fact that her kids 鈥� now ages 4, 8 and 14 鈥� have more room than before.

Gil moved into Friends Center housing about two years ago. He lives in a home that was built by students through the partnership with Yale University. 

The Yale houses are worth about $750,000, and Friends Center is getting them for about $300,000. These homes are all constructed on one large property that was donated to the housing initiative. Today, five Friends Center teachers live as neighbors in that area, which is known as 鈥渢he Village鈥� and is about a five-minute walk from the program where most of them work.

Gil lives with one of his teaching colleagues. They share a kitchen, but otherwise have separate spaces throughout the house, which Gil said is very spacious with 鈥渉uge, beautiful鈥� windows 鈥� his favorite part of his new residence. The two colleagues have since become friends, Gil said; they often read, watch movies, play video games and work out together. 

Every teacher who receives free housing meets monthly with a financial coach to help them set and reach goals. How much do they want to be saving each month? How can they improve their credit scores? 

Pierce said her goal is to save money, and already she鈥檚 been able to put her two older children in extracurricular activities 鈥� dance for her daughter and soccer for her son 鈥� that she wasn鈥檛 able to afford before. Pierce recently enrolled in a program to earn her bachelor鈥檚 degree so she can become a lead teacher. 

The free housing, Pierce said, has made her a better mother and a better teacher. 

鈥淚 can show up being my best self, not worrying about making ends meet. I can pursue other things,鈥� she said. 鈥淐hildren pick up on everything, [so] me being able to show up and be my best self is a great feeling.鈥�

It didn鈥檛 take long for word of the housing initiative to travel far. Many early care and education programs across the country heard about Friends Center鈥檚 approach and wanted to learn more. Since 2020, more than 1,000 visitors have traveled to New Haven to see it for themselves, and some have taken their observations back home and begun to act. 

Leaders at Urban Sprouts, a nonprofit early learning program in St. Louis, visited Friends Center in August 2025. They thought it was a clever approach to the teacher shortage in the field, even if it wasn鈥檛 directly remedying the issue of teachers being 鈥渨oefully underpaid,鈥� said Joey Saunders, chief of strategy and advancement at Urban Sprouts. 

Urban Sprouts, which serves about 130 children from birth to age 5 at a single location, launched a pilot program this year that would provide free housing to staff in a model that closely aligns with Friends Center鈥檚. Program leaders identified two teachers for the first two houses in its pilot. 

Zarina Militello, an infant-toddler teacher at Urban Sprouts, moved into a two-bedroom house in April. Urban Sprouts, with the help of some partner organizations, had furnished every room in the space except her bedroom. 鈥淓verything down to kitchen utensils was provided,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was very, very nice.鈥�

Militello had been living with her parents and younger brothers until the move earlier this year. The average cost of a studio apartment in University City, the neighborhood in St. Louis where the center is located, is between $1,400 and $1,600 per month, Saunders said. Militello preferred to save money by living with her parents over spending most of her paycheck on rent, especially with student loans hanging over her. But she was commuting 45 minutes each way, often arriving to work late, and spending way too much of her income on gas, she said. 

Now, living in the employer housing, she can walk to work in about 5 minutes 鈥� and is showing up on time every day. 

Jenyne Woodruff, a longtime pre-K teacher at Urban Sprouts, learned in June that the center had purchased a three-bedroom house for her, her daughter and her granddaughter. Seeing the house for the first time, she was very emotional. When she moved in earlier this summer, it became the first time in her entire life that she鈥檚 had her own bedroom. Even in the rental property she just left, which she shared with her daughter and granddaughter, Woodruff didn鈥檛 have a room with a door 鈥� and for that she was paying about $1,700 per month. 

鈥淚t is a literal dream come true,鈥� she said of the new house. 鈥淚t has been rough. I鈥檝e been on my own since I was 19 years old. It鈥檚 been a struggle. When I walked in [to my new house], I just felt like it was my home. I am very grateful.鈥�

In Battle Creek, Michigan, a group of seven community partners has come together to form a version of Friends Center鈥檚 housing initiative 鈥� which is now named First Home, First Teacher 鈥� that aims to provide rent-free housing as a salaried benefit to 30% of the area鈥檚 childcare workforce over the next 20 years.

Battle Creek, with a population of 55,000, lacks a large center-based early care and education provider like Friends Center, said Kathy Szenda Wilson, co-executive director of Pulse, an initiative of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research focused on improving early childhood development in Michigan. (Pulse is one of the groups that helped design and launch the initiative in Battle Creek.) Instead, Battle Creek has lots of small programs. By her count, there are about 550 employees across 34 center-based programs in the city.听

The model builds on an earlier to provide short-term rental assistance to childcare workers during and after the pandemic. 鈥淔rom that, at least we know the ground is tilled,鈥� said Szenda Wilson. 

After traveling to Connecticut and seeing what Friends Center was doing, a team of early childhood advocates from Battle Creek wondered what it would take for their community to offer something more transformational than rental assistance. 

The First Home, First Teacher initiative in Battle Creek is still young. This summer, the partner organizations are working to establish a trust and a governing board to oversee the initiative. But they鈥檙e not letting the process hold up progress.听

On June 8, the partners had a 鈥渇urnishing day鈥� with the two inaugural teacher residents of First Home, First Teacher in Battle Creek 鈥� two single moms from two different centers, living with their kids in a two-unit duplex.听

The pilot at Urban Sprouts, the initiative in Battle Creek, and an early childhood program in Georgia that started a year-and-a-half ago and has so far housed two teachers are all working closely with Friends Center. Schiavone, at Friends Center, is glad to see communities building on the model she established in Connecticut. 

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing here in New Haven is version 1.0,鈥� she said. 

To truly scale, she added, the work needs to be publicly funded, and the model needs to move away from having the childcare program as the property owner.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 think, at the scale version, that is the best way to move forward,鈥� she said. 鈥淐hildcare providers don鈥檛 want to be owners and landlords.鈥�

That鈥檚 why she鈥檚 especially interested to see what comes of the work in Battle Creek. 

Schiavone and the other program leaders are clear, though, that free teacher housing is not a solution to the systemic problems that face early childhood educators. 

鈥淓arly childhood education is only as strong as the people who provide it,鈥� Schiavone said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e paying women to be in poverty. It is completely unacceptable.鈥�

Saunders, at Urban Sprouts in St. Louis, emphasized that the housing initiative there is in pilot stage and will hopefully scale, but that it鈥檚 not meant to distract from the larger issues in the field. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to ring the bell that this is a real crisis across our nation,鈥� he said. 

鈥淚f we want high-quality early care and education, then we need educators to be stable and feel secure and be their best selves,鈥� Schiavone said. 鈥淲e believe you can鈥檛 wait for public funding. If you wait, ideas will die. You need to move forward.鈥�

Clarification: Friends Center is working in partnership with the Yale School of Architecture鈥檚 graduate students to design and construct homes for early childhood educators.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of children the first tenant had. The story has also been updated to reflect a recent name change to Friend Center鈥檚 housing initiative. It鈥檚 now called First Home, First Teacher.听

The turning point came several years ago for Reed, who lives in Spokane, Washington, when she was offered transitional housing in an apartment building that happened to be co-located with a Head Start program. 

Reed, a single mom, enrolled her youngest child, an infant daughter named Evie, in Head Start.

The federal antipoverty program is best known for providing high-quality early care and education to young children from low-income families, but as Reed soon learned, what truly sets it apart is the slew of wraparound services that meet families where they are and help them build toward something better. 

Head Start provided Reed with essential goods like diapers, formula, clothing and food. Staff helped her navigate the public school system with her older son, who has autism, even though he wasn鈥檛 in the program. Head Start provided her daughter with free hearing and vision screenings and dental care. It empowered her to 鈥渇ind her voice鈥� by giving her a leadership position with the policy council, a majority-parent group involved in each Head Start program鈥檚 decision-making, a step which she said has made her a 鈥渂etter mom and 鈥� better community member.鈥� 

鈥淚 felt like they loved my children like they were their own and cared about all of our well-beings,鈥� said Reed, whose daughter is moving on to kindergarten later this month. 鈥淭hey saw us as a whole and tried to help wherever they could. And if they couldn’t, they would sit down and research what would help.鈥�

Some of the very services that proved to be transformational for Reed and her family, however, may now be at risk. 

In a proposed rule change on Aug. 6, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invoked the name of his uncle, Sargent Shriver, who led Head Start’s creation in 1965, saying his department was “removing unnecessary bureaucracy” that would return the program to its roots. Others say the changes will weaken or eliminate most of the standards that have long positioned Head Start as the 鈥済old standard鈥� for early care and education licensing and quality in this country. “Nothing else compares,” said Shantel Meek, founder and executive director of the Children鈥檚 Equity Project at Arizona State University.

The Trump administration is proposing that the of Head Start Program Performance Standards be reduced to about a dozen pages, eliminating requirements for standards such as low adult-to-child ratios; services such as medical, dental and developmental screenings and individualized services for children with disabilities; and requiring programs to conduct all education in the English language. The , which will officially be published to the Federal Register tomorrow, outlines the drastic reduction in standards. If passed, these changes would allow Head Start programs to adhere only to state and local childcare licensing requirements, which typically fall of the quality and safety standards long embraced by Head Start.

鈥淚t basically takes the country from the ceiling to the floor,鈥� said Meek. 鈥淭he kids that Head Start serves will bear the brunt of the impact, but it will go beyond. States and the field in general see Head Start as a north star we鈥檙e trying to build to, and they鈥檙e trying to tear that down and gut the heart of the program.鈥�

In addition to removing many Head Start standards, this proposed rule would also change the cap on administrative overhead from 15% to 5% of a program鈥檚 total costs. Trump officials believe this, plus other cost-saving measures such as having fewer teachers on staff, serving more children in each classroom and spending less money on services such as home visiting and mental health supports, will reinvest up to $2.2 billion in the program, allowing Head Start to 鈥減reserve or expand鈥� services to an additional 236,000 children nationwide. Critics, however, believe that reducing the quality of care for the sake of adding slots is a dangerous game to be playing 鈥� especially when quality has been a hallmark of Head Start throughout its history. 

鈥淚t feels like the Trump administration is saying, 鈥楲et鈥檚 see who can do this for the cheapest.鈥� That鈥檚 not what I think anyone wants 鈥� or should want,鈥� said Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Association of Head Start and the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program. 鈥淚 see this rule as incredibly destructive. I see it as another attempt to dismantle the Head Start program.鈥�

Ryan鈥檚 colleague Lori Pittman, chief strategist at the WSA and a former Head Start parent, said the 5% cap would be a 鈥渞eally, really scary thing.鈥�

鈥淭o take away the foundation and the structures that build this house called Head Start,鈥� Pittman added, 鈥渨ill only destroy it, and we鈥檙e not going to let that happen.鈥�

The publication of the full proposal tomorrow will kick off a 60-day period of public comments, during which administration officials will receive and review feedback. The federal changes could also face legal challenges, many stakeholders told 社区黑料.

Katie Hamm, former deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development under President Joe Biden, said that the proposal would strip away the elements of Head Start that make it exceptional. 

鈥淲hat sets Head Start apart from other programs are its quality standards, comprehensive services, parental involvement in shaping the program, and a commitment to welcoming all children,鈥� Hamm said. 鈥淎ll of those things are undermined in the revision.鈥�

Trump administration officials see it differently. The proposed rule is about cutting red tape and 鈥渢rusting local leaders to make the decisions that are best for their local communities,鈥� said Alex Adams, who leads the Administration for Children and Families at HHS, during a call with reporters, adding that 鈥渙ne-size-fits-all mandates from Washington cannot fully account for the realities facing the 1,600 grantees.鈥� 

Later in the call, Adams referred to the proposed rule as a 鈥渞ight-sizing鈥� of Head Start and emphasized that the flexibility these changes are meant to provide is 鈥減ermission, not a mandate.鈥�

Yet leaders on the ground fear that if it鈥檚 not required, it won鈥檛 hold up in most programs. 

鈥淗ow quickly this affects families will vary by program, and that’s the problem,鈥� said Hamm. 鈥淚f the floor is gone, it comes down to whether each local decision-maker chooses to hold the line or start cutting corners. That’s happening against flat funding and rising costs, with pressure to serve more children. When a standard isn’t on paper, it becomes optional.鈥� 

Head Start, a federally funded early childhood development program that turned 60 last year, has come under fire repeatedly since the start of the second Trump administration a year-and-a-half-ago. 

The program serving nearly has long been a target of the right, most recently with the conservative playbook calling for its total elimination and a leaked appearing to cut funding for the program altogether. Though that ultimately didn鈥檛 pass, the administration turned to what Hamm called 鈥渢he death-by-a-thousand-cuts approach,鈥� repeatedly delaying funding and disrupting grants, closing roughly half of the program’s regional offices and eliminating a number of federal positions that supported Head Start.

The administration then unsuccessfully attempted to ban practices involving diversity, equity and inclusion and exclude scores of immigrant kids from the program, meaning preschoolers without legal status 鈥� and even some with鈥� . And it the federal policy protecting childcare programs 鈥� and other so-called sensitive locations 鈥� from immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, last year鈥檚 government shutdown also locked thousands of the nation鈥檚 most vulnerable kids out of Head Start programming. And more recently, the administration a Biden-era rule requiring higher wages and better benefits for Head Start teachers.

This week鈥檚 proposal to overhaul Head Start鈥檚 regulatory standards will only further contribute to the widespread uncertainty and confusion, various stakeholders told 社区黑料. And if the changes are confirmed, they will have enduring consequences for children, families and early educators. 

To middle and upper class Americans, the value of some of Head Start鈥檚 signature services may seem overstated, noted Nancy Baker, Head Start director for the Butler County Educational Service Center in southwest Ohio, which oversees 631 children in Early Head Start and Head Start across 16 sites in two counties. 

But the reality is that for many children in Head Start, the classroom setting may be their only opportunity for services such as oral care or a vision screening. 

鈥淭hese families are in poverty,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淭hey may not have transportation 鈥� If you are working in a low-paying job that may not offer sick leave, when the doctor鈥檚 visit comes due and you have to work that day, a parent will have to choose between, 鈥楧o I go to work, or do I take my child to the dentist and risk being fired?鈥欌�� 

鈥淓very day missed is money out of your pocket,鈥� Baker added. 鈥淚t becomes kind of a vicious cycle.鈥�

Head Start鈥檚 comprehensive services are provided, in part, out of a recognition that families who are eligible for the program face resource constraints and other barriers that may prevent them from meeting their children鈥檚 basic needs. The program aims to address those needs so families can pursue stability and children can be free to learn, develop and thrive. 

Plus, Baker added, physical impairments in a young child can be mistaken for behavioral issues. A child with imperfect vision may be perceived as inattentive and unable to focus. With a pair of glasses, their entire learning experience 鈥� and classroom identity 鈥� can change. Head Start also tests children for lead, Baker added. They鈥檝e discovered children in Butler County with high lead levels, which 鈥渃an mimic ADHD-type behaviors,鈥� she said, adding that 鈥渃ontinuous lead exposure can lead to some pretty serious cognitive delays.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a holistic program,鈥� Baker said of Head Start. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much, much more than childcare. It鈥檚 even much more than preschool. That鈥檚 where the standards start coming into play.鈥�

Baker is proud of the services her community鈥檚 Head Start programs provide to children and families, from nutrition to family engagement to mental health consultations. And she is 鈥渄isheartened鈥� by this new attempt to 鈥渨hittle down鈥� Head Start. 

鈥淪ome things they鈥檙e looking to reduce or eliminate are not massive, budget-saving things,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just good things to do for kids, particularly for children experiencing poverty.鈥�

Most of the standards the administration wants to eliminate, she added, are 鈥済ood, proven services that don鈥檛 break the bank. We鈥檙e not tied up in bureaucracy and red tape. These are health screenings. Why would you want to get rid of that?鈥�

Meek feels similarly about the 鈥渃utting red tape鈥� argument from the administration. 

鈥淏rushing kids鈥� teeth and providing inclusive services for kids with disabilities and 鈥� using ratios that are manageable so adults can engage in the learning process with kids 鈥� none of that is red tape,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose are all essential things to make sure kids are safe, healthy, developing and learning.鈥�

Some parents have echoed these concerns. Reed, the mom in Spokane, worries about the elimination of Head Start鈥檚 low ratios, which allow adults to work with fewer children at a time, thereby giving each child more care and attention. 

If this proposal is confirmed later this year and Head Start programs do begin to align only with state and local childcare licensing requirements, many programs could see dramatic increases in ratios and group sizes. 

For example, Early Head Start, an extension of Head Start that serves infants and toddlers, allows one adult to care for up to four 2-year-olds at a given time. Only three states meet that same benchmark for 2-year-olds, according to an from the Children鈥檚 Equity Project. By contrast, in Mississippi, one adult is permitted to care for up to 12 2-year-olds, and in Texas and Florida, one adult can care for up to 11 toddlers. If a Head Start teacher begins caring for two or even three times as many children as before, they not only risk missing warning signs in some children 鈥� such as a behavioral issue or a physical need going unmet 鈥� but they are also much more likely to burn out and leave the position.

Meek, at the Children鈥檚 Equity Project, said this is one of the standards that she feels most strongly about. Another, she said, is the impact on dual language learners. 

Currently, Head Start standards include several provisions specific to children who are learning English alongside the language that is spoken at home. For example, if a majority of children in a program speak a primary language other than English, at least one staff member who regularly interacts with those children must also speak that language. 

That standard has been in place since 1975, when the original regulatory standards for Head Start were published, the Children鈥檚 Equity Project found. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not something new and crazy and ideological that was added,鈥� Meek said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been there since the beginning.鈥�

The changes for dual language learners 鈥� including the requirement that all programs educate children only in English 鈥� would affect an estimated of children in Head Start.

Adams at ACF told reporters in the press briefing that he hoped the 60-day public comment period would lead to 鈥渞obust engagement and thoughtful engagement with the community so we can get this rule right in broad strokes.鈥� 

But at least some families and providers involved in Head Start worry that the major decisions around this rule change have already been made. 

鈥淭his is like a slow-moving disaster,鈥� said Ryan, 鈥渁 slow erosion as dollars fade away, people fade away and ultimately quality fades away. And that鈥檚 the real danger in this.鈥�

WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump’s administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of  that would gut its quality standards, upending the hallmarks of the early education program for impoverished children, two people familiar with the deliberations said.

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard early learning program. Its regulations, which stretch more than 100 pages, outline requirements on everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.

Trump’s Republican administration would replace those regulations with around a dozen pages of rules, leaving most of the specifics up to state and local law, said the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public and because they feared reprisal.

In a post on X on Saturday night, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, said to expect a rule to be published this week. The administration 鈥渞emains committed to strengthening Head Start by preserving federal investment in the program while advancing reforms that expand access, increase local flexibility, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and ensure services are delivered effectively to children and families in need,” department spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Monday in an email.

The draft rules would require more documentation from parents who are homeless or unemployed, the people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press. An early version of the proposal also would have barred parents who are in the United States illegally from enrolling their children, even if the children are U.S. citizens. It’s unclear whether those provisions will make the final draft.

Head Start, which operates in all 50 states, has long enjoyed robust bipartisan support. But some prominent conservatives in recent years have called for , saying the federal government should get out of the education business at every level. Deregulating the program would deliver a win for them and aligns with the Trump administration’s goals of scrapping rules it views as onerous or unnecessary.

Head Start is designed to target poverty, experts say

Head Start serves more than half a million low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers nationwide. For families that qualify, it offers free preschool and screenings to identify developmental delays. It also offers supports for families.

If the changes take effect, they could make Head Start unrecognizable, said Khari Garvin, who ran the Office of Head Start under President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

鈥淲e’d have the carcass of Head Start,鈥� Garvin said. 鈥淵ou might have a program that’s called Head Start, but in substance it will not be.鈥�

The proposed rules were originally reported in The Bulwark.

Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said the organization has yet to see the proposed rules. But he said the potential for a massive overhaul has left the organization on edge.

鈥淲e’re very anxious,鈥� Sheridan said. 鈥淲hen it does come out … we鈥檒l be ready to fight back where we need to fight back.鈥�

Still, he emphasized that Head Start centers might not be impacted for months, if the rules get on the books at all. Once the proposal is made public, federal law requires the administration to give at least a month for the public to weigh in on it. Then, once finalized, it may take more time for the rules to take effect. There’s also the potential for a lawsuit to halt implementation.

Current rules cover dental screenings and staff-to-student ratios

Head Start was created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson鈥檚 War on Poverty and targets the myriad challenges that low-income households face. It serves children and adults alike, coaching parents on reaching their goals, connecting them with services and even employing them.

Head Start operators, which include school districts and nonprofit organizations, are required to provide medical, dental and vision screenings for children and to monitor them for developmental delays. There’s also a curriculum framework and prohibitions on physical and emotional abuse of children.

Many of the features that make Head Start distinct from mainstream preschools are spelled out in 122 pages of performance standards. The Trump administration’s proposal would toss most of that rule book and replace it with a much shorter version that eliminates or loosens many requirements, the people familiar with the proposal said. But the proposal also calls for some new regulations, such as requiring all instruction in English.

Requirements around staff-to-student ratios and safety standards would be erased. Operators instead would be instructed to follow local and state laws, which are often far more permissive. And the new proposal also says nothing about suspensions and expulsions, the people said, making it easier for programs to  who are difficult to educate.

Head Start is under threat

Head Start, which has enjoyed robust bipartisan support for decades, has faced several threats since Trump . Project 2025,  authored by the official who is now Trump’s budget chief, called for the federal government to get rid of the program altogether. Last year, in a draft budget, the administration proposed exactly that, saying: 鈥淭he federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations, and performance standards for any form of education.鈥� After public outcry, Health Secretary , whose department oversees Head Start, told Congress the program’s funding was safe.

Funding for the program was disrupted not long after Trump took office, leading some programs to have to shutter temporarily. It was once again halted after  in October that led some centers briefly to close their doors.

Earlier this year, Trump officials also erased a Biden-era rule that mandated raises and greater benefits for Head Start employees. When the rule went in to effect in 2024, , the majority of whom have bachelor’s degrees, earned less than $40,000 a year on average.

The story was originally published by The Associated Press. Ali Swenson contributed reporting.

Parents, early educators, childcare providers, labor leaders, business leaders, advocates and community organizations came together around a shared belief: Our youngest children deserved better than a fragmented system that asked families to shoulder impossible burdens while treating early childhood as an afterthought instead of the essential public infrastructure it has always been.

Together, they built , also known as the Children’s Health & Child Care Initiative for Alameda County. It鈥檚 a community-led, voter-approved half-cent sales tax dedicated to early care and education expected to generate $150 million annually. Measure C wasn’t created simply to fund more childcare. It was created to build the early childhood infrastructure that allows families to work, children to thrive, providers to succeed and communities to prosper.

In its first year of implementation, Measure C more than $135 million across Alameda County, reaching nearly 20,000 children, supporting more than 6,400 educators and caregivers, improving early learning facilities buildings and programming, helping childcare providers keep their doors open, connecting more families with the care they need, and building a stronger, more connected early childhood system.

Those investments matter because the need has always been profound. In Alameda County, which lies across the bay from San Francisco, who qualify for subsidized childcare are not receiving it. Nearly half of families live in what researchers call a licensed childcare desert, and two out of every three children are not fully prepared for kindergarten.

These aren’t individual failures. They are the predictable outcome of decades of underinvestment in one of the most important public systems we have.

Decades of have shown that a child’s earliest years shape lifelong health, educational success and economic opportunity. Yet historically, we have invested far less in those years than the evidence, and our families, have demanded.

I grew up between working-class New Hampshire and San Francisco’s Mission District, shaped by both the strength and the fragility of public systems. That’s the lens I’ve carried through nearly 30 years in public service, social services, economic development, federal regulatory work and now as CEO of First 5 Alameda County, the agency responsible for implementing Measure C. I’ve learned the difference between policies that make a splash and systems that actually change lives.

Funding matters. Implementation determines whether funding changes lives.

Public dollars become real opportunities for families only when communities have the capacity to put those investments to work. That means building partnerships, strong fiscal stewardship, workforce development, facilities, transparent accountability, modern data systems and public institutions capable of responding to what families actually need.

Because what families need is often more nuanced than the legislation, the art of interpretation for implementation is critical. In Alameda County, more than searching for childcare are looking for providers who speak a language other than English. 

More than one-quarter of working parents need care outside traditional business hours. Families raising children with disabilities continue to face significant barriers finding inclusive programs. These aren’t exceptions, they’re everyday realities that should shape how public systems are designed.

Responding effectively to those realities requires more than funding announcements or good intentions. It requires public institutions willing to partner with communities, listen to families, invest strategically and continually improve operations and program design based on lived experience.

This kind of stewardship rarely attracts headlines. It happens in community centers, church halls, classrooms, neighborhood meetings and around kitchen tables. It’s technical, collaborative and often invisible. Yet it’s the work that determines whether public investment succeeds or stalls.

Alameda County isn’t alone. Across the country, communities are reaching the same conclusion: Early childhood isn’t private family responsibility. It is essential public infrastructure.

That’s the same shift happening elsewhere. New Mexico has built one of the most ambitious early childhood systems in the country through sustained public investment. New York City has made universal childcare central to its economic future. San Francisco keeps expanding what it invests locally to close gaps in access. Different paths, same realization: Where a lack of national childcare policy and funding has left a hole, communities are stepping up to build the system themselves.

No single county can do that alone. But a system built well and built to be shared becomes something bigger than the place that built it. What we’re working toward isn’t just about helping the kids down the block. It’s an example to inform national policy and practice, to set a regulatory framework and funding to help the kids down the block 鈥� and the kids growing up on the Eastern Seaboard, too.

Measure C began as a promise to the children in our own neighborhoods. The question now isn’t whether that kind of promise can work, Alameda County is proof that it does. It’s how we can use local examples to demonstrate we can achieve national promise to all families and children, making the local implementation that much easier to achieve lasting results for kids and families.

For as long as anyone remembers, no childcare center on Kaua驶i has had a single opening for an infant or toddler. Not one.

On this tropical island lush with vegetation, the childcare landscape is desolate. Kaua驶i is the only major Hawaiian island that has gone without center-based infant and toddler care for most of the past 15 years if not more 鈥� the data just doesn鈥檛 go back any further. 

There are spots on the island鈥檚 military base, but those are reserved for military families. There have historically been about 22 licensed home-based childcare centers that could also take infants and toddlers, but they鈥檙e limited to only two children under 18 months; most choose to only have one infant or none at all. That amounts to about 10 to 14 seats for the 700 babies who are born on the island every year. And hiring a nanny on Kaua鈥檌 is a prohibitive cost for many: The going rate is between $35 and $40 an hour. 

On the mainland, if parents are in a childcare desert, they often get around it by driving to the next nearest town or moving neighborhoods to be near family. On Kaua驶i, there鈥檚 nowhere to go without leaving the tiny island behind. So parents have made it work because they had to. Families living intergenerationally relied on each other to help with the care. Grandmas and aunties stepped in to help. Moms took their kids to work with them or they found a job that they could do from home to give them more flexibility. In many cases, moms left the labor force altogether. 

This has gone on so long that it has become an accepted way of life. 

Across Hawai鈥檌, of parents report leaving their jobs due to childcare challenges, according to a 2025 survey by the Chamber of Commerce Hawai鈥檌. On Kaua驶i, 鈥渋t is a very stressful situation, and in most cases it’s going to be the mother that has to to quit her job and stay at home and it puts on an additional burden to the family financially,鈥� said Carol Wear, the executive director of PATCH, Hawai鈥檌鈥檚 childcare resource and referral agency.

The situation came to a head during the pandemic, which decimated the scant childcare options on Kaua鈥檌. Five home-based childcare centers had shuttered by 2023. Families鈥� finances got tighter after the island鈥檚 top industry, tourism, much of 2020. An already unwieldy housing affordability problem . Fewer families could afford to have one parent home not working to care for their child. 

Faced with a need that was growing more desperate, the island鈥檚 first known infant and toddler spots opened up by 2024. The Kaua驶i Montessori Project, a preschool in L墨hu驶e, the county seat, opened 12 infant and toddler spots thanks to some grant funding that came through during the pandemic. Then an Early Head Start center serving the lowest-income children 鈥� 鈥� opened in 2025 with eight infant and toddler spots. Coming soon is a third center, a renovated grocery store space, that the county decided to turn solely into an infant-toddler center in response to the need. It will open with 32 seats for kids ages 6 weeks to 3 years old early next year. 

That brings the count of infant-toddler spots to about 30 currently 鈥� still only enough for about 4 percent of the island鈥檚 infants. For the Head Start center, the kids on that waitlist alone could fill three more centers, said Novelyn Hinazumi, the director of Kaua驶i programs at Child & Family Service, the nonprofit that operates Head Start programs on the island. 

鈥淭his shortage has placed enormous strain on families, contributed to workforce loss and increased community awareness of the need for systemic change,鈥� said Natasha Perry, the county鈥檚 early childhood coordinator. 

For moms, it has put into question whether their families can continue to live on Kaua驶i at all. 

Aakara Wiegand, a single mom of a 2-year-old who has lived in Hawai鈥檌 for 15 years, has to take her daughter with her to work at a rental car company. With her other business running wellness retreats, she can only do about half as many events because she can barely manage it with her toddler. 

The nanny rates are unaffordable, Wiegand said. And even finding a nanny at the last minute is difficult. She had one nanny lined up for an upcoming colonoscopy, but the nanny had to travel, so Wiegand was forced to cancel her appointment. 

It has put severe strain on her life, she said: 鈥淚 have basically stopped doing things.鈥� 

Even more complicated is the fact that her toddler is receiving early intervention services for her speech and social emotional development. The very few options on the island don鈥檛 often cater to children who need additional support, Wiegand said. Last year, she was able to get her daughter a spot at a daycare, but she only lasted there four days. 鈥淪he just couldn’t emotionally fit in that group, but it was the only option available. So that was frustrating at that time,鈥� Wiegand said.

With no family or support on the island, Wiegand is starting to research a move to North Carolina in the next year. Becoming a parent has changed her experience on Kaua鈥檌.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just not a very sustainable environment anymore,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely taken a toll on me.鈥�

Part of how Kaua驶i found itself with such a severe infant and toddler care shortage is a familiar story. In Kaua驶i, like much of the country, infant and toddler spots because no one makes money from them. Per Hawai鈥檌鈥檚 licensing rules, there needs to be one teacher for every four infants in each infant-toddler classroom, which makes staffing expensive. 

But on this island, there鈥檚 also a space problem. 

Hawai鈥檌鈥檚 licensing guidelines require of play or instructional space per child as well as 75 square feet of outdoor space per child, not unlike what most other states require. In most places that鈥檚 not a big constraint, but on an island 33 miles wide with a massive housing shortage, real estate is tight. 

Mandie Gibson, the principal of the Koloa Early School, a preschool on the south part of the island about 10 miles west of L墨hu驶e, said she鈥檚 been trying to add an additional building to run an infant-toddler center for seven or eight years, but on the island, the process is lengthy. Even if it does come together soon, which she expects it may, construction is projected to take six to 10 months. Adjusted for Kaua驶i time 鈥� everything takes longer here, she said 鈥� it鈥檒l likely be closer to a year and a half.

Gibson first sought to add infant and toddler spots as a workforce retention tool for her own staff. But the addition didn鈥檛 come together in time; she lost one full-time teacher last year when his wife had a baby and he had to move into a part-time position elsewhere. 

She鈥檚 seen families on both ends of the spectrum: those with the means to hire nannies to care for their younger children and those who had to move away to find care. 

鈥淗ere, it’s very transient. It’s three to five years for a lot of people. The island spits you up or embraces you,鈥� Gibson said. 

Kaua驶i鈥檚 retention problem also extends to its teachers. If the island wants to continue to add more infant-toddler centers, it鈥檚 going to have to figure out how to recruit and train staff. Under Hawai鈥檌 regulations, infant and toddler teachers depending on their education level need one to two years of experience with that age group to qualify. How do you get experience on an island that has never really had spots to begin with?

Toni Fujimoto, the early childhood education program coordinator at Kaua驶i Community College, has been working on that side of the problem for years, including helping shape recommendations to the state to modernize the childcare licensing requirement. One of her goals is to set up apprenticeship programs for her students in partnership with the island鈥檚 centers. Some students can currently get experience at home-based centers or at centers like Gibson鈥檚, which takes kids as young as 2 and technically counts as infant-toddler experience. But the options are severely limited. 

And it鈥檚 already hard to recruit students to early childhood because the positions are among the lowest paid jobs in the country; some students just choose to work in tourism or other industries instead of pursuing the education needed to work in childcare. Last semester, Fujimoto had only four graduates from the associate鈥檚 degree program. She is now recruiting as early as middle school, sussing out any students who may have interest. 

One of Fujimoto鈥檚 recent graduates, Alysha Palacio, grew up on Kaua驶i with her grandparents caring for her. But she did not have that option when she became pregnant her senior year in high school in 2021. Her fiance is a plumber and couldn鈥檛 bring their daughter with him to work. Her mother is a store manager who works from sun up to sundown with no days off. Her father is a waiter who often works double shifts. Her grandparents passed away. Already, Palacio鈥檚 sister-in-law had to leave the island because of lack of childcare.

Palacio chose to study early childhood education 鈥� hoping, at first, that it would also prepare her for being a mom 鈥� and kept her daughter with her while she did classes on Zoom or went to campus. It took her four years to complete her associate degree. She graduated in May hoping to go work at a preschool but is still waiting to hear back about a job.

Out in the community, she sees the struggle reflected in other moms. At a restaurant recently, she noticed her server鈥檚 young children sitting alone at a back table. 

鈥淎nother waitress comes in and she has her kids, and she puts her kids on this back table, and it clicked in my head that they’re bringing their kids here because they have nobody else to watch them, so their kids are literally going to work with them,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I see that in public I feel really bad.鈥�

At Kaua驶i Montessori, director Marci Whitman has had to weigh whose pocketbook she would hurt more. She recently lost two teachers because they couldn鈥檛 afford housing on the island; another two nearly became homeless. But to pay them, she had to raise an already high tuition. 

She chose the teachers, who are paid between $20 and $27 an hour. 

Over the past several years, Kaua驶i鈥檚 efforts to add more infant spots have butted up against a growing affordability crisis that is among the most severe in the nation. As much as some parents may want to put their youngest in childcare, few can actually afford it.

Tuition for infant spots at Kaua鈥檌 Montessori is $2,400 a month. On an island where the median household income is about $83,000, that price would swallow about a third of it. So though Whitman may have 12 spots for infants, only three are taken due to the high cost.

Statewide, the average cost of full-time, center-based infant care in Hawai鈥檌 is per year, according to an analysis by Child Care Aware. That鈥檚 second only to Massachusetts among the 47 states for which there is data. 

Businesses on Kaua驶i are as they can. Tamara Lawrence, a mom of three young kids, opened a play space in 2023 to try to offer some respite for stay-at-home parents or those working from home with their kids. But the business struggled to make a profit 鈥� people said the play space was too expensive. 

They recently moved into a new space on the main street in L墨hu驶e and established a nonprofit arm that will help them take in some grant funding to lower costs. After their grand opening next month, they鈥檒l start marketing the Play Hale鈥檚 drop-in childcare option: two hours a day for $25. 

鈥淢y goal is to eventually make it very minimal payment or no payment at all 鈥� that’s what our community wants and needs,鈥� Lawrence said. 

The community also needs something really basic: childcare . Over and over again, the question of came up in more than a dozen conversations The 19th had with parents, providers and childcare experts on Kaua驶i. In a place where, for decades, people have relied on their family and each other for care, growing to trust more formal childcare options is a barrier in itself (for those who have the luxury of choice). Hawai鈥檌 also seriously in its reporting of incidents of serious injuries or abuse at childcare centers. Though the state is required by federal law to report such cases annually, regardless of whether there are any incidents at all, it hasn鈥檛 . 

Lawrence said that, culturally, trust was a big issue, which is why she always advises her staff to create a connection with every patron that comes through their doors. Even remembering someone鈥檚 name can make someone more likely to return.

Nora Gregg, a stay-at-home mom of a teenage daughter and two boys under the age of 2 said the philosophy among most of the moms she knows on the island is that mom should be home with their baby. Some moms put their kids in nature pods, unlicensed childcare options where kids learn outside, or they gather together to share the caregiving. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 actually how women have mothered for many centuries 鈥� that鈥檚 the village,鈥� she said.

鈥淧arents here, they don鈥檛 just give your kids to strangers,鈥� said Gregg, who has lived in Kaua鈥檌 for three years. 鈥淲hen I think back to how I put my daughter on the East Coast in daycare that I didn’t know the person, isn’t that weird?鈥� 

On Kaua驶i and elsewhere in the United States, a country that has now been in , so much of the experience continues to be shaped by what little choice parents even have in the matter. 

Connie, a single mom of a 4-month-old who has lived on Kaua驶i for five years, doesn鈥檛 trust anyone to care for her baby. So she brings her daughter along as she cleans Airbnb鈥檚 across the island. Cleaning is a lucrative job for women here; on any given year, 1.4 million tourists visit an island of 74,000 locals. She can鈥檛 afford to lose the job, which she needs to keep her health insurance. But Connie鈥檚 boss doesn鈥檛 know she brings her daughter to work. The 19th is only using her first name to protect her identity. 

鈥淚鈥檇 be lying if I said it was a walk in the park,鈥� Connie said. 鈥淚 could be just about done with the job, and she gets really really upset or fussy, and sometimes there’s nothing I can do to calm her down until we can get in the car and she falls asleep in her car seat. Or I could be just about done with my job, and my boss is like, 鈥極h, hey, can you go here? Can you go there? Can you do all these extra things?鈥� 鈥�

She doesn鈥檛 feel like she has options. She can鈥檛 afford a nanny. But as her daughter gets older, she is going to have to seriously consider asking her family to move to the island with her to help, she said. 

Until then, she sneaks her daughter鈥檚 bouncer and toys with her to work hoping her boss won鈥檛 find out.

鈥淚 have to take the risk every day.鈥�

was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of . .

Amid an often bleak landscape, Kentucky was recently able to pass with bipartisan support, making significant investments in childcare by improving subsidy reimbursement rates, codifying free childcare for childcare providers, requiring training to better support children with special needs and easing regulations that stand in providers’ way.

The state鈥檚 effort started in 2024 with the launch of the Kentucky Collaborative on Child Care. The project 鈥� a partnership between Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, the Kentucky Chamber Foundation and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Center for Policy and Research 鈥� convened 40 childcare advocates and leaders from across Kentucky to meet regularly in 2024 and 2025 to come up with policy recommendations for the legislature to ensure the state鈥檚 families have access to high-quality childcare.听

Convergence, a national nonprofit that specializes in bringing people together with differing backgrounds and opinions, facilitated the collaborative, which was able to come to consensus on a number of polarizing issues. The nonprofit is 鈥渄esigned for issues where progress has stalled,鈥� noted Mariah Levison, CEO of Convergence. 

That was the case in Kentucky. It was among the many states that came to realize how many challenges plague the sector when the COVID-19 pandemic threw everything into disarray. There was 鈥渁 surge in advocacy around childcare,鈥� particularly in 2022, said Charles Aull, executive director of the Center for Policy and Research at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. But while there was a lot of energy and activity around the issue, there wasn鈥檛 a shared set of goals. 鈥淭here was an identified problem, we had a whole bunch of people who cared about the problem, but there wasn鈥檛 a whole lot of cohesion among those folks,鈥� Aull said. He added that state lawmakers also understood there was a problem but, because they aren鈥檛 subject matter experts, told the advocates that they weren鈥檛 sure what exactly should be done to solve it. Some had 鈥渋ssue fatigue,鈥� said Mandy Marler, a childcare lobbyist at Baldwin Consulting who participated in the collaborative. 

The group debated a number of childcare solutions over the course of 18 months. Marler came in prepared to fight tooth and nail against any efforts to deregulate childcare, noting that the state already has some of the child-to-staff ratio requirements in the country. 

鈥淚 had been in so many rooms and so many situations where it was, 鈥榃e鈥檒l just cut regulations and it won鈥檛 be a problem or unaffordable anymore,鈥� 鈥� she said. But she found that 鈥渘o one was trying to come for our ratios.鈥� Instead, the conversation was about unwinding the red tape that really did get in providers鈥� way without changing health and safety standards for children, such as allowing microcenters that serve less than 24 children to skip some requirements intended for larger centers like having a playground or cooking meals in-house.

Meanwhile, Gus LaFontaine, another member of the group and co-founder of LaFontaine Early Learning Center 鈥� a childcare program in Richmond, Kentucky 鈥� was nervous about proposals that would have the government mandate specific training for his staff, rather than leaving the choice to owners like him. But he was eventually able to get on board with earmarking a portion of the 15-hour annual training requirement for childcare providers for helping staff better support children with disabilities. The group鈥檚 process required him to 鈥渃hoose wisely the hills you want to die on,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 came full circle on that topic.鈥� 

The strongest disagreement the group had was over bonuses for childcare workers, Levison said. Members couldn鈥檛 come to a compromise on the issue, so it was left out of its recommendations. Instead, they prioritized pushing the state to cover the entire cost of childcare for childcare workers 鈥� something Kentucky started doing in 2022 and has since caught on in other states but had never been codified by legislation. 

鈥淥ne of the things the group agreed on is it鈥檚 so important it should be in statute,鈥� Aull said. 鈥淚t should be permanent and should be funded.鈥� And while such a program doesn鈥檛 offer childcare staff more take-home pay, it saves them a lot of money on the cost of their own children鈥檚 care. 鈥淲e actually did accomplish some wage supplementation without that name on it,鈥� LaFontaine said. 

In the end, the group was able to develop everyone could agree to. That included improving the state鈥檚 existing childcare subsidy program, streamlining burdensome regulations, improving care quality, and addressing the low pay and high turnover among childcare staff. But the collaborative鈥檚 members were clear that the report they eventually produced wasn鈥檛 the end of the process, but rather the beginning. They spent a lot of time meeting with state lawmakers and sharing the results of their work. When they gave the report to lawmakers, the process and wide array of advocates brought a lot of people on board. Marler, who has worked as a lobbyist on childcare for nearly a decade, said of the report, 鈥淚 have never in all my years working on any policy had that kind of endorsement.鈥�

The group鈥檚 recommendations deeply informed , which became law in April. The legislation free childcare for providers, changed state subsidy payments to reflect the true cost of care, required training for caring for children with disabilities and modified the state鈥檚 quality rating system to better take outcomes into account. It also eased the paperwork required for employers to participate in the state鈥檚 Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership, which pools state, employer and employee money to cover the cost of care, and launched a pilot program to create one-room microcenters caring for up to 24 children. 

That it was numbered six is significant, because the House saves its priorities for bills one through ten every year, Aull noted. 鈥淓ven two years ago, if we had brought up the possibility of a House majority making childcare one of its top ten priority bills, you would have been laughed out of the room,鈥� he said. The bill passed 鈥渨ith overwhelming bipartisan support,鈥� Levison noted. 

The group鈥檚 work also informed , which directs the state鈥檚 auditor of public accounts to study statutes, regulations and policies that relate to opening and operating childcare centers with an eye toward streamlining them to make it easier on providers. It passed the legislature unanimously.

Kentucky has made significant progress through the passage of House Bill 6 and HJR50, but moving the legislative packages forward wasn鈥檛 all smooth sailing. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear allowed HB6 to go into law . He also vetoed HJR50, that the auditor of public accounts lacked 鈥渢he programmatic and policy expertise鈥� to carry out the study and that it would require spending taxpayer dollars to hire an outside auditing service, but the legislature overrode his veto, and Aull noted that it did so with bipartisan support. 

The legislature, for its part, blocked an effort that could have had a much larger impact on increasing parents鈥� access to affordable childcare. Last June, Beshear a 鈥淧re-K for All鈥� initiative and convened an advisory committee for the issue. But the legislature , refusing to include funding for it in the state budget, with Republican members citing worries about the cost of such a program and what effects it would have on private childcare providers. Instead, this May Beshear created pilot pre-K programs in two counties as a smaller-scale alternative.

The advocates who pushed for the reforms now enshrined in law aren鈥檛 done, however. 鈥淲e never envisioned this as the final word,鈥� Aull said. Next, the group plans to make sure that the legislation is implemented well. 鈥淎nytime you鈥檙e able to accomplish policy change, [there is an] importance of continued cultivation of that legislation,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou need to continue to work on its implementation phase 鈥� it takes a long time.鈥�

With costs up, many are facing financial hardship at a level even greater than what was seen at the onset of the pandemic. That economic strain is taking a toll on the emotional well-being of children and their caregivers.

That鈥檚 according to that have asked families how they are faring. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 really clear that it鈥檚 a really difficult time to be a parent in America right now,鈥� said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union. 鈥淚 feel like we鈥檙e being squeezed in so many different ways.鈥�

The administration鈥檚 approach to tariffs has forced up the price of many basic goods and services, she noted. The conflict in Iran has caused oil prices to spike. And federal legislation 鈥� namely H.R. 1, known as the 鈥淥ne Big Beautiful Bill鈥� 鈥� has led to the beginning of a pullback of social safety net programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.听

As a result, Americans are dealing with soaring gas prices, increased grocery costs, higher utility bills, and untenable healthcare premiums that have prompted some to 鈥渞oll the dice鈥� and go uninsured, Rodrigues explained. On top of all of those ballooning expenses, parents must also weather the costs of childcare; extracurricular activities for the kids; and food, clothing and medical care for their dependents. 

鈥淎ll of these things compound and create this context of misery that we鈥檙e all feeling pretty acutely this summer,鈥� said Rodrigues, whose organization recently released the results of a of parents of more than 1,500 K-12 public school students. 

Among parents of children in kindergarten through fifth grade, NPU found that about two-thirds of respondents expressed that they think the economic conditions in the country are getting worse, with an overwhelming majority saying that the costs of housing, basic goods, healthcare, childcare and extracurricular activities were each 鈥渟omewhat鈥� or a 鈥渧ery big鈥� problem right now. Three in four parents of kids in grades K-5 said inflation had changed their summer plans. Trips have been canceled or dialed back. Summer activities, such as camp, have had to be reconsidered. 

Magda Zalewska, a mother of three children under age 6 in Romeoville, Illinois, is one of the parents feeling immense financial pressure this year. She wants to sign up her two older children 鈥� ages 4 and 5 鈥� for soccer, but it鈥檚 not something she can afford. Trips to the grocery store and fueling up her car are crushing her right now, she said. She has no money in a savings account in case of emergency; she鈥檚 always hoping her air conditioner doesn鈥檛 go out, that her car keeps running. 

鈥淚鈥檓 already working from sun up to sun down,鈥� said Zalewska, who works as an early intervention therapist. 鈥淚鈥檓 already stretched so thin, and it’s frustrating because you want to give your kids this life but you can鈥檛 keep up with expenses.鈥�

Her compensation, even as it has gone up, never seems to keep pace with inflation, she added.

鈥淓verything is going up in price,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 keep climbing the ladder, climbing the ladder, [but] I鈥檓 always at this paycheck-to-paycheck scenario, no matter how far I advance in my career.鈥�

Zalewska has benefited from financial assistance over the years, from WIC, SNAP and Medicaid, but she said she lost Medicaid coverage recently and has been told she鈥檚 going to lose her SNAP benefits as well. Already, she said, she can鈥檛 remember the last time she ate fresh fruit. When SNAP is gone, she said, 鈥淚t won鈥檛 be produce I鈥檓 not eating, it鈥檚 going to be meals I鈥檓 skipping.鈥� (She focuses on making sure her three children have enough to eat before she feeds herself.)

鈥淗ow am I supposed to pour into their cups when my cup is not filling?鈥� she asked. 鈥淭he support is being taken from our fingertips. It鈥檚 just all gone.鈥�

Zalewska takes some comfort in the knowledge that she鈥檚 not alone. She notices a 鈥渦niform struggle鈥� in the families she works with. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not financial, it鈥檚 overall stress and mental well-being. Most families are burnt out.鈥�

Her point is reflected in data from Stanford鈥檚 RAPID Survey Project, which has been gathering information monthly from parents and childcare providers for over six years. Indeed, 44% of families with infants and toddlers reported challenges paying for basics such as food and housing in 2025, according to a by the nonprofit Zero to Three, which compiled RAPID data from families with children under age 3. That represents the highest rate in the prior five years of survey data, including in 2020 when 42% of families reported the same difficulties.

By the end of 2025, families鈥� financial hardship seemed to peak, said Samantha Melvin, director of policy research at Zero to Three and author of the report. 

鈥淭heir struggles really grew throughout the course of 2025,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 say discretely that one thing changed, but there is this kind of cascading, consistent onslaught of uncertainty and distress.鈥� 

Families specifically mentioned the heavy burdens of affording food, housing and utilities, she said. Economic pressure often affected emotional and mental well-being, with parents reporting increases in anxiety, depression, stress and loneliness over the course of the year. 

Those stressors affect not just adults, but entire families, Melvin noted. 

鈥淚f you鈥檙e afraid of paying for rent, putting food on the table, it may impact how you鈥檙e interacting with your baby or [how] your baby is perceiving that stress,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t can have long-term consequences and harm for babies to be living in this constant place of uncertainty and deprivation, unstable and inconsistent relationships.鈥�

Often, people will respond to moments of hardship by noting that children are resilient. And they are, Melvin agreed. 

鈥淔amilies and the relationships are what creates that resilience,鈥� she clarified. 鈥淏abies are resilient because of their parents.鈥�

So when parents are taking on extra jobs to cover expenses, waiting in line at a Medicaid or SNAP office to access benefits they are eligible for, or visiting food banks to make sure their kids can eat dinner, that inherently pulls them away from quality time with their children. 鈥淗ow do relationships get formed?鈥� Melvin asked. 鈥淚t鈥檚 with that time.鈥�

This resonates for Zalewska. She鈥檚 been taking on more and more work to help her family鈥檚 finances. She estimates that she works about 65 hours a week. 

鈥淚 barely see my kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 missing all their milestones.鈥�

Her current circumstances have left her in 鈥渇ight or flight mode,鈥� she said. Her nervous system is 鈥渉aywire.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 exhausted,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel it in the bones of my body.鈥�

Clara Busse, a mom in Philadelphia with an infant and a 3-year-old, doesn鈥檛 worry so much about meeting her basic needs, but she and her husband have to make some sacrifices to afford the annual cost of their childcare, which is around $35,000 for her two children, she said. 

鈥淓very friend I have with young children is facing the same challenges,鈥� Busse said. 鈥淲e need policies that make sense for young families. It鈥檚 really basic stuff. People are really frustrated.鈥�

These issues are not likely to improve in the near term, with major cuts to SNAP and Medicaid looming in early 2027. Rodrigues and Melvin both emphasized the need for policies that support families, rather than ones that continue to take programs away and make life with young children less affordable.听

鈥淔amilies are having such a hard time,鈥� Melvin said. 鈥淭hey shouldn鈥檛 have to be working so hard, but the way they keep showing up for their babies 鈥� we need our policymakers and elected officials to be showing up for them.鈥�

That鈥檚 why our newsroom recently launched a new on Instagram () spotlighting a handful of important articles, case studies, data analyses and solutions snapshots that might have gotten lost in the noise. (You can also get these kind of daily highlights delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our national newsletter.)听

From the new demands facing college students in this era of artificial intelligence to a leadership transition at America鈥檚 largest union, here are five stories you might have missed this week: 

1. Elementary Principals Are Getting a Crash Course in How Young Kids Learn Best

Young children need different conditions than older students to thrive. Some school leaders are adapting their practices to reflect that reality.

2. Princess Moss Elected NEA President With Votes From 50% of Assembly Members

The former music teacher, who previously served as the union’s vice president, narrowly avoided a run-off in July 5 election.

3. What Today鈥檚 College Students Need That Previous Generations Didn鈥檛

College degrees don鈥檛 guarantee good jobs anymore, so students must build resumes and AI skills in high school and college, experts say.

4. A Restored Detroit Rail Station Looks to the Future, Offering Training for Teens

Michigan Central Station, long a symbol of decline and decay, is now an innovation hub with workshops and cutting edge equipment for youth.

5. Q&A 鈥� 鈥楻ehumaning鈥� Education: Banning Screens Is Only Part of the Solution

鈥榃e don’t have to remove all tech,鈥� author Stephanie Malia Krauss says. 鈥榃e need to remove toxic tech鈥� and bring back play and adequate sleep.