Research & Reports
Feature:
Improving Child Care Facilities with Federal Relief Funding:
Lessons learned from state, Tribe, and municipal approaches to investing in child care facility capacity through the implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act
December 2024
Capitalizing Child Care
Purpose: The National Landscape of Grants, Loans, and Community Development Capital in Early Childhood Education (January 2022) highlights the community ecosystem needed for a robust child care sector, providing a mapping tool to identify financial support sources for child care businesses.
Key Findings:
Role of CDFIs: Child care providers align with CDFI missions, as they often support historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs and are not limited by for-profit or nonprofit status.
Collaboration is Crucial: Strong child care sectors emerge when stakeholders across philanthropy, banking, and community finance collaborate to address resource gaps.
Rural Challenges: Many rural areas lack financial intermediaries, with only 166 of 3,142 U.S. counties having a full range of SBA, CDFI, and philanthropic financial support for child care.
Child Care Facilities
Joint Resource Guide: To strengthen and expand child care facilities in rural communities, USDA Rural Development and HHS Administration for Children and Families (September 2021)
Child Care Facilities are the Third Teacher, Bipartisan Policy Center (September 2021)
South Main: A Mixed-Use Case Study, Built Up San Mateo County and Greystar Development Inc. (September 2021)
How States Can Improve Child Care Facilities & Physical Spaces Using Federal Relief Dollars, NCFN, CLASP, Education Counsel, NAEYC, NAFCC (May 2021)
Moving Towards Quality: Model Improvement Standards for Existing Center-Based Child Care Facilities, Bipartisan Policy Center (April 2021)
Constructing the Third Teacher: New Jersey’s Center-based Facilities for Low-Income Children, Maher Charitable Foundation and Carl Sussman (January 2021)
Supporting the Third Teacher: Investing in Early Learning and Care Facilities Upgrades and Modifications in California, Build Up California (December 2020)
From the Ground Up: Improving Child Care and Early Learning Facilities, Bipartisan Policy Center (May 2019)
CDFI Role in the Child Care Sector
Resourcing the Child Care Sector: How TA and Partnerships Can Support Financing in Your Local Market, Opportunity Finance Network and NCFN (March 2022)
Building Quality: Transforming Early Learning Environments in Massachusetts, Children’s Investment Fund (September 2021)
Capitalizing on the Capabilities of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies & Community Development Financial Institutions to Stabilize and Increase the Supply of High-Quality Child Care, Child Care Aware of America and LISC (August 2021)
Optimizing Distribution of American Rescue Plan Funds To Stabilize Child Care, Center for American Progress (May 2021)
Can Creative Capital Solutions Safeguard Child Care?, Low Income Investment Fund (January 2021)
Housing Development and Child Care Facilities: Strategies & Financing, Low Income Investment Fund and First 5 California (September 2020)
What works in supporting early care and education: CDFIs tackle market challenges, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (June 2020)
COVID-19: Connecting small businesses to pandemic relief is a struggle, CDFIs say, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (May 2020)
COVID-19 Makes it Clear: Support for Technical Assistance and Business Capacity Building is Critical for the Child Care Sector, Low Income Investment Fund (April 2020)
Community Development Financial Institutions for Child Care: An Explainer, Bipartisan Policy Center (April 2020)
Building Pre-K: Philanthropy & CDFI Collaborations in Financing Early Education Facilities, Low Income Investment Fund (2016)
Strengthening the Child Care Sector
How early care and education intersects with the CRA, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Investing in Child Care, Council of Development Finance Agencies (August 2020)
Advancing Education and Child Development in Opportunity Zones, Economic Innovation Group
Equitable Compensation for the Child Care Workforce: Within Reach and Worth the Investment, Bank Street Education Center
Child Care Access in the United States, Center for American Progress
Child Care in State Economics - 2019 Update, Committee for Economic Development
Child Care and Racial Equity
Start with Equity: From the Early Years to the Early Grades, Bipartisan Policy Center
Study Shows Excellent Preschool Experience Can Narrow Racial Achievement Gap, The Chronicle of Social Change
Equity Starts Early: Addressing Racial Inequities in Child Care and Early Education Policy, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Why Early Care & Education is Foundational to Advancing Racial & Gender Equity, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF)
