National Systems Publication Library
Cost modeling
Funding the True Cost of Care in Rice County, MN
Advocates exploring a ballot initiative were interested in understanding the additional financing needed to meet the true cost of quality care across their county. This analysis project estimates the investment needed based on assumptions of potential eligibility and uptake.
Minnesota Cost of Care Study Child Care Center Provider Brief
This brief is designed to provide child care center owners and administrators with relevant business information from the 2023 Minnesota Cost of Care Study.
Minnesota Cost of Care Study Family Child Care Provider Brief
This brief is designed to provide family child care providers with relevant business information from the 2023 Minnesota Cost of Care Study.
2023 Minnesota Child Care Cost Modeling Report
FCF developed this cost model for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The model estimates the average cost of care for children and how these costs vary based on the age, geographic location, license type and quality of care, of the children served.
State Consulting and Resources
Maximizing Alaska’s Federal Funding Allocated to Child Care Subsidy
This report provides strategic recommendations to maximize the impact of subsidy funding on Alaskan child care businesses, children, and families.
Funding Program Comparison for Child Care Businesses in Oregon
This resource includes a comparative analysis of three mixed-delivery child care funding programs in Oregon: Employment-Related Day Care, Preschool Promise, and Baby Promise. This analysis examines the application processes, eligibility criteria, and compliance requirements of these programs, with a particular focus on identifying potential areas of alignment.
Mapping Oregon’s Child Care Business Ecosystem Inventory & analysis of strategies for growing a sustainable child care sector
This landscape analysis presents the statewide- and community-level initiatives in place in Oregon to support child care business sustainability. Innovative strategies from across the ECE business ecosystem and considerations from other states offer inspiration and lessons learned.
A Guide for State, Tribal & Territorial Administrators to Build a Sustainable Child Care Supply
The Child Care Business Ecosystem is a planning and assessment tool designed for state, Tribe, and territorial child care systems leaders. This resource introduces the ecosystem framework and provides examples and considerations.
Tribal Consulting and Resources
Tribal Ties: Weaving Stronger Child Care Systems – Lessons from the Collaboratory
This brief shares key insights from our ECE Business Collaboratory of Tribal Nations project. This initiative was designed to support Tribal leaders to develop strategies for sustainable, culturally relevant child care solutions.
Innovation in Tribal Child Care: Supporting Tribal Administrators in Their ARPA Administration
This report summarizes learnings from a survey and series of convenings conducted with Tribal CCDF administrators to share knowledge and advance innovation throughout the planning for and administration of American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Innovation in Tribal Child Care: Tribal CCDF Administrators’ Uses of ARPA Funding
This is a snapshot of how tribal Child Care Development Fund administrators (tribal CCDF administrators) whose communities share the same geography as the Upper Midwest of the United States reported that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were used by their tribes to support child care in their communities.
Innovation in Tribal Child Care: Tribal CCDF Administrators’ Roles & Work During ARPA Implementation
This document provides learnings about the roles and work of tribal child care development fund administrators (tribal CCDF administrators) whose communities share the same geography as the Upper Midwest of the United States.
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Community Solution Action Plan
The First Children First Nations Child Care Collaborative process is a community engagement process designed to develop right-size and culturally-specific solutions to address the needs of early care and education in Native nations which share the same geography as the United States. The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa completed their Community Solution Action Plan in late 2022 and are now in implementation.
Research and White Papers
From Banks to Blocks: How Access to Capital Shapes the Child Care Sector in Nebraska
This report, conducted on behalf of the Nebraska Early Childhood Coalition, explores the capital landscape for child care entrepreneurs throughout Nebraska to determine what capital was available, who knew about it, and who was successful in accessing it. Recommendations for increasing equitable access to financing are included.
Innovative Licensing: Infinite Possibility to Grow the Child Care Supply
Child care licensing innovations hold great promise as a strategy states, territories, and tribes can use to effectively build the supply of child care. First Children’s Finance’s Innovative Licensing Memo outlines innovations that can encourage entrepreneurship and remove barriers of new child care businesses launching.
Program Evaluation
2020-2023 Collaboratory Evaluation Summary
This work summarizes highlights from the evaluation of the 2020-2023 ECE Business Collaboratory. The ECE Business Collaboratory is an innovative national collaboration to support state, territory, and Tribal community efforts to coordinate their local child care systems.