Background

Family, friend and neighbor (FFN) care is a critical component of many families’ support systems—especially economically vulnerable families. Most families with young children use FFN care, and there has been little attention at the local and state levels to learning about and building capacity of the caregivers that care for many of our youngest children.

For this reason, in 2017 the Trust funded research that surveyed more than 1200 parents and caregivers about FFN care. Research showed that families consider many factors when making childcare arrangements, and that only one third of children 0-5 are enrolled in licensed care. Safety, trust, affordability, convenience, and other factors lead many families to choose or rely on FFN care, and many parents reported a preference for FFN care and happiness with their current childcare arrangements.

In 2018, the Trust convened a Design Team of organizational stakeholders over six months. The Design Team considered the strengths and needs of the families and caregivers involved in FFN care, learned from national best practices, and designed pilot programs and community education and advocacy strategies that will strengthen and support FFN care in Forsyth County. Two pilot programs that will focus on providing play and learn groups and home visiting for FFN caregivers, as well as a cross-cutting FFN evaluation, were funded this summer.

Details

The FFN Design Team recommended that any programmatic supports for FFN caregivers be implemented alongside intentional community education and advocacy efforts about the value and importance of FFN care in a holistic childcare ecosystem.

The Trust is interested in receiving collaborative applications from Design Team members to further research policies impacting FFN care and to engage stakeholders, including parents and FFN caregivers, in developing plans for community education or advocacy efforts to support and strengthen FFN care.

While lead agencies must be Design Team members, the applications can include funding for partner organizations that did not participate on the Design Team.

Design Team members include:

• Child Care Resource Center
• The Forsyth Promise
• Urban League
• Latino Community Services (formerly El Buen Pastor)
• Hispanic League
• Imprints Cares
• Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods
• Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Public Schools and Project Impact

Given the Trust’s stated concern about advancing equity, our interest in FFN is particularly focused on supporting economically-vulnerable families whose childcare options are limited.

Future Funding Opportunities

Because FFN efforts are new to North Carolina and to Forsyth County and there is so much to learn, the Trust intends to focus on pilot efforts at this stage. As we learn together with grantees and community efforts about the successes and challenges of the pilot efforts, the Trust plans to work collaboratively with the community to build further support for FFN through innovation and scaling what’s working.