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Building Stronger Communities Through Child Care

We partner with communities to increase child care supply through local strategies, practical planning, and technical expertise.

Why This Matters

Child care is essential for children and families—and it is also a critical part of strong communities. It supports local employers, family economic stability, and long-term community health. Yet in many places, the supply of care falls far short of what families need, leaving communities to address the gap without enough public infrastructure or support.

First Children’s Finance partners with communities to increase child care supply through practical, community-driven strategies.

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Our Consulting Services

No two communities are the same—and neither are the solutions.

FCF partners with communities to move from understanding the child care challenge to acting on it—through consulting services that analyze supply and demand, assess feasibility, engage stakeholders, and develop strategic, community-driven solutions to grow child care.

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Strategic Supply Planning

Turn a complex problem into a clear, community-driven plan.

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Supply & Demand Analysis

Pinpoint exactly where care is missing—and what’s needed.

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Feasibility Study

Understand what it takes to launch or expand child care that works.

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Facility, Start-Up & Financial Modeling

Make the numbers work before you invest time and money.

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Community Engagement & Training

Bring the right people together—and build shared understanding.

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Custom Consultation

Start with your challenge. We’ll help you figure out the path forward.

Every community is different. Our solutions are built to match.

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How We Help Businesses

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Rural Child Care Innovation Program (RCCIP)

The Rural Child Care Innovation Program is a community consultation process designed to address the unique challenges of child care in rural communities through an economic development lens.

The program supports communities to:

understand the scope of their child care challenges
engage local stakeholders
develop community-based solutions
create action plans to increase child care supply

Learn More About RCCIP

Access to Capital

We are trusted and experienced national grant administrators who can facilitate the disbursement of grant funds, both small and large, to communities. We partner with all levels of systems and entity types to serve as intermediaries for foundations, public agencies, or employers, resulting in effective strategies and advancing child care supply-building. Past examples include the states of Wisconsin, Vermont, and Minnesota, as well as HUD, just to name a few.

Connect with our national team

And as the nation's only Community Development Financial Institution dedicated solely to supporting child care businesses, we offer flexible financing options to eligible entrepreneurs.

Learn more about our financing options

Our Impact

Explore real stories from communities that have taken action to address child care challenges.

Vermont Ski Resorts Step Up for Families and the Local Workforce

Vermont’s ski resorts keep the state’s rural economy moving. They generate more than $1.6 billion in annual tourism revenue and support roughly 13,000 jobs. Behind every open lift and lodge is a workforce that relies on something ski towns increasingly lack: child care.

DigiKey Helps MN Community – and Its Workforce – Find Child Care Solutions

Sitting less than 100 miles from the Canadian border, the people and businesses of Thief River Falls, MN, know that they often need to solve problems for themselves.

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa complete Community Solution Action Plan

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa worked with First Children's Finance and Indigenous Visioning to complete a Community Solution Action Plan addressing local child care needs.

Vermonters Revive Empty Schools to Grow Child Care Supply

Across Vermont, classrooms that once served students five and older are being reimagined for the state’s youngest learners. With enrollment declines and demographic shifts reshaping local education landscapes, communities are finding new ways to keep these spaces vibrant and useful.

Community Collaboration in the Village of La Farge (WI) Brings Vision to Life

In the Village of La Farge – a community of 30,000 in southwestern Wisconsin – families struggled to access child care while working and going to school. This became a crisis when the only child care center in town closed its doors shortly after the COVID pandemic. Parents were forced to commute long distances or adjust work schedules due to the worsening child care shortage.