Publications Library
Cost modeling
Vermont Cost Modeling Report
This cost modeling report built on Vermont’s cost modeling efforts to estimate the cost of providing high quality care in the state. The report highlights cost differences across settings and age groups and explores how costs compare to state subsidy rates.
Minnesota Cost of Care Study Child Care Center Provider Brief
This brief is designed to provide family 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.
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.
State Consulting and Resources
Preparing for Public Funding Participation
These one-pagers are designed to help Oregon child care businesses get ready to confidently participate in Employment Related Day Care (ERDC), Preschool Promise, and Baby Promise. Packed with practical tips, readiness checklists, and program overviews, they support child care businesses in navigating funding requirements and strengthening business operations. Their goal is to bridge policy and practice, empowering child care business owners with the knowledge and tools needed to thrive in a changing funding landscape.
Building Strong Business Practices: A Public Funding Navigation Resource for Child Care Business Owners in Oregon
This comprehensive guide equips child care business owners in Oregon with the tools and strategies needed to successfully manage public funding. Designed for child care business owners who’ve already secured funding, the resource turns complex requirements into manageable routines, covering everything from financial systems and documentation to quality assurance and risk management. By demystifying compliance and offering real-world examples, this guide supports business owners in building resilient businesses that deliver high-quality care while meeting state expectations.
Oregon ECE Business Collaborative 2025 Action Plan: Cross-Sector Strategies for Child Care Business Sustainability
The cross-sector action plan developed by the Oregon ECE Business Collaborative and led by First Children’s Finance in partnership with the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) charts a strategic path toward long-term child care business sustainability in Oregon. Grounded in child care business ecosystem mapping and stakeholder engagement, the plan focuses on three priority areas: strengthening the child care workforce, streamlining facilities development, and improving access to business training. With an emphasis on Tribal inclusion, equity, and coordinated systems change, the Collaborative’s 2025 Action Plan offers a clear framework to improve child care business stability, increase supply, and elevate the early childhood care sector across the state. It represents not just a roadmap, but a shared commitment to building a thriving child care system for Oregon’s families.
2025 Progress on Recommendations for Oregon’s Child Care Business Ecosystem
This report reflects on progress made toward the child care business ecosystem building recommendations made to the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) in 2023. The report documents the extensive collaboration of DELC, First Children’s Finance, and regional and statewide intermediaries to implement systems-level reforms, expand technical assistance, support equitable access to funding, and strengthen business infrastructure.
2025 Oregon State of Child Care Business Survey Report
The 2025 Oregon State of Child Care Business Survey Report, developed by FCF, provides a vital snapshot of the financial health, challenges, and evolving needs of child care businesses across the state. Drawing from direct input from over 400 providers, this report elevates the voices of small business owners and highlights pressing issues such as workforce shortages, rising costs, and limited access to capital. The findings inform policy, funding, and technical assistance strategies that better align with the realities of running a child care business. This work underscores the importance of listening to child care business owners and using their insights to drive systems change in Oregon
Supporting the Critical Years After Launch
The Supporting the Critical Years After Launch report shines a light on the often-overlooked “post-launch” phase of child care businesses, those critical early years after opening, when stability is most at risk. Drawing from surveys, interviews, and deep field expertise, FCF identifies the unique challenges faced by new providers and offers targeted recommendations to strengthen Oregon’s support systems. From tailored technical assistance to more responsive funding and policy strategies, the report outlines actionable steps to ensure new programs not only survive but thrive.
2025 Oregon Capitol Landscape Analysis Report
This report analyzes how child care businesses in Oregon accessed different types of funding from 2019 to 2024, revealing both progress and gaps. While some Oregon-funded programs like Preschool Promise, Baby Promise, and Oregon Pre-natal to Kindergarten effectively reached underserved communities, especially in child care deserts, rural areas, and low Child Opportunity Index neighborhood, other funding sources, like Small Business Administration loans and pandemic relief programs, were less accessible to certain groups. Some registered family child care providers, centers in rural or low-opportunity areas, and providers who speak languages other than English or Spanish faced barriers such as high administrative burden, mistrust, and difficulty accessing conventional loans. The report recommends targeted outreach, high-touch application support, relationship building with mission-aligned financial institutions, and culturally responsive resources to facilitate equitable access to capital across Oregon.
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
Lower Sioux Indian Community (LISC) Community Solution Action Plan
The Lower Sioux Indian Community partnered with the First Children First Nations Child Care Collaborative to create a culturally grounded plan to tackle a shortage of affordable, high-quality child care. Guided by an Indigenous Core Team, the plan focuses on expanding facilities, supporting new providers, and strengthening programs that honor Dakota culture and language while meeting local families’ needs.
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
Improving Child Care Facilities with Federal Relief Funding: Lessons Learned from the Implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act
This report examines child care facility investments made with COVID-era federal funding. Drawing on interviews with state leaders and child care directors, as well as in-depth analysis of state spending allocations, it offers actionable recommendations for states, tribes, territories, and federal agencies. The report highlights strategies to maximize impact and build on effective lessons learned from funding initiatives that supported a broad range of child care facility improvements and investments.
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.