In Connecticut, family child care educators continue to face major barriers with zoning and housing regulations that restrict the operation of group child care programs. These programs, which serve more children than family child care programs, are vital in meeting the growing demand for high-quality early childhood education.
Unfortunately, restrictive zoning practices and housing limitations have made it extremely difficult for many educators to expand their businesses, leading to a shortage of child care options for families and children across the state. For many educators, these barriers included special permits and requirements on the use of residential properties, and landlords having the discretion to prevent the operation of group child care programs. As a result, educators have faced overwhelming financial burdens, communication issues with the zoning boards, and many other challenges that discouraged them from expanding their family child care businesses.
These challenges sparked a community-wide effort. Educators began collaborating with local organizations, and their collective advocacy led to the passage of a bill aimed at addressing these zoning and housing issues. In 2023, An Act Concerning Certain Protections for Group and Family Child Care Homes was signed into law, extending zoning protections to group child care homes. The new legislation removed the special requirements previously imposed on these programs, making it easier for educators like Gladys Contreras, to expand their programs and grow into group child care services.
Meeting the Growing Demand for Child Care
Gladys Contreras, the owner of Shiny Rock Daycare in Stamford, Connecticut, is one of the many educators who has been directly impacted by the new legislation. Gladys operates both a family child care and a group child care program. A native of Peru, she immigrated to the United States in 2000, gaining valuable experience working in early childhood education and earning her Child Development Associate credentials along the way.
With her passion for children and experience in the field, she decided to open her own family child care program to offer a nurturing, educational environment for the children in her community. Gladys's program provides a vibrant space where children can sing, play and enjoy a beautiful backyard garden filled with fresh tomatoes, strawberries and other produce that she incorporates into the children’s meals. While her family child care program was successful, Gladys soon realized the increasing demand for child care in Stamford, especially as families moved to the area from New York, New Jersey, and other states. This increasing need motivated her to open a group child care home to better serve her community, so she applied for a license in June 2021.
The process proved to be more difficult than she anticipated. The application alone cost $1,500 (a non-refundable fee), and additional fees to comply with the zoning ordinances added another $6,000 to $10,000. As group child care homes required special permits, Gladys had to meet with the zoning board and hire a lawyer to navigate the complex requirements. Despite her efforts, she didn’t receive a response from the zoning board until nearly two months later. The prolonged approval process, coupled with the financial strain, made it challenging for Gladys to continue managing her family child care program. Partnering with a clinic at Yale Law School helped ease some of Gladys's financial burden, but she still faced challenges with rent payments and the operational costs of running her business.
"I was so stressed. There were nights when I couldn't sleep, thinking ‘How am I going to do that? How am I going to survive?” she recalled. “ I almost gave up. I was thinking that I would just return the apartment since I’m losing all this money.”
Gladys came close to giving up on her dream of opening a group child care home, but with the help of loans and grants, she was able to reinvest in her vision. These resources allowed her to expand her business, hire additional staff, and ultimately open the group child care home.
While the approval of her group child care program was a major victory for the families and children in her community, there were residual effects from the long and draining approval process. The need to comply with zoning regulations resulted in significant debt for Gladys, and many of the children on her waitlist had outgrown the need for child care by the time she was able to open the new program. Unfortunately, these struggles weren’t unique to Gladys – many other family child care educators in Connecticut faced similar obstacles, with some never even receiving approval for their group child care homes.
“The grants helped me to pay staff, and the loan helped me with income, but I'm still paying off the debt, little by little,” she said . “I was lucky because I got approval, but it wasn’t easy. Some of the kids on my waitlist were already ready for kindergarten by the time I got the approval.”
Throughout the years of fighting for her group child care home, Gladys found strength in connecting with other family child care educators and local resources. She emphasized the importance of All Our Kin’s network, which not only provided valuable support but also increased her confidence in navigating challenging processes like zoning approvals. This sense of community support played a huge role in the success of the new legislation and will continue to be crucial in helping educators across Connecticut provide high-quality care for children and families.
“Now I feel that I know more, a little bit more. In the beginning, I knew nothing and I was lost,” stated Gladys. “ We had a WhatsApp group where educators connected, shared issues, and brainstormed solutions. It was a space where we were learning from each other, and informing one another when something was going on.”