These last few weeks, it’s been heartbreaking to see so many staffed family child care networks making tough choices due to budget cuts, resulting in reduced staff and service delivery.
People that we deeply respect and admire, experts in the field, are now without work. Educators who opened themselves up to build trusting relationships with network staff are let down and face a transition to someone new who may have less dedicated capacity or family child care expertise, or in worst-case scenarios, no support at all.
Sadly, many family child care educators are used to being let down by the systems that are supposed to support them. We can and must do better.
Even All Our Kin, a well-established, staffed family child care network in operation for more than 25 years, is not immune to these challenges. In volatile times, we are an organization that seeks to embody our core values. We learned that in a changing climate, it's important to intentionally plan for uncertainty and identify paths to move forward aligned with our mission and vision.
As established and emerging networks across the country develop and deploy strategies to deal with uncertainty, All Our Kin is here for you–and with you.
Here are a few considerations that might help us all navigate these times.
1. Put people first.
All Our Kin strongly believes that knowledgeable, dedicated staff are critical to the success of networks. Staff must reflect the community, know about adult/child learning and development, be committed to family child care, receive ongoing learning opportunities, and have the dedicated capacity to sustainably serve educators in the network.
Find savings in other line items before considering layoffs. Stable staffing directly impacts educators and must be a top priority for the network.
2. Lean into your core values.
Have open discussions across the organization about how your core values guide every aspect of your work. If you don’t have core values or your organization hasn’t been actively applying them, consider a refresh and engage educators in developing and activating them.
Clear and meaningful core values that are actively applied serve as guideposts for decision making in both calm and turbulent times.
3. Be as transparent as possible with network staff about the organization's financial situation.
Openness about finances builds trust and buy-in for the organization’s financial health. Then, when tough decisions must be made, there are fewer or no surprises and better understanding across the board.
4. Be open with educators about the funding structure of network offerings.
Avoid overpromising. Share with them how your network works hard to identify and secure sustainable funding. Educators are business owners, too. Trust them to understand that you are doing your best to operate the network responsibly and planfully. Welcome their ideas. When networks engage educators as partners, it builds a sense of doing with, not doing to.
5. Be flexible in how you structure your work.
Encourage innovation and collaboration. Avoid getting stuck in the way things have always been done. When networks take calculated risks and learn from setbacks, they can unlock creativity and overcome challenges.
6. Seek innovative funding sources and work to diversify funding.
Reflect on your current funding strategy. Explore connections between your work and potential new funders, e.g., philanthropic or government funders interested in workforce issues, small, women-owned or BIPOC business development, or support for immigrant communities.
Practice making your case. Situate your work in the larger child care, early education, and workforce ecosystems, and then highlight your network’s unique value add. Diversified funding streams make the network more resilient and better able to continue providing services even in challenging times.
7. Seek out resources to aid in your planning.
This blog from Insperity summarizes a step-by-step process for scenario planning. The Management Center is a go-to resource for All Our Kin. If you find yourself in a position where you must reduce staff, their new Layoffs Toolkit may be useful.
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst” is a common mantra. But hoping for the best is not enough. We must expect, advocate, and work for the best. So let’s update the outdated mantra: Expect, advocate, and work for the best, prepare for the worst.
As leaders, we can find power in connecting and learning from one another–power to expect and advocate for the best (for networks, network staff, family child care educators, and children and families) and power to prepare for, push back on, and respond to challenges.
Reach out to All Our Kin for thought partnership. When you realize you’re not alone and tap into resources, you feel more confident facing challenges and benefit from the learnings of others in similar circumstances.
How is your network responding to these uncertain times?
Share your stories and strategies. Reach out to us at technicalassistance@allourkin.org