Growth in Family Child Care Programs
Since 2023, the Southwestern Child Development Commission has played a pivotal role in launching new family child care programs across North Carolina. By June 2025, the organization had helped support 27 new family child care homes, of which 20 are already open and welcoming children, adding at least 160 new care slots for working families. Two of these programs are the first licensed family child care providers in their respective counties, expanding options in rural areas previously without home-based care.
Southwestern Child Development Commission efforts have been supported through start-up grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, alongside business sustainability grants, and the non-profit has also developed a statewide mentorship program and regional communities of practice that help new providers learn the business and regulatory landscape.
Networks and Funding Support Strengthening Providers
Since 2022, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation has invested deeply in home-based childcare. The Foundation has provided three-year grants (totaling approximately $300,000) to local home-based child care networks throughout the state. These networks connect home childcare providers to professional development, business support, and advocacy resources, and participate in a statewide Network Community of Practice to share learnings and develop strategies for improving conditions for family-based care.
The Foundation’s support helps ensure that home providers are better equipped to offer high-quality, accessible, and affordable care for families, strengthening both local communities and the broader state economy.
Leadership Training and Empowerment for Home Providers
In 2025, a standout initiative called Home-Based Child Care Haven offered by MDC, Inc. celebrated its inaugural cohort of 10 home care providers at a special event in Charlotte. The program supported with funding from the Blue Cross NC Foundation provided monthly stipends, leadership training, mentorship, and advocacy skill-building specifically for providers operating licensed family child care homes and license-exempt family, friend, and neighbor caregivers.
Participants represented diverse counties across North Carolina, and the cohort’s training focused on equipping providers with skills to advocate for systemic change while strengthening their local care communities.
State Financial and Programmatic Support
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services continues to support home-based childcare through funding opportunities such as the In-Home Family Child Care Program, which released a Request for Applications offering up to $525,000 in business and financial assistance for creating and sustaining in-home childcare programs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
Additionally, state legislation included pilots to expand family child care and boost affordability for families and employers efforts highlighted in 2025 debates among lawmakers focused on childcare expansion.
Community and Vision for the Future
Beyond individual programs and grants, home childcare in North Carolina benefits from collaborative structures designed to elevate provider voices. The NC Home-Based Child Care Community of Practice, formed in spring 2023, unites eight networks from across the state with support from local partners like Blue Cross NC Foundation and Home Grown, creating space for shared learning and policy engagement.
These communities aim to ensure that providers whether licensed family child care home operators or license-exempt caregivers are recognized, valued, and supported as essential contributors to the state’s childcare system, while working to expand access, training, and advocacy resources.
In summary, North Carolina’s home daycares are not only serving families with reliable, personalized care they’re also gaining new support, leadership pathways, and statewide investment that strengthen the early childhood system across communities big and small. Through partnerships, training programs, and collaborative networks, home-based providers are building sustainable futures for themselves, their families, and the children they care for.
