North Carolina’s Child Care Task Force Sets the Stage for Change in 2026

A Year of Work and New Ideas on Child Care

In January, Governor Josh Stein stood in Raleigh to talk about something that affects so many families across North Carolina: child care. On January 13, 2026, he announced the release of a year-end report from the North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education. The task force was created in March of 2025 to tackle big challenges that parents and providers have been talking about for years from high costs to not enough spots for kids to attend.

Governor Stein called child care “a building block for families and the economy.” He said too many North Carolinians can’t go to work simply because finding and affording care for their children is so hard. “It gets parents the freedom to work, kids the safe start they need, and employers the workforce necessary to keep North Carolina’s economy thriving,” he said.

Who’s on the Task Force and Why It Matters

The group was put together by the governor and is led by Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt and State Senator Jim Burgin. Members come from all over the state and include educators, state leaders, business voices, and child care advocates. Their job has been to listen, learn, and come up with practical ways to make child care more available and affordable for families, and more sustainable for those who provide it.

This task force isn’t just about big numbers on paper. Early childhood educators, in-home providers, parents, and business leaders have shown up at meetings to share their experiences and their frustrations. At one meeting last year in October, providers stood before the group to explain why reliable and affordable care matters so much in everyday life.

What’s in the Report

The 2025 report doesn’t just describe the problems. It sets out six areas where the task force wants to push for change. Among the ideas are making sure child care providers get fairly paid when they care for children of low-income families. Right now, reimbursement rates vary from county to county and often don’t cover the real cost of running care programs. The task force wants a statewide minimum reimbursement rate so small-scale and home-based providers can stay open.

Another idea is exploring ways to give non-salary benefits to child care workers. Health insurance, paid leave, and other supports could help more people choose child care as a career and stay in it longer. The task force also hopes to work with community colleges, universities, and public school systems so those institutions might offer child care for employees and students.

Perhaps most personal for many providers is the suggestion to look into subsidized or free care for early childhood educators themselves. If people caring for children struggle to afford care for their own families, it makes the broader workforce even thinner. The report also talks about linking existing training and support programs into a more seamless system for providers.

Moving Ahead in 2026

Task force leaders say this isn’t the end of the work. Senator Burgin told reporters the group will stay committed to improving access and quality in child care. Lieutenant Governor Hunt said the focus has been on finding practical ways to make life easier for families in all 100 counties. Governor Stein has encouraged lawmakers to treat child care as essential support for working families as they return to Raleigh for the legislative session this year.

For parents trying to juggle bills and work schedules and for in-home providers balancing care and business, these conversations and recommendations represent hope that change is coming. Families and providers alike are still waiting to see what will be delivered, but for the first time in a long while, there’s a clear plan on the table, backed by voices from across the state.