Stories to Drive Policy Change: Better Life Lab’s Child Care Innovation Reporting Grants

Stories to Drive Policy Change: Better Life Lab’s Child Care Innovation Reporting Grants

The pandemic highlighted the crucial role child care plays in our economy. Our reporting grants have focused on the innovations and solutions to build demand for greater public investments.

In early 2022, when it was clear that the federal government had failed to respond to the care crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic so brutally exposed, the Better Life Lab sought to change focus. If the federal government wasn’t solving the child care crisis, who was? So, rather than focus our narrative change mission on more of the problem - which research shows can make people feel disempowered and hopeless - we sought to find and shine a spotlight on state, local and private efforts to find solutions. Research shows that learning about bright spots, however small, can create more of a sense of agency and hope. We sought to lean into incremental innovations and solutions to build the energy and will to fuel public demand. We sought out examples to help build business community support and show policymakers the value of investing public dollars in building the equitable, universal child care infrastructure this country so desperately needs.

We put out a call to journalists and writers across the country offering reporting grants for pieces that highlight innovations within the child care field. Specifically, we were interested in uncovering examples of ways in which local governments, organizations, movements and other entities and individuals are attempting to improve our current broken, patchwork child care system to increase families' access to affordable, quality care and improve wages, benefits and working conditions for the care workforce. This included everything from nontraditional care systems, family, community and neighborhood efforts, to improvements in day-to-day activities, to local and state government changes in funding, subsidies and regulations.

Our recipients include some of the top reporters covering child care as well as new entrants to the beat in an effort to bolster and amplify new voices. Thus far, the stories our recipients have produced have ranged from hyperlocal to national, and have been in outlets across the country in print, online, magazine and radio format. New pieces are in the pipeline, including a graphic story series and a documentary video short addressing child care innovation. We want to continue the drumbeat of child care reporting throughout 2023 and 2024 as emergency COVID funding reaches critical cliffs in order to continue to show federal, state and local policymakers and all stakeholders - families, providers and businesses - the value of fighting for new investments. As part of our mission, we are constantly seeking new ways to bring narrative change to a wider audience.

A list of published stories is below, with more expected in summer 2023.

October 28, 2022
Child Care Is in Chaos. Private Equity and For-Profit Chains Are Swooping In.
As the industry consolidates, it runs the risk of putting profits ahead of kids. If additional public funds will come to child care, it should come with guarantees of public benefit similar to reforms in Ireland and Australia.
By Elliot Haspel
The New Republic [LINK]

January 30, 2023
How Child Care in Oregon is Saving the Construction Trade
Statewide apprenticeship program with generous child care subsidies also trains and recruits workers
By Rebecca Gale
Early Learning Nation [LINK]

February 6, 2023
The Power of a Rural Community Collaborative
A new group in Idaho’s Teton Valley is creating collaboratives to help parents and children in the child care desert.
By Natalie Schachar
KHOL Jackson Hole Community Radio [LINK]

February 28, 2023
Educator Burnout: Another Child Care Struggle
Facing educator burnout and high rates of depression, educators come up with ways to retain staff and focus on mental well-being.
By Rebecca Gale
Early Learning Nation [LINK]

March 7, 2023
Home-Based Care: Fixing the Child Care Drought in Rural America
Some rural counties are trying an approach to tackle child care shortages. A new program supports home-based child care providers with resources, education, and grants.
By Anne Vilen
The Daily Yonder [LINK]

March 14, 2023
D.C. Is Giving Preschool Teachers A Pay Bump. Here’s How It’s Making A Difference To Them
This spring marks the one year anniversary of the D.C. Council’s law to boost pay for the District’s early childhood teachers as an annual bonus payment of up to $14,000 to teachers of children between 0 and 5 years old in preschools and daycares.
By Emily Berman
WAMU [LINK]

April 14, 2023
The US Finally Started Building A Functional Child Care System During The Pandemic. We’re About To Tear It Down.
Pandemic-era funding led to a host of creative local child care solutions. The looming funding cliff puts the country at risk of backsliding on all the progress made over the last three years — progress that has left a deep impact on Americans’ lives.
By Bryce Covert
Talking Points Memo [LINK]

April 25, 2023
How to Fix Crumbling Child Care Infrastructure
US cities and states are starting to think about early childhood facilities the same way they plan for schools and public transportation.
By Kendra Hurley
Bloomberg’s CityLab [LINK]

May 25, 2023
Why Saving New York City’s Universal Preschool Matters for the Country
The high demand for New York City’s 3K for All Universal pre-kindergarten program means that not all families who qualify can get a spot.
By Kelly Clancy
New America’s The Thread [LINK]

May 30, 2023
More Hospitals are Offering Child Care. But They Shouldn’t Have To.
On-site child care is a valuable benefit for health care employees, but is depending on a generous employer the best way to fix the child care crisis?
By Rebecca Gale
Stat News [LINK]

June 2, 2023
A Job That No One Sees
The work of family, friends and neighbors caring for children is critical, but it often goes unseen in an already overlooked child care workforce.
By Ashley Alvarez
EdSurge [LINK]

June 3, 2023
When Summer Camp Doesn’t Work For Your Kid
The lack of federal infrastructure for child care is particularly challenging for kids who are a poor fit for traditional summer camps and have few other options.
By Rebecca Gale
Time [LINK]

Jun 7, 2023
‘The Truth Is, I Love the Work’
Connections to organizations and resources can make a difference for family, friend and neighbor child care providers.
By Ashley Álvarez
EdSurge [LINK]

June 21, 2023
Did Covid Break Child Care? Or was it Already Broken?
A graphic explainer on how Covid-19 impacted child care.
By Rebecca Gale and Dianne Kirsch
Early Learning Nation [LINK]

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