In June 2024, several national foundations and nonprofit partners launched the Investing in America Child Care Partnership, an initiative to leverage public infrastructure and economic development funding alongside employer partnerships to strengthen and sustain early childhood systems in local communities. This partnership was formed as a coordinated effort to leverage federal infrastructure funding to strengthen local early care and education systems and increase access to high-quality, affordable child care in communities that house America’s growing infrastructure workforce.

Since then, the partnership has invested in a coalition of national and local nonprofit organizations working to bring together local government, employers, child care providers, families, and other local partners to a cohort of six communities across the United States to develop place-based, public-private partnerships to design innovative solutions to grow child care supply. These communities – Wayne County, Michigan; Pima County, Arizona; Columbus-Muscogee City-County, Georgia; Multnomah County, Oregon; Cuyahoga County, Ohio and a statewide effort in New Hampshire – represent a diverse cross-section of American communities from different political, socioeconomic and urban contexts.

These communities were convened through the Childcare Supply Network, an initiative of the National Association of Counties and community development financial institution (CDFI) partners IFF, Low Income Investment Fund and LISC. Participating communities also received support from the National League of Cities and various employer engagement partners, including Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC), the SEMI Foundation and Policy Equity Group, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Advocacy and research partners also provided support, including The Century Foundation, Bipartisan Policy Center, and Child Care for Every Family Network.

Together, this cohort of communities demonstrated innovative, cross-sector solutions to sustainably build child care supply in ways that most effectively meet the needs of a diverse and growing workforce. These solutions range from:

• Incentivizing employers to fund child care as a workforce benefit through matching public or philanthropic funding
• Braiding public and private funding to expand early education facilities
• Revenue generation strategies to support the long-term sustainability of early care and education providers
• Strategies to incentivize second- and third-shift care for manufacturing and construction workers.

These models demonstrate the power of place-based partnerships that center the needs of working families, account for the local political and regulatory context, and support the long-term sustainability of child care providers. They go beyond generic, one-size-fits-all plans and propose tailored solutions to strengthen the systems supporting the children and families in their local communities. Collectively, they provide a critical blueprint for communities across the United States seeking to bring local government, employers and child care providers together to reimagine solutions that best support working families.

Lessons learned and considerations for future policy

The findings and recommendations from the first phase of the Investing in America Child Care Partnership can be found here. This brief details the work of the implementation partners in each of the participating communities, and outlines policy recommendations to build on and sustain these solutions in similar communities across the United States. Specifically, it proposes ways to:

• Broaden support for child care investments among elected and business leaders, including strategies to build bipartisan coalitions, center local government leadership, and build on existing infrastructure by braiding innovative sources of funding.
• Leverage federal tax code changes, including the expansion of the employer-sponsored childcare tax credit, tax credits for paid leave, and Opportunity Zones.
• Create sustainability beyond federal initiatives, building on lessons from the transition away from childcare incentives built into the implementation of the CHIPS & Science Act.