DEI in Child Care Hub

For more than 30 years, Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) has been dedicated to fostering an organizational culture that understands and addresses the inequities across the child care system. CCAoA continues to deepen our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices to strengthen our capacity to function as an anti-racist organization and serve as a model for our partners.

Explore the resources below to learn more about the past, present and future of child care as it relates to DEI for all children, families and providers. Check back periodically for new information and updates.

Videos on DEI in Child Care

Centering the Voices of Parents and Providers

To advance equity in the child care sector, we must center and elevate the voices of parents and providers.

We know that child care providers are disproportionately made up of BIPOC and immigrant women. We also know to achieve equity in child care, we must center families and their needs, and ensure they have the best options that suit them.

How Data Can Make Child Care More Equitable

Data is a tool for social justice. Numbers shine a light on issues that may be more comfortable for us to ignore. We can use data and streamlined systems to help identify areas in the child care system that need improving. Learn more about child care and interoperability, and how it makes a more equitable child care system.

How the Military Child Care System Advances Equity

CCAoA board member Meredith Lozar, who serves as Director of the Center on Early Learning and Youth Development with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, describes how the tiered fee system within the military provides all children of members of the military with the same high-quality child care experience.

How Providers Can Advance Equity Through Community Partnerships

Dana Miller, a provider with Little Smiling Faces Child Care Center, shares some of the ways her center helps advance equity and inclusion. Dana also shares how ECE professionals can offer a sense of belonging in order to create a more equitable child care system.

Multilingual Resources and Greater Representation Among Leaders in the Child Care Sector

CCAoA board member Robyn Lopez Melton, who serves as the Director of the Center on Early Learning and Youth Development at The Research Institute, Western Oregon University, shares how her agency’s prioritization of resources in multiple languages helps reduce barriers to child care assess. Robyn also calls for increased representation in leadership opportunities.

Advancing Equity in Child Care Requires Reprioritizing Resources

CCAoA board member Patina Park, who serves as Director of Tribal-State Relations in Minnesota, shares how assimilation can hurt early childhood systems. She also talks about the dangers of tokenizing others when equity work is carried out.

Share Your Thoughts

Use the tool below to let us know your thoughts on creating a more diverse, inclusive and equitable child care system. What are you seeing? How do you believe we can move the system forward? How are you working to incorporate DEI in child care?

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Military Families

Military Families