With major workforce development needs in construction, health care, transportation, and other essential industries, the ongoing child care crisis is holding Massachusetts back. Low-income parents and parents of color seeking better career opportunities are often unable to find child care that fits their schedules, especially care that is close to home and open for early or late shifts.

Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) providers, typically grandmothers, are license-exempt and can register for state payment through the child care voucher. However, the state voucher pays a maximum of $24 per day for one child in FFN child care. When families need FFN child care in combination with a formal child care program, the voucher is not always flexible enough to pay for both.

Families and providers united in Care That Works are fighting to:

1. Raise FFN providers’ pay to the state minimum wage to give parents more child care options while stabilizing the providers they know and trust.
2. Fix the child care voucher system so parents can use the full ten-hour daily value across both formal and FFN care, ensuring child care works for real-life schedules.
3. Promote quality-supportive policies, programs, and practices for FFN child care by establishing a state FFN Advisory Council.

We currently have a statewide bill pending, H.452 and S.341, sponsored by Representative Marjorie Decker and Senator Sal DiDomenico. This bill would increase state support for FFN child care so families and caregivers who have historically been excluded can access care, resources, and opportunities to thrive.

Our innovative child care pilot matched working-class families with affordable child care services provided by unionized child care providers, making care available during nonstandard hours when parents need it most. While the pilot is no longer accepting new families, we are using our lessons learned to develop a strategy to advance nonstandard-hour child care in Boston and beyond.

The Caregivers’ Leadership and Empowerment Training is designed to build the power, confidence, and knowledge of caregivers across Massachusetts, with a focus on FFN caregivers. The training supports caregivers in understanding how the child care system and policy processes work and how caregivers’ lived experiences can influence systems change. It strengthens both individual leadership capacity and collective power, preparing participants to advocate for themselves, their families, and their communities.

The program centers on four core learning areas: leadership development, community organizing, policy and advocacy, and climate and environmental justice. Participants gain practical skills that can be applied immediately, including understanding how legislation moves, learning organizing tools such as power mapping and coalition-building, and building confidence to engage decision-makers. The training also supports caregivers interested in pursuing FFN certification, offering guidance on eligibility, background checks, navigating Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) requirements, and concrete steps toward certification.

Make your voice heard and expand child care options for working parents. Sign this petition to support our efforts to increase FFN provider pay to the state minimum wage and make child care vouchers more flexible for parents who choose FFN care.