United In Care
We Are United In Care
A New Model for Affordable and Accessible Child Care
United In Care is a grant-funded four-year pilot project. Our goal is to increase access to quality, affordable, and flexible child care for all New Jersey families, especially working families we call ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) those who are living paycheck to paycheck.
New Jersey was already facing a crisis in child care access and affordability before COVID-19. The industry was severely strained and underfunded, and families were struggling. The pandemic just made things worse.
To address these issues, United In Care created a delivery model that partners licensed child care centers with home-based child care providers. This creates a shared-services alliance that expands capacity in communities, leverages a collective expertise to increase the quality of care, and shares critical resources to promote financial health of providers.
For more details about United In Care, please click here to review our Executive Summary.
What's the Latest
United In Care is a rapidly growing project. Our team is constantly uncovering new challenges and crafting tailored solutions to meet the needs of our all our partners. Please click below to learn about our recent updates and activities.
Where We’re Making An Impact
United In Care has four shared-service alliances in and around Gloucester, Hudson, Morris and Warren counties.
These regions were deliberately chosen because they are known to be child care deserts particularly for infants and toddlers, which means there is little to no access to affordable, quality child care. In 2019, 46 percent of all New Jersey residents lived child care deserts.
This work is informed by the deep relationships we have with our local community partners, many of whom participate in United In Care Steering Committees. Click here to see the list of members.
How We're Helping Providers
United In Care supports the professional development and business sustainability of child care providers. We have a special focus on the following areas:
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Child development
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Teaching strategies and curriculum
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Social emotional development
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Advocacy
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Meeting the needs of all children (including those with special needs)
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Business development
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Technology assistance/training
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Budgeting and finance
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Communications/marketing
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ESL courses
Our United In Care Academy consists of both tailored training programs created by our United In Care staff and existing training programs administered through various partnering organizations. For more information about our partners, please click on their respective logos.
Join Our Family!
If you are a home-based family care provider located in one of our target geographies, please check out these videos and email Amanda Krause DiScala for more information about joining our United In Care family.
How We're Helping Families
United In Care believes every family deserves the peace of mind that their child is being cared for by a licensed child care provider without worrying about cost, and every child is entitled to effective quality early childhood child care and education.
United In Care supports families by providing:
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Access to quality, affordable child care
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Access to tuition assistance
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Access to summer programming
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Access to healthy food and nutrition education
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Strengthened community connections
How We're Tracking Progress
At every step throughout the project, the United In Care team is actively collecting programmatic data gathered through feedback from the participating families, centers and providers and analyzed by data experts. These key performance indicators will measure results like increased capacity, increased affordability, improved wages, and better quality of care.
United In Care has partnered with BCT Partners of Newark to create an interactive dashboard that will provide reporting, visualization and insight into United In Care’s progress.
Coming Soon!
Why United In Care is Important Now
The gap between the cost of child care and what an ALICE worker earns was already quite large, especially in New Jersey. In fact, the average annual cost of child care in New Jersey was more than in-state tuition at Rutgers University.
Below are stats that show the urgency and importance of fixing this child care crisis, statewide and nationally. While collecting and providing data and trends unique to United In Care, the program is also informed by reports and data released by state and national advocacy groups focused on child care.
Please click on the data below to view copies of recent child care industry reports.
By The Numbers
Expands to District 11
6,957
Number of registered US home-base child care businesses that closed from Dec. 2019-March 2021
Who Supports United In Care
With the backing and collaboration of formidable philanthropic organizations, including the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, Overdeck Family Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, the United States Congress, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, New Jersey Health Initiatives, Barclays, and Reinvestment Fund, the goal is to develop a pilot that can be replicated across the state and country.
United In Care seeks like-minded philanthropists interested in joining the collaboration. Email Theresa Leamy for more information.
Click here to meet our Advisory Council members.
Who We Are
United In Care is staffed by a core team of devoted, passionate and caring individuals with a diverse mix of experiences and expertise in child care and early childhood education.
Click here to view our team and contact information.
