How do we get to a future where this visionary care system is real?
We’re going to need to do some work to change what everybody (parents, current and prospective teachers and caregivers, family resource nonprofits, philanthropy, the private sector as a whole as well as government at all levels) believes about care.
Individualism to Collectivism
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We’ll need to start thinking, acting, and operating in community-minded ways, en-masse and at-large.
Modern-day living and our definition of the “nuclear family” has led us to look at care the same way we look at other aspects of our lives - everyone fends for themselves. Without community, taking care of kids inside and outside of the home remains frustrating and isolating - when it really does not have to be. Instead of operating as if we are all independent of one another, what would it take for us all to begin embodying interdependence?
How might we
redefine the American family unit?
How might we
normalize building and being parts of systems of support that extend past our immediate guardians and kids?
How might we
universally be excited about enriching the lives of every kid, teen, and adult we encounter—and about mutual responsibility to benefit all families and children?
“I think we need to challenge this idea that rugged individualism is the right way to live. Collective interdependence is more of the correct mindset. Because individualism says I can do alone vs. interdependence and collectivism is “I will do what I can and then rely on my community”. Let go of shame, let go of doing it alone.”
Bango Gancinia
Invisible to Valued
We’ll have to start uplifting how much work and expertise caregivers and teachers hold in doing what they do—then make our infrastructure and available resources match.
America generally sees parenting and caring as something that women (especially women of color) should be doing, regardless of whether they are capable or interested or not. By tying childcare to problematic assumptions around gender, we’ve effectively cheapened and invisibilized the skill, labor, and economic value of childcare. Instead of continuing to enforce problematic beliefs about who cares and how they should be valued for it, what would it take for us as a culture to truly see and value childcare?
How might we
lay bare the skills, expertise, time, and effort needed to care for children?
How might we
name and celebrate the many ways that childcare generates cultural and economic value?
How might we
recognize and invest in it as ‘essential’ labor, not simply a labor of love?
“Get out of the idea that childcare is babysitting and babysitting is bad, and the negative connotations around the different types of care and the different needs. For so long this is something that people have done and taken on as their duty to their family and community and it’s been in the shadows. But it’s such an important part of our ability to thrive.”
Katie Rahn
Singular to Pluralistic
We’ll need to create as many solutions as there are needs, while valuing and adapting regional and cultural childcare practices from across America.
America’s informal childcare is seen as less than, while its formal childcare solutions (ie. school, center, and home-based childcare provided by anyone holding an official license to teach and/or look after kids) are rooted in white Western notions of ‘good’, ‘quality’, ‘behavior’, ‘success’, and ‘ability’. This means formal options aren’t tailored to affirm kids who aren’t white and able-bodied, nor do they allow immigrant or non-English speaking children to grow and feel like they belong. Instead of promoting a handful of ways, what would it take for us to embrace and celebrate plurality?
How might we
get curious and inspired by ancestral approaches to growing and raising children?
How might we
advocate for funding and support for those whose care for children is rooted in cultural connection to the kids they look after?
How might we
push for more plentiful options for neurodivergent kids and for families whose adults work overnight and gig economy shifts?
“[Mainstream culture] doesn’t lean towards what family makeup can look like that is nonnuclear or heteronormative. How do we intersect all of our traditions so that we’re learning from each other in these spaces?”
zahra alabanza
Suspicious and Silo’d to Trusting and Whole
We’ll have to design systems nimble enough to weave across other needs—not just childcare, as well as give families room to direct that support—no matter what their circumstance.
Systems often criminalize parents and guardians who have ‘failed’ to properly care for their kids, without considering what might have brought the guardian or child to that moment of crisis. Often, these interactions are driven by racist and classist beliefs that cast poor, rural, single-parent, and/or BIPOC parents into the role of incapable. Least helpful, the U.S. has no unified social security agency devoted to childcare. Federal, state, and local offices administer dozens of programs with different rules, budgets (if they have one) and resources. This is extremely confusing and frustrating for families to navigate. Instead of perpetuating other systems’ problematic approach to family support and ‘intervention’, how might future childcare ecosystems take an inherently trust-based approach to helping families holistically get what they need?
How might we
love the family as much as we love the child?
How might we
make it safe for families to share the details of their circumstances with their caregivers (without fear of reporting or additional criminalization) so that caregivers fully understand what their kids are feeling and experiencing at the moment?
How might we
encourage communication across multiple systems (i.e. health, social safety net needs etc.) for a more holistic view of the circumstances that parents/guardians and kids are bringing into interactions?
“It...[care] is receiving love, all the essential elements named. Care needs to look like all of the above in any setting--at home, with extended family, in childcare spaces and school, when they visit healthcare providers etc.”
Hoda Shawky
