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CHIPS Act Child Care Solutions

LIIF’s offers 25 years of expertise and a proven track record of strengthening the child care sector nationwide. As the main community development financial institution (CDFI) involved in this work, we are now seen as the go-to source for semiconductor businesses needing to ensure they best meet the mandates of the federal CHIPS Act.

Contact Shelly Masur

LIIF + Child Care: Offering The Essential Elements for the Semiconductor Industry

LIIF is the leading CDFI supporting a strong child care ecosystem across the nation.

LIIF is uniquely positioned to advise on the creation and strengthening of early child care and education (ECE) systems to support the CHIPS initiative. Your partnership with LIIF will enable the securing of public resources, and implementation that ensures employer/employee success by supporting families and workforce retention.

CHIPS services offered by LIIF
CHIPS map – LIIF’s child care footprint

OUR EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION IMPACT

$455 MILLION

INVESTED IN EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION TO DATE

379,000

TOTAL SLOTS IMPACTED TO DATE

23,000

TOTAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TA) HOURS

Four Reasons to Partner with LIIF

  1. Community-centered. LIIF knows communities and the people in them. We focus on deep community engagement to understand needs, and respond with capital and relevant programming to advance equity and opportunity.
  2. Equity approach. With commitments to social and economic justice, LIIF bring a unique lens to capital investments and community engagement.
  3. Comprehensive. LIIF takes a comprehensive approach in everything that we do. We are uniquely capable of integrating early care and education with other key needs, such as housing. Our work aims to mitigate climate risks and build climate resilience, all with a focus on long-term financial sustainability.
  4. Key Advisors. In addition to deploying capital, LIIF acts as a key advisor to public entities on strengthening local, regional and state early care and education systems. We are a partner to local center-based and home-based child care businesses. LIIF has a proven track record of partnering with employer partners to meet complex goals.

Three Business Verticals

  1. Facilities Fund Management. LIIF strengthens the ECE sector through grantmaking and technical assistance to build, expand and/or renovate facilities.
  2. Capacity Building. LIIF’s Capacity Building team provides technical assistance (TA) and consulting services to enable CDFIs, governments and other key ECE stakeholders to successfully respond to ECE supply building and facilities funds proposals, implement grantmaking and loan programs, and administer business technical support programs.
  3. Advisory Services. Our experienced Advisory and Policy team analyzes the current state of child care communities through facilities needs assessments, mapping tools, and other child care needs and financial-modeling tools.

Four Guiding Principles

  1. Data Driven: Centering responsiveness to families’ real needs. Employees work best when their families’ basic needs are met, and their children can be nurtured and cared for in supportive, convenient and accessible ECE settings. It’s important to understand their preferences and provide child care solutions to meet their needs.
  2. Building on the strengths and programs that already exist in the community. All communities have existing ECE resources, but they may need to be shored up or expanded. ECE professionals are critical community anchors who provide services to generations of residents and potential employees. It is critical to recognize their assets and build strong and sustainable ECE employee solutions.
  3. Including diverse child care settings. Home-based ECE businesses, called family child care homes, are a viable and often preferred option for employees with young children.
    These businesses are more likely to:
    Offer services outside of regular business hours;
    Care for children under three years of age; and
    Match the language and culture of the families they serve.
  4. It is important to include a variety of ECE solutions for prospective employees with young children. LIIF recognizes that 98% of wage earners make more than ECE professionals. We work to address that issue by supporting programs and policies that ensure livable wages for all ECE providers.

Four Recommendations

  1. Compile data and understand their employees child care needs.
    -Employees work best when their families caregiving needs are met, and their children can be nurtured and cared for in supportive, convenient and accessible ECE settings.
    -Completing an internal company demographic and dependent study can reveal employee needs and opportunities to enhance child care benefits to attract and retain the best talent.
  2. Build on the strengths and programs that already exist in the community.
    -All communities have existing ECE resources, but they may need to be shored up or expanded.
    -ECE professionals are critical community anchors who provide services to generations of residents and potential employees.
    -It is critical to recognize their assets, work through challenges, and build a strong, sustainable ECE employee base and community. 
  3. Include diverse child care settings.
    -Home-based child care businesses, called family child care homes, are a viable and often preferred option for employees with young children.
    -These businesses are more likely to offer services outside of regular business hours; care for children under three years of age; be located in rural areas or areas with less overall child care supply; and match the language and culture of the families they serve.
    -It is important to include diverse ECE solutions for prospective employees with young children. 
  4. Advance income equity for ECE providers.
    -It is unconscionable that 98% of wage earners make more than ECE professionals.
    -One in three child care providers has experienced at least one material hardship (e.g., food, housing, utilities).
    -A recent survey of early educators found that nearly half of respondents who had been in the field for only a year or less and over one-third of those with two to five years in the field were considering leaving, further limiting child care availability.
    -We must all work to address that chronic issue by promoting programs and policies that ensure livable wages for all ECE providers. 

Learn more

Contact Shelly Masur