Strengthening Every Child by Recognizing Every Caregiver
Our Work
Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers play a vital role in raising Colorado’s children, yet remain excluded from many supports, resources, and decisions. The Donnell-Kay Foundation is working to change that by building inclusion, breaking down barriers, and ensuring caregivers have what they need so that every child has a strong foundation for the future.
Our Approach:
- Elevating Voices: We partner with FFN caregivers to ensure they are included in decision-making and recognized as essential early childhood professionals.
- Expanding Access: We work to remove barriers to food, nutrition, and financial support so that caregivers can focus on what matters most, nurturing children’s healthy growth and development.
- Shaping Policy: We collaborate with state leaders and national partners to advance policies and programs that support caregivers and the children they serve.
- Building Community: We convene caregivers, organizations, and community members through meetings and webinars to strengthen FFN care and create lasting connections.
Who are Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers?
FFN care is license-exempt, home-based early child care provided by relatives, family friends, or parents caring for other children alongside their own.
In Colorado, FFNs are allowed to operate legally without a formal license from the State as long as they meet the license-exempt requirements of caring for four or fewer children ages birth to 18 years old and no more than two children under the age of two.
FFNs are both providers-of-choice and a social safety net. They help meet the practical needs of families who need flexible care or who work outside of the 9-to-5 workday, as well as for those who need to prioritize affordability or care for children with special needs.
Many parents prefer a home setting for their children and may seek out a caregiver who shares their first language and culture.
Our Initiatives
A North Star Vision for FFN in Colorado
What would it look like if every FFN caregiver in Colorado had what they needed? FFN providers and FFN advocates came together to answer that question and the result is a collective North Star Vision for FFN care in Colorado.
Bright Spots
What does it actually look like when communities get FFN support right? We set out to find organizations across Colorado that are doing just that — and let FFN caregivers lead the research themselves. The result is our Bright Spots report, full of real stories and transferable lessons.
How We Engaged FFN Providers
How do you actually pay FFN caregivers to lead research and where do you even find them? We get these questions a lot. So we wrote down exactly what we did: how we recruited, what we paid, and what we learned.
Reports
Supporting FFN caregivers begins with understanding their experiences and the systems that shape their work. We’ve curated a selection of recent research and reports that offer insights, data, and ideas to strengthen support for FFN caregivers, and ultimately, the children in their care.
- Enhancing Compensation Structures for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Providers in Jefferson County 7.13.2023
- The Bell Policy Center: Financial Empowerment Among Colorado’s Informal Caregivers 5.2024
- Expanding Access to the Federal Child and Adult Care Food Program for Immigrant Family, Friend and Neighbor Care Providers in Colorado 10.2024
- Adapting a Health Promotion Program for Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) Informal Caregivers in Refugee and Immigrant Communities (Jini Puma) 6.9.2025
- Elevating Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers in Colorado: A Review of Five States by Lorendia Schmidt 04.03.2026
Articles
FFN caregivers feed children, shape policy, and hold communities together. Here are some perspectives from our team (and partners) on food access, systemic change, and what it means to truly include caregivers in decisions that affect them. Explore our articles below.
Finally at the Table: Opening the Colorado Food Program to FFN Caregivers
Read Article Finalmente en la mesa: Apertura del Programa de Alimentos de Colorado a las cuidadoras FFN
Read Article
From Tokenism to Partnership: How FFN Caregivers are Shaping Child Care Support in Colorado
Read Article
Feeding Injustice: How Colorado Fails our Youngest Kids by Denying Food Benefits
Read Article