Introduction
Research Questions
- What features of quality do FFN providers prioritize and how do they implement caregiving practices?
- How do FNN provider’s relationships to children, child characteristics, and numbers of children in care influence caregiving?
Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care is a type of home-based child care (HBCC) and is exempt from licensing in some states and localities. While FFN care is the most common nonparental child care arrangement in the United States (Datta et al., 2021), there is limited empirical research examining FFN care and how FFN providers define quality. As part of the Home-Based Child Care Supply and Quality (HBCCSQ) project, the Home-Based Child Care Practices and Experiences Study (HBCC P&E Study) aimed to shed light on the caregiving practices and priorities of FFN providers, and how these practices and priorities are informed by FNN providers’ characteristics and the communities in which they live.
Purpose
This brief summarizes findings from the analysis of FFN provider perspectives on quality. It investigates what features of caregiving FFN providers prioritize, how providers implement these features, and how their personal, community, social or professional characteristics influence caregiving.
Key Findings and Highlights
FNN providers in this study sample described the ways they build loving and long-term relationships with children in their care, instill values through cultural and faith-based practices, teach and educate children through formal and informal home lessons, routines, and activities, and create safe and healthy home environments.
FNN providers described the importance of developing trusting relationships with families of children in their care through offering emotional support, reliable and consistent care, and shared cultural values and practices, as well as respect for and familiarity with families’ child rearing routines and practices through intentional communication. FNN providers also described the importance of flexible hours, affordability, and non-child care supports.
FNN providers described personal rewards of caregiving such as supporting children’s development, strengthening families and the community, and offering care at home. Challenges of offering FFN care included provider’s health, supporting children’s challenging behaviors, navigating conflicts with families, and lack of access to financial and material resources including housing and safe outdoor places for children.
Caregiving practices described by FNN providers varied by their relationship to children in care. For example, relative providers were more likely than nonrelative providers to discuss the importance of overnight sleep routines. The numbers, ages, and abilities of children in care also influenced caregiving. For example, FNN providers caring for school-age children noted the importance of homework routines.
Methods
The HBCC P&E Study used qualitative and descriptive methods to explore the practices and experiences of FFN providers located in four states with different child care policy contexts and supports available for FFN providers. FFN providers (N = 48) were recruited through trusted partner organizations at four study sites. Participating providers completed two interviews, as well as photo and audio journals, that aimed to give voice to the perspective of FFN providers.
Qualitative interviews gathered information about:
Providers’ stories of offering care
How provider characteristics influence caregiving
Providers’ photo and audio journals gathered information about:
Features of care that providers prioritize
Providers' experiences of caregiving conditions including joys and frustrations
Citation
Bromer, J., Ragonese-Barnes, M., and Miguel, J. (2025). Quality in family, friend, and neighbor child care: Summary of findings from the Home-Based Child Care Practices and Experiences Study (OPRE Report No. 2025-163). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.
Glossary
- Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN):
- noncustodial care offered by providers who are legally exempt from state licensing or other state regulations for noncustodial care of children in a provider’s own home
- Home-based child care (HBCC):
- any noncustodial child care in the provider’s own home or the child’s home
- HBCC P&E Study:
- Home-Based Child Care Practices and Experiences Study