Family, Friend and Neighbor Network (FFN) Gets Needed Support

United Way of King County works to get all young children and their families the support they need wherever they are—at home with a parent, in a formal child care program, or in informal care with a family member, friend or neighbor. Our School Readiness Impact Council has invested $30,000 this year to support some exciting work being done locally with family, friend and neighbor caregivers. FFN care is the predominant form of non-parental child care for infants and toddlers in King County.

"We know that we can't make sure that all of our children are prepared to succeed without involving and supporting all of our children's caregivers. Helping to build a strong FFN infrastructure is an important piece of that work, and we are excited to see the FFN support movement growing locally and across the state," says United Way's Director School Readiness, Karen Howell-Clark.

About half of all children birth to age 5 are in some sort of family, friend or neighbor care each week, with about one-third of children in this age group in informal care for more than 10 hours a week. While parents choose this care for many reasons, including inability to find or pay for other care, the majority of parents choose it because of familiar and trusted relationships. And one in five family, friend, and neighbor caregivers report caring for a child with special needs.

United Way of King County invests in programs that support communications, awareness and outreach to caregivers and parents. Our investments propelled a critical piece of the King County Family, Friend and Neighbor Caregiving Resource Network's strategic plan by building awareness about what FFN care is and why it is important to support FFN caregivers. We were critical to ensuring that FFN care is visible and included in early learning discussions, and we're helping the program to expand to other counties throughout the state.

Sign up for our Talk About Kids monthly e-mails - to find out more about the importance of early learning, quality child care and supporting parents and caregivers. Find out how United Way of King County is helping children succeed in school and life through investments in early learning.

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