Resources & Research
Use the search bar below to find specific ECE facilities resources, or browse by topic.
ECE Facilities Best Practices
In this report, Foundational Planning Guide for Incorporating Child Care in Affordable Housing Developments: ECE Center Typologies, the authors detail the different kinds of child care facilities and considerations for housing developers when co-locating. The report includes classroom templates with square footage requirements, programming criteria for centers of different sizes, and design elements for infant, toddler, and preschool facilities.
Learn more about Mission Driven Finance's Care Access Real Estate (CARE) program that aims to expand the availability of child care through real estate investment. This strategy is also intended to build the wealth of providers through home or center ownership and expanding to serve more children.
This article explores the different considerations for choosing an architect to construct, renovate or expand a child care center. Steps in the design process are also outlined to preview the experience of working with an architect.
BPC developed this checklist tool to evaluate the quality of a child care facilities. The checklist includes items related to environmental health & safety, prevention of fire hazards, emergency preparedness, general facility maintenance, building exterior & interior, playground quality and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
LISC compiles best practices of designing and furnishing early care and education spaces. Recommendations for room layouts, materials and outdoor spaces help providers meet licensing requirements and create environments designed for high quality play and learning.
In this resource developed by the National Economic Development and Law Center, readers can learn the different financial skills necessary to operate a family child care home. Chapters include information on budgeting, developing a business plan, financial planning for expanding or renovating, and more.
Learn the best practices for designing sustainable spaces that also inspire children to be creative, play, and develop a deep connection with nature.
This paper and accompanying short videos are part of the Making Space series, a project of the National Children's Facilities Network. This installment explores how children's children connection to nature has changed in the context of our changing climate, and how child care facilities may play a role in restrengthening that relationship.
Written from the perspective of an architect, this short report explains best practices for designing environmentally and financially sustainable child care centers.
"Licensed child care centers are generally considered to be safe because they are required to meet state licensing regulations. As part of their licensing requirements, many states inspect child care centers and include an assessment of the health and safety of the facility to look for hazardous conditions or practices that may harm children. However, most states do not require an environmental assessment of the child care center building or land to prevent a center from being placed on, next to, or inside contaminated buildings. Having worked on several sites where child care centers were affected by environmental contaminants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) endeavor to raise awareness of this issue. One of ATSDR's partner states, Connecticut, took a proactive, non-regulatory approach to the issue with the development its Child Day Care Screening Assessment for Environmental Risk Program."
This extensive report covers how child care facilities can be "greened" and designed to have a lower environmental impact, resilient overtime and provide safe spaces for children to grow and learn. From site selection and layout design, to non-toxic play materials, this report and accompanying Go Green Checklist are great resources for child care providers, operators, developers and communities members to have to center sustainability in their community.
The Low Income Investment Fund and ECONorthwest submitted this report to the Oregon Joint Committee on Ways and Means as a part of a larger project aimed at increasing the supply of child care in Oregon. This report details the benefits of colocating early care and education facilities with affordable housing as a means of utilizing both housing and child care facilities funding. Multiple case studies are presented to show different types of co-located arrangements and facilities designs. Finally, the report offers policy recommendations to secure additional funding and encourage partnerships between housing developers and child care operators.
This report outlines the benefits of combining family child care with affordable housing and provides strategies for financing and designing high-quality spaces.
This tool helps design eco-friendly Early Childhood Education (ECE) facilities using interactive images to explore design options and safe materials.
LA County's 2022 assessment shows that only 4% of children under 24 months have access to licensed child care and includes ideas for expanding these services.
Co-Locating Child Care
In this report, Foundational Planning Guide for Incorporating Child Care in Affordable Housing Developments: ECE Center Typologies, the authors detail the different kinds of child care facilities and considerations for housing developers when co-locating. The report includes classroom templates with square footage requirements, programming criteria for centers of different sizes, and design elements for infant, toddler, and preschool facilities.
Read about the experiences of child care providers in California, New York and Washington, D.C. that are co-located in affordable housing buildings
Colocation solutions are explored in this report focused on San Diego. Scenarios with different timelines of construction and implementation as well as types of child care are presented to examine different configurations of pairing child care on site with affordable housing developments.
The Low Income Investment Fund and ECONorthwest submitted this report to the Oregon Joint Committee on Ways and Means as a part of a larger project aimed at increasing the supply of child care in Oregon. This report details the benefits of colocating early care and education facilities with affordable housing as a means of utilizing both housing and child care facilities funding. Multiple case studies are presented to show different types of co-located arrangements and facilities designs. Finally, the report offers policy recommendations to secure additional funding and encourage partnerships between housing developers and child care operators.
This report outlines the benefits of combining family child care with affordable housing and provides strategies for financing and designing high-quality spaces.
Climate Resiliency
Learn the best practices for designing sustainable spaces that also inspire children to be creative, play, and develop a deep connection with nature.
This paper and accompanying short videos are part of the Making Space series, a project of the National Children's Facilities Network. This installment explores how children's children connection to nature has changed in the context of our changing climate, and how child care facilities may play a role in restrengthening that relationship.
Written from the perspective of an architect, this short report explains best practices for designing environmentally and financially sustainable child care centers.
This extensive report covers how child care facilities can be "greened" and designed to have a lower environmental impact, resilient overtime and provide safe spaces for children to grow and learn. From site selection and layout design, to non-toxic play materials, this report and accompanying Go Green Checklist are great resources for child care providers, operators, developers and communities members to have to center sustainability in their community.
Climate Change is Childcare Issue (September 12th Episode): In this episode of the No One is Coming to Save Us podcast, host Gloria Riviera explores why families across L.A. are struggling with the rising cost of childcare and how to access support programs. Meanwhile, childcare providers are grappling with their own challenges, including low wages and staff shortages. Gloria talks about how leaders in L.A. can invest in a more unified, affordable, and culturally affirming system of childcare. She is joined by Debra Colman, the Director of the L.A. County Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, and Vickie Ramos Harris, the Vice President of Policy and Programs at Catalyst California.
Researchers who study the importance of a baby's early experiences, such as the quality of the relationships with their parents, are also looking into how built and natural environments critically impact health outcomes. But access to green space, for example, is not equal depending on where families live.
Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes learns more about the connections between the environment and early childhood with Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, chief science officer at The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
In this article form the Hechinger Report, author Anya Kamentz makes clear the increasingly negative impact climate change has on child care facilities. On top of providing quality, loving care, extreme heat, smokey air, and flood risk are now reoccuring challenges chidl care providers must face. Kamentz offers examples from other nations on how facilities can be bolstered using resilient materials and designs to better withstand extreme weather and keep child care providers and the kids in their care safe.
The first of its kind, the U.S. Early Years Climate Action Plan puts forth a framework for understanding how climate change impacts children and families, child- and family-facing programs, and local communities and proposes recommendations for different stakeholders and government agencies to implement resiliency strategies and funding opportunities to protect young children.
This tool helps design eco-friendly Early Childhood Education (ECE) facilities using interactive images to explore design options and safe materials.
The LIIF and UC Berkeley's paper emphasizes reducing the risks of extreme heat and air pollution in child care facilities for children aged 0 to 5.
ECE Facilities Policies & Partners
In this report, Foundational Planning Guide for Incorporating Child Care in Affordable Housing Developments: ECE Center Typologies, the authors detail the different kinds of child care facilities and considerations for housing developers when co-locating. The report includes classroom templates with square footage requirements, programming criteria for centers of different sizes, and design elements for infant, toddler, and preschool facilities.
In 2021, Redwood City's City Manager authored a staff report recommending the mayor and city council introduce an ordinance to implement zoning amendments related to to child care regulations for large family child care homes, child care centers, and child care development standards.
The report recommends that the city allow standalone child care centers of up to 60 children by-right in all commercial and mixed-use areas and to require a Use Permit for centers with more than 60 children, and to allow accessory child care centers in conjunction with an adjoining business by-right without a cap on the number of children and remove the requirement to only service the employees of the business.
A guide by LISC to help Rhode Island Child Care Early Learning Facilities Fund grantees meet fencing quality guidelines for outdoor play areas.