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What do semiconductors have in common with child care? An AI query (made possible, of course, by a semiconductor or two) provides a surprisingly astute response: 鈥淏oth involve managing complex systems with careful attention to detail, adaptability and long-term planning to ensure optimal outcomes.鈥� These words could serve as the unofficial mission statement of the , which is designed to fortify child care systems and increase access to high-quality, affordable care in communities with substantial numbers employed in manufacturing.

The partnership, initiated by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and The Kresge Foundation, and now funded by seven other philanthropic organizations, has raised $9.6 million to date. The group was spurred by a clause in the  of 2022, which is intended to expand manufacturing in the U.S. (CHIPS stands for “Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors.”)  

The bill requires manufacturers applying for over $150 million in CHIPS funding to submit plans to provide child care for both facility and construction workers. Jonathan Hui, a senior program officer at The Kresge Foundation, credits designers of the package for 鈥渃apturing the link between infrastructure and child care that is often underlooked.鈥� 

Katie Beckmann, the national policy director at the Packard Foundation, agrees that this intersection is key. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 only about expansion and creation of manufacturing in parts of the country that have often been left behind,鈥� Beckmann says. 鈥淏usiness begets business, which further drives the need for quality, affordable child care in these communities. Ultimately, we hope this work will strengthen our argument for additional public dollars to be put into child care. It also has the potential to enlist small and big businesses as allies.鈥�

The philanthropic partnership was announced in June 2024 at the inaugural National Child Care Innovation Summit, an event centered on the critical role of child care for working parents. During the summit, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, 鈥淐hild care is not only a social issue or a 鈥榳omen鈥檚 issue.鈥� It is also an economic issue. In fact, I’d argue it鈥檚 one of the most critical economic issues affecting families, businesses and communities today. The lack of investment in our care infrastructure is costing us dearly. There鈥檚 a generation of Americans in their prime working years caught between their jobs and caring for children or elderly relatives.鈥�

The partnership aims to increase child care supply and improve the quality of care and is beginning with pilots in Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and New Hampshire. Child care is especially hard to find in these four states, and employees showing up to build or operate the new facilities will need help locating and paying for safe and supportive child care settings so that their children can thrive while they work.

The foundations are developing their plans in collaboration with leaders and advocates in each state. 鈥淲e鈥檙e coming together and co-creating child care solutions that expand child care supply and enhance quality,鈥� says Beckmann, who adds that designing solutions that meet the needs of the whole community takes time and patience.

鈥淲e need a national strategy for early childhood,鈥� Hui argues, 鈥渋n the sense that there needs to be a national commitment to investing in early childhood, but how that shows up in community is deeply contextual.鈥� 

Existing infrastructure and relationships in each state will help the partnership to identify opportunities and connect the dots among: 

• Businesses: This includes the manufacturer, child care providers and other community businesses that play a role in the local economy. 
• Governments: This includes state and local departments and elected officials who can provide guidance on the regulatory environment in which new child care programs will arise. 
• Advocates: This includes groups representing the interests of families and child care providers who can share insights that can inform investments and decisions.
• Funding Leaders: This includes, most notably, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which are uniquely suited to blend and grade federal and state funding streams to get the maximum benefit out of each public and private investment.

Learning from Past Partnerships

The Investing in America Child Care Partnership intends to draw lessons from existing and emerging solutions that are already underway. For example, while not part of the partnership, a new facility on Detroit鈥檚 east side embodies the type of project that CDFIs can help usher into existence. The 15,000-square-foot McClellan Early Childhood Center features eight classrooms providing 96 new seats for early learners. This project, which took five years to implement and cost $8.75 million, offers the stakeholders involved in the partnership a road map for realizing plans in partnership with community.

鈥淭he lessons learned from building McClellan are going to be critical to how we think about blending and braiding facilities funding,鈥� says Hui.

Kirby Burkholder, president of core business solutions at , the CDFI that facilitated the , explains that CDFIs have a unique value for the ecosystem: 鈥淢anufacturers use language like 鈥榚mployee attraction, employee retention, employee satisfaction.鈥� We use language like 鈥榯ransformational community development, aligning programmatic and facilities quality.鈥� But we鈥檙e talking about the same thing. We鈥檙e the translators.鈥� 

Burkholder says CDFIs like IFF (which just wrapped up  $59 million of American Rescue Plan money through the state of Michigan that went out to 1,005 providers),   and the  organize and activate capital. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how government money reaches Main Street,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e鈥檙e CDFIs that have evolved a whole infrastructure, with a community and data insights team that does the needs analysis that informs decision making.鈥� 

Taking time to listen and collaborate does not detract from the urgency of the crisis that the partnership is tackling. 鈥淎cross the country,鈥� Hui notes, 鈥渨orking families are worrying every day about the trade off between providing high-quality care for their children and being able to enter or reenter the workforce or stay in the workforce.鈥� 

Successful partnerships, he maintains, will generate not just an increased supply of quality child care in the communities they are targeting but also 鈥渓ongstanding systems solutions that really change how our country thinks about child care.鈥�

At a time when government funding of all kinds 鈥�  鈥� could be under scrutiny, philanthropic support can make a difference in making sure investments work on the local level. 

Beckmann notes an additional benefit of success: 鈥淒emonstrating that government can work for its people. This is an important moment to learn about what works and doesn’t work in creating a child care ecosystem that helps children and families thrive.鈥� 

One of the philanthropic organizations that helps fund the Investing in America Child Care Partnership is Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. That foundation also provides financial support to 麻豆精品.

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