Child Care Aware of America

CCAoA’s strategic goals, as outlined in our 2023-2025 strategic plan, are as follows:
1. Advance policies that demand quality child care for all.
2. Influence and architect the national infrastructure that delivers quality, affordable child care.
3. Deliver innovative thought leadership that transforms the child care field.
4. Strengthen human capital and organizational excellence.

To advance our 2023-2025 strategic goal to advance policies that demand quality child care for all, CCAoA will:
- Advocate for public and private investment to ensure families have access to high-quality, culturally responsive and inclusive child care that centers the whole child experience.
- Mobilize and grow advocacy networks that elevate the voices of communities that are routinely marginalized and underserved.
- Champion policies that equitably compensate and respect the child care workforce and profession.
- Implement quality standards, backed by research and data, that honor family voices as experts and leaders on the needs of their children and families.

To advance our goal to influence and architect the national infrastructure that delivers quality, affordable child care, CCAoA will:
- Be the national voice of collective knowledge, learning and training that facilitates child care systems building.
- Position Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies as a collective force, cooperating to provide data, expertise and programming that families, providers, communities and governments can rely on.
- Increase offerings and experiences, grounded in diversity, equity and inclusion, that build the capacity and competency of organizations and leaders who deliver child care services.
- Expand human-centered products, services, tailored tools and technology systems that advance the child care industry’s societal, economic and digital needs.

To advance our goal to deliver innovative thought leadership that transforms the field, CCAoA will:
- Prioritize quality, innovative and comprehensive research and data collection that is centered in family, child care provider and community experiences.
- Activate and implement policy, practice and research solutions from our findings that dismantle barriers to child care equity.
- Forge strategic partnerships to influence and innovate child care solutions and share a vision for the future.
- Expand our role as a lead expert and authority on the design, implementation and evaluation of child care systems – including military, state systems, education and health and human services.

To meet our goal to strengthen human capital and organizational excellence, CCAoA will:
- Continue to be a Great Place to Work, where diversity and inclusion are celebrated and where staff are respected, well-trained and equitably compensated.
- Improve internal processes, resources and systems by investing in human-centered delivery.
- Strengthen organizational equity through internal alignment and collaboration among individuals and teams.

CCAoA is the national leader in building capacity, elevating needs, empowering advocates and advancing solutions towards a child care system that works for all children and families.

CCAoA is the only national organization that focuses on engaging and supporting the full diversity of voices and lived experiences of all child care professionals and families who utilize this care, in all settings where child care occurs and at all levels of the child care system. As a nonprofit membership organization, CCAoA is a thought leader and convener for the nation’s 500+ state and local CCR&R agencies in 47 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, child care providers, national and community-based nonprofits, government agencies and other child-serving professionals. CCR&Rs are community-based resource hubs that help families access high-quality, affordable care and build the supply of quality of care in their communities.

 CCAoA’s national membership network, military programs and expertise at the nexus of child care policy, practice and research uniquely position the organization to efficiently and effectively lead the child care system in applying evidence-based practices and advancing data-driven policy solutions to improve equity outcomes. It’s through these deep connections with our members, partners and stakeholders at the local, state and national levels that we can access data, identify and scale effective practices and understand what is necessary to effect equitable policy change. CCAoA has deep expertise and proven capacity to advance research-based child care policies, resources and practices that are equity-driven, community-focused, family-engaged and child-centered. We translate best practices from our research and policy work into resources, trainings, technical assistance and other capacity-building tools that can be easily understood and implemented by CCR&Rs and professionals in the field to improve equity outcomes for children and families.

For nearly 35 years, CCAoA has led the field in policy, practice and research that advance positive outcomes for children, families and communities. In 2022 alone, our advocacy network of more than 20,000 individuals shared over 12,000 messages with lawmakers in support of child care. During our 2022 Advocacy Day, advocates met with 80+ Congressional offices from 29 states to discuss the impact of pandemic relief funding and importance of continued federal investments in child care.

With guidance from CCAoA, our state organization partners have a history of securing additional state-level public funding for child care, increased reimbursement rates for providers and sweeping improvements to health and safety requirements. Examples of such state-level victories include Nathan’s Law in Missouri (2019:HB2097), Addison’s Law in North Dakota (2015:HB1247) and Lexie’s Law in Kansas (2009:HB2356).

CCAoA is a critical information pipeline that connects individuals with community-based resources that support access to high-quality child care. Through services such as our National Consumer Hotline, CCAoA facilitated such connections through nearly 582,000 touchpoints in 2022. CCAoA has served as the sole private third-party administrator of the U.S. military’s fee assistance programs since 2004. Through our military programs, CCAoA has supported over 10 million families and created a network of quality child care providers in all 50 states.

In addition, CCAoA leads capacity-building and professional development efforts to strengthen the practices of child care systems, organizations and professionals. In 2022, these efforts impacted nearly 90,000 recipients. We dedicated approximately $2 million in subgrants to CCR&Rs and other intermediaries to learn and implement effective best-practices in their communities.

CCAoA’s research identifies gaps and inequities as well as success stories and innovations that can inform policy decisions and practices in the field. Our annual U.S. and the High Price of Child Care report was the first to identify that the cost of center-based child care was unaffordable across the nation, exceeding the annual cost of college tuition in all 50 states and D.C. Since 2006, our Child Care Landscape Analysis has served as the only annual report of its kind to detail state-by-state child care supply and capacity, quality rating and improvement systems and CCR&R services.

Finally, CCAoA is committed to nurturing an equitable and thriving organizational culture equipped to deploy quality programs and thought leadership. This commitment is evidenced by our Great Place to Work® Certifications in 2021-22 and 2023-24.

CCAoA is building upon this impact through goals and strategies as part of our 2023-2025 strategic plan. This plan expands our ability to advance our mission and deepen our commitment to focus on the lived experience of families struggling to access high-quality, affordable and accessible child care.