We are the family child care homes of North Carolina!  We represent the 14 regions, 100 counties, and 1175 family child care homes!  It is our goal to share with the child care commission that we will no longer accept the Quality Rated Improvement System (QRIS) for our programs.  It's clear from the last commission meeting, the sub-committee did not adhere to any suggestions from family child care homes during focus groups.  On another note, it is made abundantly clear that the sub-committee has set up pathways for family child care homes to fail rather than thrive. For example: recommendations for a pathway to go through an expensive FCC accreditation to only get to a three star and for us to drop our ratios to get to a five star.  

The family child care homes have been the heart and home of North Carolina.  We have stayed opened during the pandemic, during multiple shifts, and on weekends in order for our economy to flourish and our families to work.  Today, we stand together as small business owners, advocacy groups, FCC advisory council members to say "enough is enough!"  Many of us have worked for decades in this field and have catered to the regulations set forth by the state. As always, we will follow the rule of law however; your stars will no longer define our quality.  You ask us for diamonds and stars and everyday you get diamonds and stars that you do not want to pay for.  We have a chance to make a thriving wage with our ratio law change and yet you want us to decrease our ratios. 

Until the commission is ready to listen to real changes by family child care homes, you will see a decrease in the star rating system. The time has come for our appointed officials to listen to educators responsible for those first 2000 days of children's lives!  They need to hear that we matter, our children matter, our retirement accounts matter, our health care matters.  Any conversation on pathways that doesn't include a pathways for economic justice for family child care homes; are pathways not worth discussing.