FFN Care in WNC: Research Summary
In 2025, Smart Start of Transylvania County (SSTC) conducted a regional Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) research project, facilitated by the North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) Culture of Results team at UNC Asheville, with funding from Dogwood Health Trust. This project was designed in alignment with SSTC’s mission to increase the visibility of FFN providers and advance the understanding of home-based caregivers’ needs and perspectives. NCCHW has now prepared a final report summarizing the findings of their research, accessible on SSTC’s website.
FFN care refers to license-exempt, home-based care provided by relatives, friends, or neighbors. SSTC has long supported the work of FFN providers, in recognition of the crucial role that they play in the early childhood sector, particularly in rural areas. FFN is accessible to families who do not live close to a licensed care center and experience transportation barriers. It offers flexible hours for those who work or attend school outside of typical business hours and often serves as an affordable child care model for low-income families.
Perhaps most impactfully, due to the number of children ages 0-5 far outnumbering the number of available child care slots in licensed centers, home-based care arrangements are essential to thousands of North Carolina families who must have child care in order to work.
In the spirit of meeting families where they are at, and with the intention of uplifting all children and providers, SSTC launched a local FFN Care Network in 2022, offering educational resources, peer connection, and financial support to home-based child care providers in Transylvania County. As the organization has continued to build its FFN infrastructure, the network has grown to now include over 70 FFN caregivers and approximately 180 children ages 0-5.
SSTC has continually sought the perspectives of the providers within the Transylvania FFN network, using their input to better advocate for appropriate resources and support for home-based caregivers. With Dogwood Health Trust awarding SSTC a grant to support the expansion of critical focus areas, the organization recognized the opportunity to better understand the needs of those in FFN care arrangements across the entire WNC region, in order to expand family leadership and engagement.
From July to September of 2025, data was gathered regionally through the distribution of provider and parent surveys and the facilitation of caregiver focus groups. Surveys and focus groups were administered in both English and Spanish. The Spanish language focus group was conducted with members of the El Telar FFN network in Buncombe County, with translation services provided by the Cenzontle Language Justice Cooperative.
FFN is a frequently opted form of child care for immigrant and Spanish speaking families, as it often offers cultural connection from a trusted caregiver and the opportunity for children to be educated in their first language or in a dual-language environment, and SSTC knew it was important to seek out the perspectives of these families.
While SSTC recognizes that FFN is the only child care arrangement available to many families in North Carolina, that does not mean that families in these care arrangements regard FFN as a “last resort” or secondary care option. Gathered data shows that FFN providers often provide care to meet an urgent need of the families they serve, with 37.5% of surveyed WNC providers stating that they offer child care to meet the parents’ financial needs, and 17.9% of providers offering care due to a lack of other available child care options. However, data also reflects that families in WNC that rely on FFN care highly value it, with nearly 93% of surveyed parents reporting that home-based child care would be their first choice in caregiving arrangements.
The established sense of trust that families typically have with their chosen FFN provider was highlighted as an important reason that many families choose FFN. “I cannot fathom trusting someone else with my children” was the sentiment of one surveyed parent.
Focus-group data also shows that FFN providers are committed to providing children in their care with a high-quality early education and that they get a deep sense of fulfillment from providing care. Providers defined high-quality care as being nurturing, attentive, and developmentally supportive, with a focus on academics and learning life skills. 91.2% of FFN providers reported that they feel valued for their role as a caregiver, with one provider sharing "The parents I work for greet me every morning with genuine appreciation, and they’ve built a ‘gratitude board’ in the kitchen where the kids stick Post-it notes saying, ‘thank you for helping me tie my shoes” or “thank you for reading the dragon book.’ That little ritual makes my role visible and celebrated”.
While this project yielded valuable data that will help inform how SSTC advocates for FFN care in North Carolina, NCCHW encountered recruitment challenges. Participants were spread out across 13 counties: Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Clay, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Transylvania, and Yancey. Data was highly concentrated in Transylvania and Buncombe, due to the presence of established FFN resource networks in both of these counties. Many other areas in the region currently lack formal infrastructure surrounding FFN Care and the Culture of Results research team was not able to locate and identify FFN caregiving arrangements in all 18 WNC counties.
There are several reasons why FFN providers may not self-identify themselves as such. Among them is a lack of trust and connection with community organizations. Additionally, many providers may not view the labor that they do as professional work due to lack of FFN visibility and acknowledgement. Smart Start local partnerships and other ECE organizations can help to begin bridging this gap by choosing to engage community FFN providers in conversations surrounding child care needs so that they feel recognized and supported.
Those seeking to gain a better understanding of FFN provider challenges and support opportunities are invited to read the full report on FFN Care in WNC. Local partnerships that are interested in engaging in meaningful thought partnership and exploring ways that they might be able to support FFN families and providers in their communities are also invited to reach out to SSTC for guidance and support. Interested parties can email Aiyanna Lollis, Director of Communications and Advocacy, at aiyanna@smartstarttransylvania.org
Written by: Aiyanna Lollis
Also published on smartstart.org
