In an instant, Blanca Carrillo and her daughter Aurys Hernandez lost everything.

Their home in Altadena was also the place they’d built a thriving daycare for young children. So when it burned in the , they were left homeless and without work all at the same time.

“Overnight our home and our livelihood is gone,” Carrillo said through a translator from a family member’s apartment in Arcadia.

It’s a disaster replicated thousands of times over, as many in L.A. County begin to confront how they’ll rebuild their lives after the fires. For childcare providers, this feeling is particularly acute: Many say they know that their work is critical to allowing families to find new housing or return to work.

But they’re also trying to figure out how they themselves will recover, or stay afloat at all.

“What we want is [to] continue working,” Hernandez said. “I need just a house … where I can have our daycare again.”

Crisis on top of crisis

More than 500 childcare spaces were in areas affected by the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires, . That’s almost 7% of all licensed childcare facilities in the county.

Some have already reopened, others await clean-up to clear all the debris, and some are gone entirely 鈥� refuges and second homes for some of the county’s youngest Angelenos turned to ash overnight.

Debra Colman, director of the L.A. County Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, said this comes as the childcare system in Los Angeles was already in crisis, with too few providers .

“We don’t have nearly enough licensed programs for all of the families in need,” Colman said, stating there are just under 8,000 facilities for more than 750,000 young children. (That’s almost 94 kids per facility.)

Homes and livelihoods lost

There is no one central childcare system. Instead it’s a patchwork of centers in living rooms, places of worship, educational centers and other spaces.

And all types of childcare have felt the effects of the fires. B’nai Simcha Jewish Community Preschool on the site of the . So did Altadena Children’s Center, which operated out of the now lost Altadena Baptist Church. Those centers both said that rebuilding will take time.

Shonna Clark, director of the Altadena Children’s Center, said around a dozen families with children at the center had also lost their homes.

“鈥奡o many of our kids have lost their home and their school. It’s absolutely terrible,” Clark said. “鈥奧e need safe places for these kids to be, and that’s all I’m concentrating on right now.”

B’nai director Carina Hu said that as families find new childcare, many are mourning the loss of the preschool’s strong community.

“鈥奍t’s really heartbreaking for the families,” Hu said. “It’s a catastrophe, and we’re just kind of spread out to the wind.”

What providers need now

Leslie Carmell with Options for Learning, an agency that works with childcare providers, said that the first priority in fire recovery is getting childcare providers into new homes.

“They need affordable housing. And as we all know, especially in SoCal, you know, ,” Carmell said.

Other questions about licensing, emergency financial support and other COVID-style aid all still lie ahead, according to multiple childcare experts.

“鈥奙ost of these programs operate on a razor-thin budget,” said Toni Boucher, the former director of Altadena Children’s Center. “Just like the government stepped in during COVID to provide relief funds for childcare programs to get them up and running again, we’re going to need that in a very big way with this effort as well to restore the number of spaces that have been lost across the community.”

The COVID-19 pandemic had a silver lining for childcare providers facing this current crisis: They are more connected now than they were before.

Susan Wood, the executive director of the Children鈥檚 Center at Caltech, said she and Boucher were part of a group that met weekly via Zoom during the pandemic. In the aftermath of the fires, they have implemented regular online meetings again.

Back at work

While some providers look toward rebuilding, others are focused on expanding capacity for families who need help as soon as possible.

Jodi Mason, who runs a daycare in her home in Pasadena, had to evacuate last week with some of the children she cares for in tow. But by Monday, she was back in her home, and her daycare was open. She has four new kids signed up because they’d lost their childcare to the fires.

“鈥奍t’s really been challenging because they’re out of their comfort zone. They love their childcare providers. They’ve been with them for years,” Mason said. “鈥夿eing taken out of your environment as a child is really devastating. … So I just try and give them as much love and attention that I can.”

K-12 senior reporter  contributed to this story.

鈥淥h, that鈥檚 so nice you both have that flexibility,鈥� I said.

鈥淵es!鈥� She said, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 like the idea of someone else raising our kids.鈥�

I was at a loss for what to say back. Hearing her words, it was hard not to feel defensive, since my baby was in child care that very moment I spoke with her. And I, like , was in the midst of a somewhat desperate search to find and afford even more child care support than I currently had. I鈥檇 asked about her child care arrangements in part hoping to learn more about my options.

My wife and I currently pay for about 12 hours of professional child care per week, juggling care for our baby during the other 28 work hours between the two of us, and shifting work hours to late into the evening, and sometimes weekends, to get our work done. The centers we contact are full, (if they can find time to call us back) and the price of in-home child care is steep. We are constantly searching for that golden goose, a qualified caregiver whose schedule works with ours, whom our son likes and our paychecks can cover. We aren鈥檛 alone.

The Center for American Progress finds that more than , census tracts with at least fifty children and no licensed child care providers, or so few options that there are more than three children for every spot in licensed care. Where we live, in Utah, more people live in child care deserts than in any other state 鈥斅�.

My friends from outside Utah often assume that鈥檚 because of the religious and cultural backgrounds of Utahans, reducing the need for child care because of the commonality of traditional breadwinner/caregiver households. Yet in Utah, 62 percent of mothers of young children participate in the labor force, a number lower than the national average of 69 percent, but certainly not as distinctive as many would guess.

Are we all, 69 percent of the nation鈥檚 mothers, 鈥渓etting someone else raise our kids鈥�?

It wasn鈥檛 the first time I鈥檇 heard this line 鈥� that someone who didn鈥檛 use professional child care services considered doing so to be some sort of abdication of parenting. I can even remember a relative of mine saying this about her own decision not to work outside the home when I was twelve or 13-years-old. I鈥檇 found it perplexing even then, because my mom ran a child care center in our home. My mom was a beloved caregiver, one that even today her former charges, now fully grown, will hug and warmly introduce to their own families when they see her at the grocery store or a family wedding. But she hadn鈥檛 become their parent, nor had she raised them. There was an enormous difference between my relationship with my mom, and her relationship with the kids she cared for while their parents worked to support them.

Back then, this idea confused me, but it didn鈥檛 hurt. Perhaps hearing this line stung a bit more that day because this was the first time I鈥檇 heard it since having my own baby. Still, like then, it didn鈥檛 hold up to scrutiny.

When this person鈥檚 older kids were in school for 6 hours a day, five days a week during the school year, were their teachers 鈥渞aising them,鈥� I thought about asking? Surely, she didn鈥檛 think dads who worked full time while their spouses cared for their children were ceding responsibility for 鈥渞aising the kids鈥� to their wives? And how many hours in child care did a child need to spend per week, before they were being raised by someone else? 40 hours? 30 hours? There are 168 hours in a week. Where was the line between socializing with and being cared for by trained early educators, and being raised by them?

I took a deep breath, and reminded myself my new acquaintance and my relative hadn鈥檛 invented this kind of thinking. Despite the modern realities of economic and family life requiring that most parents work for pay, antiquated thinking about child care is all around us. Just a few years ago, Idaho State Representative Charlie Shepherd voted against a bill that would increase support for child care in the state because he felt . 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody does a better job than mothers in the home, and any bill that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a good direction for us to be going.鈥� He later apologized, saying he鈥檇 misspoken and merely intended to praise mothers.

Amidst an ongoing child care availability crisis worsened by the rapid , and a , Congress has also failed to increase its role in creating a sustainable, affordable, high-quality child care system. Over several months, the news outlet The 19th contacted members of Congress to find out their views on child care policy, only one-quarter of legislators and .

I reflected for a moment on my own child care provider, the young woman taking a walk with, playing with or reading to my baby at that very moment. It had taken her just two or three days to establish a comfortable, sweet relationship with my baby. Now he giggles when she greets him after a nap and teems with excitement as she prepares the stroller to take him out on what she calls a 鈥渘ature walk.鈥� And how enriching for him that he has yet another kind, caring person to trust in the world and teach him about relationships and language and life.

I asked Cara Sklar, my colleague at New America and the director of the early & elementary education policy program, just what my baby is learning while he鈥檚 in child care.

鈥淐hildren are actively learning from the moment they are born. And the way young children learn is through interacting with adults,鈥� Sklar said. 鈥淭hese nurturing and responsive interactions, or their absence, shape the physical architecture of the brain that all future brain growth is built upon 鈥� from how we see and hear, to how we think and learn, to how we form relationships, and even to our future physical and cardiac health.鈥� With stakes like these and the benefits to come, I hope my son will have not just one or two caregivers like the one he has now, but dozens of such teachers in his life.

Why are we so afraid of letting others join us in raising our children? Just what are we so afraid of?

My hope is that the current national conversation on the child care crisis and how severely it limits parents鈥� work options and well-being will lead us to build and fund a child care infrastructure that gives every parent access to this kind of nurturing and learning for their children. Maybe a system like that could transform our cultural biases about child care and end these myths for good. But if ever again someone tells me they don鈥檛 use child care because they don鈥檛 want someone else raising their children, I鈥檒l know what to say:

I don鈥檛 want someone raising my child for me either. But I am so glad my family and millions of others have found trusted providers to raise them with us.

鈥淚 got a lot of attention when I brought Hodge to the floor of the House for the speaker鈥檚 vote,鈥� Gomez told Early Learning Nation. So he decided to 鈥渦se this moment,鈥� as he put it, to funnel the attention he had stirred up into something more long lasting. In late January he the formation of the first-ever Congressional Dads Caucus, a forum for members to advocate for legislation that supports working families, with about 15 members.

The Dads Caucus is meant to 鈥渟imply do our part鈥aising our kids at home and also advocating for family-friendly policies in Congress,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to try to mobilize dads in Congress to be more active and advocate on issues that impact working parents.鈥�

It’s not the first attempt: Gomez noted that there was an effort to form a bicameral, bipartisan dads caucus several years ago that never got off the ground. Gomez and his fellow members decided to simply launch theirs in the House on a partisan level, for now. They hope to eventually get Republican sponsors on some of their legislation and perhaps even members down the road.

But it鈥檚 meaningful to have men talking about these issues so prominently. Having men in Congress speaking out about paid leave and child care 鈥渟hows that these issues are not just women鈥檚 issues,鈥� Gomez said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e family issues.鈥�

When men in Congress talk about these issues, it 鈥渉elps push back on the stereotypes about who caregivers are,鈥� said Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. 鈥淚t is helpful for dads to come and step up and say, 鈥楾his matters to us, too,鈥� because then it makes the case for a broad-based policy that covers all workers and helps to take it outside of the gender-specific silo that people often put these issues in.鈥�

Having male members talk about paid family leave 鈥渞eally stresses the importance of showing, demonstrating that paid leave impacts all of us,鈥� said Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All. It鈥檚 鈥渘ot just about new moms but it鈥檚 about health and labor and supply chains and, yes, it鈥檚 about new dads, too.鈥� Gomez gave a concrete demonstration of the push and pull between work and taking care of children when he showed up to Congress with his son strapped to his chest. Representative Colin Allred, another member of the Dads Caucus, is and so far only member of Congress to take paternity leave.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always been the case that all of us are going to need to give or receive care in our lifetimes, but having more voices in this fight鈥s really important,鈥� Huckelbridge said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to need more and more stakeholders to get this over the finish line.鈥�

Breaking these issues out of the 鈥渨omen鈥檚 issues鈥� bucket, meanwhile, will likely help lend them more momentum. 鈥淚t helps to counter the opposition that really does try to isolate these issues as niceties for ladies,鈥� Frye said. That鈥檚 just a way to 鈥渄iminish the urgent need for them,鈥� she said, by making caring for one鈥檚 family something that women simply do. 鈥淚t helps break past different silos, and it helps make it a workplace issue. It鈥檚 a labor standards issue.鈥�

Representative Jamaal Bowman joined the Dads Caucus because 鈥渂eing a dad is awesome,鈥� he said. He has three children and 鈥渋t鈥檚 the most amazing thing in the world.鈥� But he also joined because 鈥渕others shouldn鈥檛 be the only ones fighting for family justice, child care justice, and all the things that are needed to support a healthy, nurturing family,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to make sure fathers step up and do their part.鈥�

Gomez is aware of the 鈥渄ouble standard鈥� applied to fathers and mothers, he said. 鈥淢en are often praised for it when they take [their kids] to work, and women are criticized or their commitment to their job is questioned.鈥� The Dads Caucus, in fact, follows in the footsteps of the Mamas鈥� Caucus, formed in 2019, of which Gomez is a member. The founder of the Mamas鈥� Caucus, Representative Rashida Talib, is also a member of the Dads Caucus. Gomez sees the work of his new caucus, in part, as supporting the mamas in their fights. 鈥淲e do get an oversized amount of attention,鈥� Gomez said, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 still for some people a novelty.鈥� So he wants to harness that attention and use it as a force for forward momentum.

The caucus also signals a cultural shift in favor of men feeling more able and eager to care for their children and be part of their lives. Many of the Dads Caucus members are young and have young children. Having them publicly claim the mantel of dad only furthers that cultural shift. 鈥淲hen more people feel comfortable saying that, when public figures say that鈥t empowers more people to be honest in saying, 鈥楾his matters to me, too,鈥欌�� Frye said. Passing laws like the Family and Medical Leave Act, which just marked 30 years and allows Americans who qualify to take unpaid time off for a new child, sick family member, or serious illness or injury, helps spur cultural change by giving people the room to balance caregiving and work. But it also requires cultural change to spur more legislative change. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the caucus is so valuable, it is shattering all of these stereotypes,鈥� Frye said.

The caucus has a basket of policies it already wants to champion. The child tax credit is a priority for Gomez, who is on the Ways and Means Committee, the chief tax-writing committee in the House. The credit dramatically decreased child poverty. It was 鈥渟o drastic in helping working people that we have to take that on as a primary fight,鈥� he said.

But he also noted that paid family leave is a priority as well, particularly for fathers. 鈥淢aking sure that dads take that time off to bond with their child is critically important,鈥� he said. Studies that when men take paternity leave they have stronger, more equitable relationships with their children later in life and that their wives see . He also has with the issue: he got pneumonia at age seven and his parents were nearly bankrupted when they had to miss work shifts to stay with him at the hospital. His home state of California was the first in the country to pass paid family leave in 2002, and he advocated for increasing benefits when he was a member of the state legislature. 鈥淎 lot of these issues that face families are why I got into politics in the first place,鈥� he said.

The dads will also champion child care. That鈥檚 the most central issue for Bowman, he said, who was a teacher and educator before coming to Congress. 鈥淚 know how important the first years of a child鈥檚 life are,鈥� he said. He was named as a cosponsor on universal child care legislation that Senator Elizabeth Warren on February 8.

They鈥檒l even tackle some smaller scale fights. They鈥檒l push the White House, for instance, to look at what it can do through regulation or executive orders to help working families. Gomez noted that some older buildings on Capitol Hill don鈥檛 have changing tables in the men鈥檚 rooms. He wants to see those added for families that visit with their children. 鈥淚t is the people鈥檚 house and we want to make sure that people with kids are able to visit and enjoy their capitol building,鈥� he said.

Many of their policy priorities, including paid family leave, child care investment, and the child tax credit seemed close to passage when they were included in the Build Back Better reconciliation package, only to be stripped out when Democratic Senator Joe Manchin refused to support them. But both Huckelbridge and Frye noted that paid family leave came closer to passage than it ever has before. 鈥淭he energy isn鈥檛 going away, so we intend to take that momentum and grow it until we get the job done,鈥� Huckelbridge said. Having the Dads Caucus talking about it only adds to that forward motion.

The caucus is so far just in the House, but members are actively considering how to bring Senators into it. Senator John Hickenlooper just in December, Gomez noted, and Manchin not only has three children but 10 grandchildren. 鈥淲e have work to do in our caucus,鈥� Gomez said of Democrats. 鈥淲e have to go and have those conversations with the individuals in the Senate 鈥� even Democrats 鈥� to see if we can change their minds or get them to see things differently.鈥�

Bostonians Sarah Siegel Muncey and Lauren Birchfield Kennedy recognize this landscape from multiple vantage points: as mothers who scrambled to find good care for their children, as professional women working in education and health care policy, and as citizens committed to a society that works. But rather than surrender, they have used their frustration to stoke the blaze in their bellies for systemic change. The result is Neighborhood Villages, a powerful Boston-based nonprofit designed to bring about systems change in early care and education 鈥� scaling their successes first in Boston, next throughout Massachusetts, and if they have anything to say about it (they demonstrably do), coming soon to an America near you.

Muncey and Kennedy got to know each other when they were pregnant. Their babies were born within a few days of each other, and soon they were experiencing firsthand the treadmill of concern any parent in the U.S. now experiences to some degree: How do I find child care? How do I work without child care? How do I continue my career in any meaningful way and have children? Why are we even having this conversation in the wealthiest country on the planet?

Joining the millions of their peers in the U.S. who ask those questions and are desperate for change, Muncey and Kennedy had the resources and background and, as they will admit, the privilege to take the issue on in a big way. Muncey, Neighborhood Villages鈥� co-president and chief innovation officer, has a master鈥檚 degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and spent 12 years at Boston Collegiate Charter School, first as a 7^th grade English teacher and ultimately as Director of Family and Community Relations. Kennedy, the nonprofit鈥檚 co-president and chief strategy officer, holds a law degree from Harvard, served as Director of Health Policy at the National Partnership for Women & Families in Washington, DC, and oversaw advocacy strategy for key policy initiatives including implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Together, they had the chops and the will to tackle the ganglia of issues surrounding child care in a strategic, targeted way.

They knew that child care is foundational to our economy, our communities and our country. They knew that the U.S., unlike every other developed nation, makes no meaningful public investment in child care. Readers of Early Learning Nation are no strangers to this story.

No One Is Coming to Save Us

In looking at the situation, Muncey and Kennedy realized the first of what Muncey calls their three 鈥渇undamental guiding principles.鈥�

鈥淪omebody鈥檚 got to figure this out, and no one is coming to save us.鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of talking and meeting and declaring that it鈥檚 a problem, but we want to do it 鈥� actually do it. We can鈥檛 put any more chewing gum in this dam.鈥�

The brokenness of the system also offers freedom and possibility, which is the space Muncey says Neighborhood Villages is claiming.

鈥淚f you look at K-12, there are so many things that will never change because they鈥檝e been done that way so long. It鈥檚 just accepted as the way things are. But because child care infrastructure is so hollowed out and missing, we can start from that nothing and create from there.

鈥淭his devaluation and lack of professional value given to child care is a very direct line to the racism and misogyny on which we鈥檝e built our country,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for an entirely new system that鈥檚 not built on that racist, patriarchal foundation. We can start from elegant. We can start from operationally efficient. We can start from anti-racist. It鈥檚 an amazing, exciting opportunity. At Neighborhood Villages, we feel like we have the greatest job in the world 鈥� to actually fix 迟丑颈苍驳蝉.鈥�

How the nonprofit goes about fixing things is to work with five early-learning partners in Boston to pilot and test programs. This is 鈥渢he Neighborhood,鈥� comprising 13 child care sites around Boston that serve a highly diverse population. All Neighborhood Villages (NV) programs are designed to scale statewide to demonstrate the infrastructure needed to create a workable, high-quality early education and care system. Funded by philanthropy, government grants and public investment, the Neighborhood is both an innovation lab and proof of concept for scalable solutions.

鈥淲e show that it can be done because we鈥檝e done it,鈥� Muncey says. 鈥淔or example, when folks started back to work during the pandemic, it only took a few weeks to realize that we were going to have to figure out Covid testing because every time a teacher coughed, she was out for eight days trying to isolate and find a test. We found a philanthropic partner to pay for tests, worked with the people who had set up the nursing home testing in the state of Massachusetts who knew what they were doing, worked with health economists from Berkeley and MIT and created a really, really good program.

鈥淭hen we sat in my living room with cardboard boxes going, 鈥業 guess everyone needs this many swabs 鈥︹�� We made the tests happen鈥攊n a scientifically sound way鈥攁nd then we said, 鈥楾his is ready for the state.鈥� When we went to the state, they said, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 do testing in child care. It鈥檚 not possible because the sector is 7,500 small businesses.鈥�

鈥淲e took them data from our evaluators at Boston Children鈥檚 Brazelton Institute and said, 鈥楢ctually, we鈥檝e been testing 700 teachers鈥︹�� We were able to show that it was suppressive testing, was keeping people safe and within about two weeks we were getting to the point where no one was getting sick.鈥� Massachusetts deployed the program for ECE statewide.

A similar scalable innovation was Neighborhood Villages鈥� development of professional pathways for the ECE workforce. The nonprofit found that, though free certification classes were offered through community colleges, that model didn鈥檛 work well for early educators who were required to attend a 7 pm class on Tuesday in a completely different neighborhood after spending all day working with children and possibly needing to get home to their own. So, NV brought the course to the teachers and the essential certification, Child Growth, was taught at five sites around the city every Saturday, with each site offering three or four classes鈥攊n Haitian, Creole, Spanish, Mandarin, English and Portuguese. The program is now available to all child care providers in the state of Massachusetts.

鈥淥nce these things are piloted,鈥� she says, 鈥測ou realize the second it starts, 鈥榃ell, that was doable. So, moving on 鈥︹�欌��

It鈥檚 Not Rocket Science

There鈥檚 a certain 鈥淗old my beer鈥� quality to NV鈥檚 approach. Someone says it can鈥檛 be done; NV starts asking providers what they need and builds those missing pieces of infrastructure. It鈥檚 like building with Legos, Muncey says. The goal is a child care system that functions beautifully at the state, regional, school and family level.

鈥淲e鈥檙e building all these pieces with a great sense of urgency,鈥� she says. 鈥�Deliberate urgency. No one is coming to save us; and we have to do it. Our second guiding principle is: It isn鈥檛 rocket science. All of this is doable. Even stuff that鈥檚 hard 鈥� like rocket science 鈥� is totally doable. We do it every day. We can do hard things.

鈥淏ig government programs are complicated and take thoughtful work and iteration,鈥� Muncey says. 鈥淭he Affordable Care Act is complicated and hard, and yet, we do it. The U.S. military child care system did it. Legislation (creating military child care) was passed in 1989 and over the next 10 years, the military set standards and provided incentives and 鈥� all of a sudden, you have a system. It鈥檚 not perfect, but the system is in place. We know how to do this.鈥�

We鈥檙e Not Magicians

All of this leads to NV鈥檚 third and final fundamental guiding principle. The most basic reality of a functional child care system is the fact that educators must be paid real money. They鈥檙e not magicians. They can鈥檛 pull education, labor and love out of thin air and pay mortgages and groceries with pixie dust.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 start paying teachers professional wages by funding ECE as a public good, none of the stuff we鈥檝e been talking about matters at all,鈥� Muncey says. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to keep paying people nothing, they鈥檙e going to leave. If we keep training teachers and they can鈥檛 pay their bills, they鈥檙e going to leave.

鈥淭he most important thing for people to understand is that this is so doable, but we are not magicians. A functioning child care system takes money and will.鈥�

Building the Will

The pandemic revealed the brokenness in America鈥檚 child care system like nothing before. Every issue associated with it was held up in stark relief, like shining a floodlight on that intransigent mess in the back closet. People who thought they had no stake in solving the problem suddenly found themselves invested. And, as we鈥檝e seen over and over in the U.S., when enough people are invested in a problem and put their energy, insistence and money into it, elected officials start looking at solutions.

鈥淭hey will have to,鈥� Muncey says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e learned from so many other movements what it takes. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America 鈥� often called Moms Demand Action 鈥� wore their red tee shirts and physically attended every state house when a piece of gun legislation was being talked about. We鈥檝e seen what angry moms can do in this country many times.

鈥淲hen Lauren Kennedy and I made the podcast (鈥攇ive it a listen!), we knew we needed to give people a vocabulary around the issue. People don鈥檛 know how to talk about it. Let鈥檚 say you have feelings about guns or abortion. Regardless of what side you鈥檙e on about it, if someone looked at you and said, 鈥楾ell me what you think about guns鈥︹�� you鈥檇 have a little speech prepared with all the things you鈥檙e demanding from government about that.

鈥淐hild care isn鈥檛 like that. People don鈥檛 know what to ask for or how because we鈥檝e been told to deal with it privately. 鈥榊ou went and got yourself pregnant, figure it out.鈥�  We don鈥檛 have the words to say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think I should have to pay more than 7 percent of my income for child care. How about that, Legislator?鈥欌��

In a very brief time, the podcast grew from a venture the two creators thought might be a 鈥渨onky, niche thing鈥� to being the # 13 podcast in the U.S. (beating out Prince Harry on Armchair Expert, Muncey鈥檚 proud to say). Plainly, child care is a conversation whose time has come.

To harness that energy, NV鈥檚 affiliated 501(C)4 organization, Neighborhood Villages Action Fund, works to make sure policymakers hear the voices demanding change鈥攁nd the demand to deliver that change now, not a few more years down the road.

鈥淲e have to let them know we expect them to fix this immediately,鈥� Muncey says. 鈥淚鈥檓 42 and my mom had pretty much the same level of support that鈥檚 available to us now.

鈥淐丑补苍驳别 is coming. Everyone wants this and it鈥檚 coming, one way or the other. Our job is to know how to do it well when it does.鈥�

And that, as Neighborhood Villages has shown, is doable: Determine specifically what鈥檚 needed; build that solution; test it; when it works, fund it and scale it. It鈥檚 not rocket science.