Durham PreK (DPK) was awarded one of four national planning grants to study the feasibility of adding family child care (FCC) as a choice for Durham’s universal public preschool services for four-year-olds. DPK presently serves children with a mixed delivery model, contracting with high quality private childcare centers, public schools, and Head Start to host classrooms.

DPK applied for the planning grant in response to parent requests for smaller environments for their children to take part in public preschool. Dr. Linda Chappel, Sr. Vice President for Triangle Area Child Care Resource and Referral at Early Years, formerly Child Care Services Association, shared that:

“The technical assistance provided by this award will move us forward to respond to families in Durham who have shared their desire for more options. This award makes it possible for Durham PreK to study best practices and assess our readiness for including small, high quality education settings into this public program. We are thrilled to win and believe the reviewers saw the power of Durham’s commitment to high quality early education.”

The "Enhancing Public Pre-K Through Inclusion of Family Child Care (EPIC FCC)" cohort, facilitated by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and Home Grown, aims to integrate family child care (FCC) into public pre-K systems. ​ This six-month program includes five monthly learning community meetings, individual technical help sessions, and $25,000 planning grants. ​ Participants from Alabama, Michigan, Nevada, and Durham County, NC, will assess their current pre-K systems, find barriers to FCC inclusion, and develop actionable plans to enhance FCC participation. The initiative emphasizes building community, setting expectations, and exploring key concepts to foster equitable and comprehensive early education. ​

As the only locally based universal preschool initiative selected for the EPIC FCC project, a DPK committee will spend 8 – 10 months assessing Durham’s potential for adding FCC. Dr. Chappel shared,

“This study process will guide us to a decision to add these settings or to decline. DPK will need to adapt to new processes to successfully add family child care sites. If we add FCC, we are committed to developing well-resourced programs and want to create a system to support early educators working in home-based settings.”