Visión y Compromiso, in collaboration with national funder collective Home Grown and First 5 LA, launched in early 2025 the first West Coast demonstration of the Thriving Providers Project (TPP), which gives direct cash payments to Friend, Family, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers. Today, in direct support of fire-impacted communities, TTP announced Cohort II with a total of 25 FFN caregivers – including 15 caregivers who were directly impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires with 5 experiencing significant or total loss of their homes.
FFN caregivers are people in our communities—grandmothers, aunts, neighbors, and friends—who care for young children in their homes. Each week, these caregivers welcome about two children into their homes for over 15 hours. They provide love, safety, and cultural connection. Despite providing an essential function to care for children so mothers and fathers can work and provide for their families, they are mostly underpaid and often struggle financially.
“Personally, I learned that I must take care of myself in order to help others, and to be more patient with both children and adults. I also realized that I need to make time for myself—to have my own space—something I am now able to do thanks to you. They say that money doesn’t buy happiness, but it certainly helps! I will always be deeply grateful to Visión y Compromiso; in my case, this support was truly helpful.”
FFN Caregiver, Cohort I (2025-2026)
The Thriving Providers Project works with regional partners to provide ongoing direct cash transfers (DCT) to Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers and newly licensed Family Child Care (FCC) home providers to understand the degree to which stabilizing the economic well-being of providers improves the availability and quality of care for children and families.
The project provides direct cash transfers to FFN caregivers. In Los Angeles County, 50 caregivers across two cohorts are receiving $954 per month for 18 months.
“FFN caregivers are the backbone of community-based childhood support,” said Maria Lemus, Executive Director at Visión y Compromiso. “The Thriving Providers Project provides concrete economic opportunities that positively impact the lives of children and families in the neighborhoods where they live.”
Eligibility for the program includes being 18 years or older, living in Los Angeles County, caring for children ages birth to 5 for at least 15 hours per week, and having an annual income of $24,000 or less. Cohort II participants also lived in or near fire-impacted areas.
“Receiving these funds was like a miracle come true. Thanks to that support I was able to help my daughter with school expenses for my grandson – I take care of him every day and get him to his therapy sessions. My daughter is a single mother and pays for the child’s expenses.”
FFN Caregiver, Cohort I (2025)
On January 7, 2025, the Los Angeles wildfires devastated the region. Research conducted at the time of the fires showed that approximately 35,000 jobs held by Latino workers were lost. While Latinos represented 23% of the population in impacted areas, they made up 36% of the workforce. The most affected jobs included gardeners, housekeepers, child care providers, and car wash workers. Immigrants and undocumented workers—already excluded from government aid—faced even deeper economic hardship.
For FFN caregivers, the fires meant losing the families whose children they cared for.
“Home Grown’s decision to invest in a second pilot of the Thriving Providers Project in Los Angeles is a direct evolution of our work through the Emergency Fund which we launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the immediate survival needs of home-based child care providers. As we witness growing experiences of material hardship among FFN and FCC providers around the country, it has become clear that the financial instability we saw during the pandemic has only intensified.
“TPP demonstrates that guaranteed income works. The data shows that economic stability for caregivers leads to better care for children. Direct cash transfers eliminate bureaucratic barriers and provide immediate relief. Community-based support means caregivers stay in their neighborhoods, serving their communities. And this proven model has been tested and shown results,” explained Alexandra Patterson, Director of Policy and Strategy at Home Grown.
Outcomes and learning from Cohorts I and II–a total of 50 FFN caregivers–will inform a policy approach to shift funding for child care services, placing a high value on the contributions of home-based child care (HBCC) providers, adequately compensating their unique program model, and recognizing that children thrive when the adults who care for them do as well.
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