Six years ago, Lewis decided to follow her passions for working with children and opened a child care program in her home. She wanted to provide the best environment possible for her families, so despite working over 60 hours per week, Lewis participated in workshops with All Our Kin, a national nonprofit that supports and sustains family child care educators. She also attended evening classes to earn her Child Development Associate and successfully achieved national accreditation through the National Association of Family Child Care. Lewis ends every day feeling confident that the children in her program benefited from a safe and nurturing environment and strong foundation for continued learning and development. 

Lewis is one of an estimated 100,000 licensed family child care educators doing this work across the country (National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, 2020). Family child care, also known as home daycare or family daycare, involves an adult caring for a small group of children in her own home, and is one of the most relied-upon forms of care for younger children in the United States—especially those living in under-resourced communities. Family child care is an attractive option for many parents. Programs are small, usually serving between six and 12 children, and, as the name suggests, feel like an extension of the family. Care is personalized, which promotes communication between parents and educators. This makes family child care programs especially suited for infants and toddlers, because of their need for individualized attention and deep attachments developed in the earliest years.