Chris Bennett A closetohome solution for accessible childcare TED
This, this is Yoli.
I went to her childcare program
that she started out of her home
in the community where I grew up.
I was in her program when I was four.
Over the years, she served hundreds
of children in our community.
Her program was so fun.
We played outside,
we played hide and seek,
there was play dough, there were blocks.
Yoli would ask us things like,
“How are you feeling today?
Are you feeling happy?
Are you feeling sad?
Are you feeling angry?”
She really helped us
make sense of the world.
She really focused on communication.
It was a mixed-age classroom.
There were children that were infants,
there were toddlers.
The older children learned to lead,
the younger children learned
from the older children.
As it turns out, we were doing
incredibly important work in her program.
People often think that the real learning
starts in kindergarten,
but 90 percent of our brains develop
between the ages of zero and five.
And far too many children don’t get access
to the type of early learning experiences
I had in Yoli’s program.
Whether that’s through a childcare
program in a home, a center,
a nanny, a caring parent, a grandparent.
In fact, 175 million children
age three to six
don’t get access at all.
In the US, 51 percent of Americans
live in areas called “childcare deserts,”
where there’s not enough childcare.
And what this shortage does
is it leaves parents having to choose
between their careers and childcare.
Even in places where
there’s free childcare
or public pre-K options,
there’s not enough spots.
So parents are forced to drive across town
for options that don’t meet their needs.
They’re forced to wait in these
really long wait lists
and succumb to lotteries
to try to get into programs.
And this shortage isn’t due
to us not trying.
In the ’70s, we pinned our hopes
on television to solve our problems.
Today, the touch-screen generation’s
learning how to count, how to read,
using apps and games,
but apps and games
can’t care for our children.
Apps and games can’t change diapers,
can’t ensure our children
are getting access
to the appropriate socio-emotional
growth that they need.
And there hasn’t been enough money,
enough teachers,
enough classrooms.
We’ve tried everything,
we haven’t been able to solve it.
So what if we could live in a world
where we did have enough childcare,
where parents had a multitude of options
to choose from in their communities?
Maybe the answer is right under our noses.
Maybe Yoli was onto something:
our homes.
Rather than investing trillions of dollars
building new buildings,
what if we empowered more people
to start childcare programs
out of their homes?
Based on our data,
it costs about $25,000 per spot
if you create a commercial
space for childcare.
That’s 25,000 times each child
you want to serve in that program,
where you can do that for a fraction,
a couple of hundred dollars,
if you do it in a home-based program.
And we can make it easier for parents
to find these programs.
Software is great for this.
So with software, we can make it easy
for folks to start programs,
get connected to parents.
Decades ago, who would have thought
that we would be able to create
a software network of drivers,
connect them to millions of passengers
and solve the transportation needs,
or play a role in solving
the transportation needs,
of our fastest-growing cities?
Or take our spare bedrooms and apartments
and make them available online
and create an industry that competes
with the largest hotel chains?
So my dream is to create
that kind of network
but for home-based childcare:
to create a movement
where we empower people
to start childcare programs
out of their homes
and play a role in solving
the challenges in their communities.
These programs could be more affordable,
they could be nimble, safe.
They could be laboratories of innovation.
And I’m one of the entrepreneurs
who’s working on advancing
home-based childcare.
And what I’m going to share with you
is how I think we can turn
that idea into a reality.
So first off, when it comes
to starting a program,
we want to make sure that the program
is safe, it’s high quality,
it’s a program parents can trust.
This is Christina.
Christina started a childcare program
out of her home in San Francisco.
She started with her husband.
When she decided to start a program,
she had to get registered with the state.
She got licensed by the state.
They came out and visited her program,
made sure she was operating
a safe program.
She was background-checked
along with her husband.
And if there’s any issues
that she experiences in her program,
any violation,
she shares this information
with the state,
and the state makes it publicly available.
To make this work,
we’ve got to make sure it’s easy
for parents to get this information
when they’re making a decision
for their children.
Along with this,
we need more information
about Christina’s program.
What’s her background,
what’s her philosophy?
What are her tuition rates?
Who else is in the program?
Is she operating a safe program?
Is this a program parents can trust?
Along with this,
what do other parents think
about the program
who have been enrolled in the program?
This is the type
of information parents need
when they’re making this decision
for their children.
When operating a childcare program,
it’s not the same as driving a car,
making your apartment available online
or delivering groceries.
It’s really important we ensure
that the programs that get created
are safe, secure,
and allow us to live up to the promise
of early childhood education.
Lastly, when it comes
to starting a childcare program
we need to make it easier
for folks to take the leap.
There’s this big misconception
that starting a childcare program
out of your home is expensive,
and you can barely make a living doing so.
But that’s not true.
The economics vary widely by location,
by your home, by your background.
It’s really similar,
from an economic standpoint,
the way real estate works
in terms of how rents work
in different markets.
For example, when Christina
started her program,
she was able to break even
within three months
of starting her program.
And we’re seeing folks start programs
in studio apartments
with one or two children in the program.
And we’re seeing a wide variety
of different types of folks
starting programs.
We’re seeing grandmothers
or former K-12 teachers.
We’re seeing social workers, artists.
We’re seeing Montessori teachers
who’ve been in the field for 20 years
and realize the opportunity
of running their own program.
Folks who are into forestry
and have master’s degrees,
former nurses, starting
fully outdoor programs.
Going back to Christina.
Christina was a former child therapist,
and when she started her program
with her husband,
she quickly got to a point
where she was earning six times
as much income running her program
than she was in her prior career.
She’s able to move to a single-family
home in San Francisco
to operate her program.
And the big reason
why she’s able to do this
is she’s not having to incur the costs
of commercial real estate.
She’s doing this out of her home.
And her program is actually
more affordable than programs nearby.
It’s a win-win for her
and for the parents.
So I want to live in a world
where there’s more Christinas,
where there’s more Yolis.
Where parents don’t have
to drive across town
for programs that don’t meet their needs,
where parents don’t have
to drop out of the workforce
to ensure their children
are getting access
to the vital early education
our children need.
A world where we can walk
around our neighborhoods
and tour a Spanish immersion program,
a fully outdoor program,
a science-based program
and make a choice.
It’s during these early years
children learn to speak,
they learn to communicate,
they learn teamwork,
they learn what it’s like
to start something and fail
and try again.
A lot of the skills I use as a CEO
today, running my company,
these are things I learned
before I was five.
These are the moments and experiences
that make us who we are and make us human.
And I can’t think of anything
more important than that.
Thank you.
(Applause)