Chris Bennett: A close-to-home 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)