Why Child Care Matters

Author: Marissa Teng, UCLA

Contact: marissateng27@g.ucla.edu

Date: May 29, 2025

“I felt so underwater,” shared Robin, a mother to an 11-month-old foster child in Los Angeles, when trying to find stability after the devastating Eaton fires. Without a home or childcare, Robin was unable to navigate her next steps to rebuilding her life. She recalls being so emotionally fatigued after the Eaton Fire completely burned down her home on January 7, leaving her family displaced for the foreseeable future.

Raising a child can be an exhausting process. It is a mentally-draining, physically-demanding, full-time job. In the wake of natural disasters, parents must adjust and adapt to a changing environment and find a way to cope with the trauma from the disaster, which can lead to extra stress and exhaustion. In turn, it has been studied that maternal stress often has direct, negative effects on their children’s development (King et al., 2013) if parents don’t have the ability to effectively handle the stress and exhaustion that often results after disasters.

King and their colleagues’ (2013) study found that maternal stress due to natural disasters predict lower cognitive, motor, and behavior development, including a significant impact on biological outcomes such as immune function, body weight, and neurological markers.

So, how can we help reduce parental stress? By providing supportive, thoughtful childcare. Cardenas and Colwell (2022) studied that a supportive caregiver relationship significantly increases a mother’s reported well-being. They identified supportive child care providers as a significant system of support for parents, which could lead to a reduction of overall stress (Cardenas & Colwell). Knowing your child is being cared for properly is a huge relief. This is the work the National Emergency Child Care Network (NECCN) provides: stress-reducing, cost-free, thoughtful, trauma-informed care for families in crisis or disaster.

NECCN is a non-profit organization designed to provide free, immediate child care services to families who are experiencing an emergency. It is completely free for any family in need. NECCN ensures high-quality, trauma-informed child care with the goal to help reduce parental stress in times of emergencies. Volunteer child care providers meet families at their home, at a disaster shelter, or where the crisis has occurred to ensure the safety and well-being of the children.

“[The process with NECCN] was incredibly thoughtful, knowledgeable, and considerate. The childcare provided was seamless, incredibly helpful, and exactly what I needed.” Robin, mother of a 11-month-old affected by the Eaton fires recalls.

Robin isn’t the only mother who NECCN was able to help. Across the country in North Carolina, Violet, a single mother to 3 young boys, had a similar experience after Hurricane Helene.

“The application [for childcare] was so easy, I received a phone call in the hour and had childcare set up for the weekend. I felt so comfortable with all the caregivers, who were teachers, nurses and nannies. They provided trauma counseling and parenting advice. I am so grateful and thankful.”

Ryan Crabtree, a father of two young boys in Black Mountain, western North Carolina shared a similar sentiment. “[The National] Emergency Child Care Network was an invaluable resource providing amazing support in our hardest moments. Exhausted isn’t even close to the feeling at the end of the day. Between keeping up with the kids and keeping up with everything post-Helene (insurance, contractor, lawyers, etc.) stress is heavy as well. We’re physically and mentally spent at the end of each and every day. It’s such a relief for my partner and I in so many ways to not only have time for ourselves, but that our kids didn’t feel neglected and had just as much fun with the caretakers from NECCN.”

“We know through research that high quality, trauma-informed child care can reduce parental stress and lead to better outcomes, both for the child and parents, especially after disasters. It is our goal to ensure that parents in emergencies have free access to our services without an income-based application process, scrutiny, or judgement,” shared Silke Knebel, Founder and CEO of NECCN. “We strive to help parents, to reduce their stress, and to help them get back on their feet after natural disasters.

“This was the help I needed. It has allowed me to get my head above water,” Robin says. With the support of NECCN childcare, Robin was able to sign a lease, find a suitable daycare for her child, and continue to grow her small business.

It’s more than just childcare. It’s unconditional support in a time of crisis. It’s a lifeline.

References:

Cardenas, J.F., Colwell, M.J. (2022). Maternal well-being and the transition to childcare: impact of caregiver support. International Journal of Early Childhood, 56, 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-022-00339-6

King, S., Dancuase, K., Turcotte-Tremblay A., Veru, F., & Laplante, D.P. (2013). Using natural disasters to study the effects of prenatal maternal stress on child health and development. Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews. 96(4), 273-288. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdrc.21026