by Dianne Anderson

Moms that can’t afford childcare, or don’t want to send their kids off miles away, all while making money on a valuable side business, are in luck.

The First 5 Orange County Child Care Business Incubator has already trained 194 participants to open licensed home childcare businesses, providing help for affordable and easy access childcare.

Kim Goll said their program operates on a $250,000 annual budget, and she commended Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento for securing $75,000 in Second District discretionary funds to expand the 2026 slots.

From an economic and community standpoint, she said the program stretches every dollar and all the resources.

“It is a win win win win. There is no loser in this situation,” said Goll, president/CEO of First 5 Orange County.

So far, with the investment, they have created 255 new infant and toddler slots across the county, and a total impact up to 498 slots including preschool-aged children. Since only about 40% of preschoolers in the county have a licensed spot, the new infant slots aim to help fill that gap.

After seeing that only about 1 in 8 Orange County infants and toddlers have access to licensed care, she said that Sarmiento, also vice chair of the First 5 OC board, targeted help for childcare deserts in Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Garden Grove.

“This $75,000 will add additional slots because of his generosity and passion for childcare in his community. He knows childcare desert data. When he asked us how he can help, we talked to him about this program and he said let’s do that,” she said.

Besides the obvious high cost of hard to find childcare, she said their program is an excellent way for moms to start a business, and the data also shows that families prefer placing their children with friends, family, or neighbors.

Goll said her passion is to help families access services. In their landscape analysis of the county, she said only a tiny proportion of families that are eligible for subsidized care are being served.

“For folks who don’t have a job, and are trying to figure out how to stay home with their kids, we are giving them a vehicle to start a business as long as they have a passion about kids,” she said. “We want to close that gap on childcare. Our whole landscape is not good. No one is coming to save us, we have to learn how to save ourselves.”

Families are forced to make hard decisions about childcare, but she said training the local community how to deliver childcare helps other families in need, and also sparks entrepreneurial spirit.

“It’s for families who want to do something in their neighborhood but also want to put food on their own table,” she said.

Usually, she said in-home providers are not like large centers with strict “zero sickness” exclusion policies. Local families can find childcare with flexible schedules and a nurturing home environment.

“Maybe willing to get care if they got sniffles, maybe willing to work around a payment that is affordable,” she said. “It’s giving someone a chance to start not just a job, but a career and business and think about their own life in a different way.”

Another benefit is the program doesn’t require a $10 million building, city permits, or extra staff to make an impact. Instead, she said it can create quick solutions, provide pathways to jobs, and support family economic stability.

Childcare graduates are also trained to help families navigate systems like the Regional Center and ChildFind for children with disabilities.

Bringing together many partners, she said the business model creates structure and backbone to the approach, but it wouldn’t work as well without the stipends and partnerships. They are also making sure that people think of it through the lens of a sustainable business model.

“How to file taxes, how are you going to market your services, how are you going to keep up with all these things? Here are the resources and mentors,” she said.

For those who finish the training, but decide not to start their own business can still get into childcare centers and land a job.

The most important part is the willingness and heart to want to work with kids, she said. To get licensed, they are vetting physical locations, such as who else is living in the home.

Participants don’t have to be homeowners, but renting a room may not be a good fit, and they would point interested participants to check out the apprenticeship program alternative. First 5 also works with community colleges for an “earn while you learn” program to work in a childcare center.

Classes run about 50 students for eight weeks, and cohorts launch throughout the year. The next cohort is scheduled for a Summer or Fall 2026 launch, with registration opening on the SBDC website later this month.

She emphasized that the long goal is to see grades going up from elementary to high school, which means investing in early childhood.

“When we force families to make decisions to put kids in less desirable childcare settings, putting them in a bouncer and thinking about childcare as changing a diaper and throwing a bottle at a kid, that is never going to yield results we need,” she said.

For more information on programs, see:
https://first5oc.org/childcare/

For families looking for QualityStart childcare, see:
https://qualitystartoc.org/

Or call Children’s Home Society of California at 714 543 2273 for local referrals.