This profile is part of a research project in collaboration with the Trust for Learning, exploring how early childhood programs can combine multiple funding sources to serve diverse groups of children. The project includes a report, “Early Childhood Programs That Blend and Braid Funding to Achieve Diversity,” and another profile, “How a Colorado Early Learning Center Serves a Diverse Group of Families.”
In the United States, many young children attend preschool in racially and socioeconomically segregated classrooms. However, some programs are challenging this norm by creating inclusive environments that cater to children from all backgrounds. The Playing Field, a nonprofit child care center in Madison, Wisconsin, exemplifies this approach. Founded and led by Abbi Kruse, the center has been successful in integrating children from various socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Now in its ninth year, the model is thriving, and the center is planning to expand by opening a second location.
From Head Start to a Mixed-Income Model
Abbi Kruse’s career has spanned both Head Start and affluent early childhood programs. She initially worked at Reach Dane, which runs the Head Start program in Madison, before transitioning to lead a wealthier child care center. This experience exposed her to the vast disparities in children’s lives: “I went from hearing, ‘my dad went to prison this weekend’ to ‘my dad is taking me to Argentina this summer.’”
A partnership opportunity with Early Head Start then inspired her to create The Playing Field. The proposal involved integrating children experiencing homelessness into an affluent center, a move that would desegregate early childhood education and enrich learning for all students.
The Playing Field was born with a vision to serve children from families across a spectrum of incomes. The program aims for one-third of its families to be low-income and eligible for child care subsidies, one-third to be middle-income and needing partial financial support, and one-third to be higher-income, able to pay full tuition. This approach also results in a racially diverse population, with about half of the children at the center coming from families of color.
Making the Mixed-Income Model Work
At The Playing Field, enrollment is based on the ability of families to pay for care. “We don’t just place children into spots without considering how they’ll be funded,” Abbi explains. This means the center has a waitlist for each income group, with affluent families often facing longer waiting times due to their tendency to plan ahead.
For Early Head Start spots, the process is more urgent. “Some Early Head Start families, especially those facing homelessness, need child care immediately,” Abbi says. These families are prioritized according to the guidelines set by Early Head Start, with Reach Dane managing enrollment.
The center’s funding model combines child care subsidies, donations from the city of Madison and United Way, and other contributions. However, serving middle-income families has proven to be the biggest challenge. These families don’t qualify for subsidies but still struggle to pay full tuition. For instance, a family of four earning $58,000 would face a childcare bill of $2,300 per month, which would consume nearly half their income. While they might qualify for the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, the benefit remains insufficient.
Abbi hopes to address this gap through a scholarship fund, but securing donors for middle-income families has been difficult. “We need more support from foundations, the government, or grassroots donors to create a sliding fee scale for these families,” she says.
Building a Strong, Supportive Team
To provide high-quality care, Abbi has relied on her experience as a former teacher and director. She emphasizes the importance of trauma-informed care for children, many of whom have experienced homelessness or instability. “It took time for us to build the right foundation,” she reflects. The center maintains low teacher-student ratios to ensure staff can respond to children’s needs, whether it’s washing clothes or providing extra food.
The Playing Field has become a close-knit community, with teachers and families building strong, supportive relationships. Abbi uses the metaphor of a family to describe the center’s approach: “In a family, people have different needs at different times. We prioritize meeting everyone’s needs in a healthy way.”
The mixed-income model also fosters connections among families. Abbi shares that affluent families sometimes become more aware of their privilege after interacting with lower-income families. “One father told me he realized how differently others live after attending one of our family nights,” she recalls.
Expanding Support for Families
The Playing Field’s success has attracted the attention of local organizations. Recently, the center received a grant from The Madison Community Foundation to hire a grant writer, which will help them expand their scholarship fund and open a new site on Madison’s East Side. This new location will adopt a two-generation approach to ending poverty by supporting both children and their parents. Families experiencing homelessness will be able to access affordable housing through a partnership with The Road Home Dane County.
Abbi credits the center’s success to the people involved, from staff to donors. “We have a great team and a generous community,” she says.
Key Recommendations for Early Childhood Programs and Policymakers
For other programs seeking to adopt a similar model, The Playing Field offers several recommendations:
1. Create opportunities for family engagement and social connection.
2. Maintain low teacher-child ratios to address the needs of families in crisis.
3. Ensure staff are trained in trauma-informed care.
For policymakers and foundations, The Playing Field’s experience highlights the benefits of a mixed-income model:
1. Low-income families gain valuable “social capital” by interacting with wealthier families.
2. Affluent families develop empathy and community awareness.
3. Flexible funding models can help low-income families keep their children enrolled in quality care even as their incomes rise.
To better support programs like The Playing Field, state and federal agencies could make the following changes:
1. Streamline subsidy programs for Early Head Start and Head Start children to ensure continuous funding without requiring families to recertify.
2. Eliminate copayments for families in these programs to ease their financial burden.
3. Introduce sliding fee scales that allow families to gradually take on higher child care costs as their income grows.
The Playing Field’s model demonstrates how blending funding sources can provide high-quality, diverse early childhood education that benefits all families involved.
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