Multnomah County, Ore. (June 8, 2026) — When James Hunter walks into the preschool classroom at Family Cares, dozens of excited children greet him, yelling, “Mr. Jay!”
Hunter and his wife, Anita, co-own Family Cares, a Preschool for All provider with seven locations in Multnomah County.
“Preschool builds social-emotional skills, routines and school readiness,” Hunter said. “It’s an investment in kids and community.”
Family Cares is one of 35 continuing Preschool for All providers, out of 124 total, expanding their business into at least one additional location this upcoming school year.
This was a year of massive growth for Preschool for All, as it nearly doubled capacity to offer more than 7,000 tuition-free preschool seats to 3- and 4-year-olds for the next school year.
On Wednesday, June 3, a record number of Multnomah County families who applied for Preschool for All received their placement offers for the upcoming school year. This was made possible in part due to existing providers’ growth in capacity.
“Preschool for All has made preschool affordable and allowed us to expand,” Hunter said.
The couple started Family Cares in Multnomah County eight years ago. They applied to be a provider with Preschool for All during its pilot year, in 2022, and have grown through the program every year since. Providers under the program for the 2025-26 school year were required to pay assistant teachers a minimum of $22.22 an hour — and lead teachers at an Oregon Registry Step 7 a minimum of $22.67 an hour, with a goal pay of $29.42.
The minimum payment is above average for the Portland-area, where childcare workers made an average of $19.13 an hour in 2025, according to the Oregon Employment Department. Wage requirements will increase for the 2026-27 school year, with the assistant teacher minimum at $23.16/ an hour and lead teacher minimum at $24.86, with the goal set at $33.15.
“Because of Preschool for All’s funding and standards, we were able to professionalize operations, hire staff, pay good wages, and offer benefits like insurance,” Hunter said. “That helped us retain staff and expand from four locations to seven, and we’re working on an eighth.”
This rings true for providers across the program. Preschool for All’s program evaluation finds providers have consistently shared that having access to stable and timely funding is one of the number one benefits of Preschool for All. The fact that providers are able to grow their businesses into new locations is a great example of what stable and timely funding can do for a business.
Family Cares has big plans for the future. They plan to continue their work with Preschool for All and open an eighth location.
“Preschool for all is a wonderful program that not only changed my life, but will be able to change kids' lives, family lives by making childcare affordable,” Hunter said.
About placement offers
On June 3, Multnomah County families who applied for Preschool for All during the program’s initial application period were sent placement offers or waitlisted for placement via email. The program expects to offer immediate placements to 88% of current applicants.
Preschool for All has capacity for every applicant this year and will work to place every family who applies. However, family choice is an important aspect of Preschool for All and can impact placements and enrollment overall. When applying for the program, families are encouraged to research participating preschools and choose at least one but as many as eight preschool options. Some individual schools may have more demand than space, however, and families will be offered placements only to the schools they initially listed.
Here are some reasons a family may be waitlisted for placement:
- If a family's top-ranked choice has no capacity, and the family is offered placement at another school they selected, they may decline the offer and be placed on the waitlist for their preferred school(s).
- If all of a family's selected schools are at capacity, they will be put on a waitlist for their chosen schools and will not receive an immediate placement offer. In these cases, the program will work with the family to find other placement options.
- A family's selected preschool(s) may be operated by a school district that requires students to reside within district boundaries. If the family does not meet those residency requirements, they may be ineligible for placement at that site.
Families have two weeks to accept or deny their placement offers. They can also choose to edit their application to include other preschool options.
After this two-week period, the application will open again. This secondary period has historically opened enrollment to families who missed the first deadline and filled any available seats. During this second application period, the program will highlight preschools with availability. This secondary application period begins June 16 and will remain open until Winter 2027.
Families enroll directly with their preschool provider throughout the summer. Preschool for All will not have final enrollment numbers for the 2026-27 school year until October.
About Preschool for All
Preschool for All is a locally funded program offering free, high-quality preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds in Multnomah County. Launched in fall 2022 following support from voters in November 2020, Preschool for All aims for universal access by 2030. The program supports small businesses, pays educators wages above the state average, and ensures children have safe, engaging spaces to learn and grow. Learn more at pfa.multco.us.