Straschnoy, M. & Schenone, D. (2026) Time for Women: From Local to Transformative Policies. Evaluation of Childcare Experiences in Río Grande, Argentina [Policy brief]. Project Initiatives to Strengthen Care Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Within this framework, the Latin American Team for Justice and Gender (ELA) conducted an evaluation of two care programs implemented by the Secretariat of Gender and Community Development , Municipality of Río Grande. The city’s territorial particularities—the presence of migrant families with limited support networks, the considerable distances between neighborhoods, transportation accessibility, and climatic conditions—make it particularly relevant to analyze the factors that facilitate or hinder access to and use of these services.

The evaluation identified that care needs do not automatically translate into the use of available services. The perceptions of user families reveal the persistence of accessibility, connectivity, climatic, cultural, predictability/stability, and trust-related barriers concerning the spaces and the people working there, which condition access and limit the transformative potential of these policies. At the same time, the findings show that care spaces are valued insofar as they enable women to expand their autonomy, strengthen families’ support networks, and promote child development. These lessons provide relevant evidence for strengthening local care policies and guiding the design of similar interventions in other territories.