This Economic Security Project paper lays out what a public option for childcare must entail to effectively meet the needs of parents and families. This includes, but is not limited to, building more facilities in communities the market has failed to serve, higher quality care for every family, and a better-paid workforce that can sustain an expanded childcare system over time. It also makes the case for mobile childcare models to reach families in childcare deserts that even a robust fixed facility network wouldn’t reach.