| Description: |
A collaborative partnership between the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), the Child Care Program of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Children's Services of the Chicago Department of Human Services (CDHS), and the Early Childhood Education Department of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The project addresses the following research questions: (1) What is the actual supply of pre- and after-school care at the neighborhood level, and how is it utilized by representative families across city neighborhoods?; (2) How does the quality of early childhood care, in center- or home-based settings, vary within and between neighborhoods?; (3) How does quality, continuity, availability and cost of pre-school child care relate to family characteristics and to child outcomes?; (4) How well do neighborhood and family characteristics predict parent involvement and parent advocacy?; (5) How strongly do the effects of neighborhood, family, and child care factors relate to child outcomes?; and (6) How many low-income families use the State of Illinois child care subsidy, what are the characteristics of families who do and who do not use the subsidy, and is there variation in use of subsidized care as a function of neighborhood characteristics? |
