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Produced by Research Connections
Peer Reviewed JournalCurrent Filters: Resource Type:Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects [remove]; Pub Year:2004 [remove];
17 results found.|
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Asymmetric Information and the Child Care Market An assessment of whether publicly available information about quality influences parents' child care choices, with an investigation of what types of providers are likely to participate in evaluations to assess child care quality, and how the results of these evaluations can influence the market. The study expands the work of the Child Care Programs of Excellence (CCPOE) project, which was designed to: (1) recruit providers and assess their quality via on-site observations; (2) develop a quality rating report and disseminate it to parents; and (3) evaluate the impact of this information on parents' and providers' choices. Quantitative data analyses are used to answer the research questions. The policy implication for this work is the feasibility and benefit of educating parents about the importance of high quality child care. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Child Care Effects in Context: Quality, Stability, and Multiplicity in Nonmaternal Child Care Arrangements from 3 to 6 Years of Age An assessment of the frequency with which low-income preschoolers (ages 3-6) experience unstable and multiple concurrent child care arrangements, and an examination of the effects of quality, stability, and multiplicity on children's social-emotional adjustment and school readiness. The study uses data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, and aims to help policymakers understand how child care experiences affect the social-emotional adjustment and school readiness of children living in poverty. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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The Child Care Estimator A task order awarded to the University of Maryland to provide user guides and materials to assist policymakers and their staff in navigating the Child Care Estimator statistical model. The Child Care Estimator model produces an estimated cost of meeting the total potential need for child care assistance, and a determination of the penetration rates at which the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) meet the total potential service population's identified needs. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Child Care Quality: Does Partnering with Head Start Make a Difference? A three-year investigation of the relationship between Child Care/Head Start partnerships, observed quality, and children's school readiness, conducted in Ohio by the Education Development Center (EDC). The research expands on an existing study to examine: (1) under what conditions child care partnerships with Head Start are related to observed child care classroom quality; (2) whether there is a link between partnerships and children's school readiness; and (3) whether partnerships are associated with observed quality in family child care homes. The study uses data collected on environmental quality and child outcomes, through the use of observational and child assessment instruments, from 67 child care center classrooms, 673 children, and 135 family child care homes, all randomly selected. This research addresses critical questions about the effectiveness of coordination efforts and provides evidence about the outcomes of strategies designed to improve child care quality. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Children at Risk in the Child Welfare System: Collaborations to Promote School Readiness A case study examining the extent to which the child welfare, early care and education, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) early intervention systems are collaborating to promote the school readiness needs of children under age five in the child welfare system in Colorado. The study is based on field interviews with approximately 150 key agency staff and survey interviews with approximately 500 foster parents and 200 child welfare caseworkers, and explores: (1) barriers to and facilitators of collaboration at the state, county and local levels; and (2) the degree to which children in the child welfare system are being linked to the IDEA early intervention and early care and education (ECE) programs. This research informs policy and program choices about best practices and models for how the multiple agencies which provide these services can coordinate their efforts. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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The Constraints of Choice: The Role of Race/Ethnicity, Class, and Community Context in Child Care Decisions An examination of the role of contextual variables in mothers' child care choices, through an identification of how child care decisions are shaped by race/ethnicity, class, and community contexts, using quantitative data from the Philadelphia Survey of Child Care and Work, and from the City of Philadelphia. The study investigates the following questions: (1) How does the neighborhood supply of licensed child care affect the use of formal or informal child care?; (2) How do child care decisions vary by racial/ethnic and socioeconomic class characteristics?; (3) How do household demographics and work characteristics influence mothers' use of formal or informal child care?; (4) How does a mother's social networks and other resources affect her use of formal or informal care?; (5) What are the consequences of using formal or informal care?; and (6) How do the previous issues vary by neighborhood/community context? The policy implication of this study is the importance of how communities act as a medium through which the supply of, and access to, child care can be measured |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Early Care Settings and School Readiness of Low-Income Children: Cross-Cutting Lessons from Two Complementary Studies A project led by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), in conjunction with collaborators from the University of Texas at Austin, examining the relationship between center- and home-based care settings and the development of low income children (primarily children of working parents), aged kindergarten to third grade. The research is based on two unique datasets: (1) a pooled dataset of seven experimental studies of welfare and employment programs--empirical techniques that take advantage of treatment-induced differences in employment, income and child care--that is used to control for child care selection factors; and (2) The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD)--a longitudinal child care study following children from birth--that is used to conduct an analysis of features of different types of care settings and the resulting effects on children's development. This research addresses critical questions about the effects of center- and home-based care settings on multiple domains of low income children's development, paying specific attention to the direction of causality in effects. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Employment and TANF Outcomes for Low-Income Families Receiving Child Care Subsidies in Illinois, Maryland, and Texas An analysis of subsidy use and employment and welfare outcomes among all low income families in Illinois, Maryland, and Texas, with a focus on: (1) building individual-level linked administrative data from Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage records within each state; (2) developing an eligibility model that takes account of income eligibility rules across states; and (3) matching individual-level 2000 decennial census and Supplemental Survey data from the Census Bureau with the state-linked databases. The project aims for a more comprehensive model of subsidy use that will allow policymakers to better estimate subsidy need, and to understand the relation between take-up patterns among different groups of low income families and employment and welfare outcomes among low income families. This study builds on Child Care Bureau-funded research demonstrating that the child care subsidy plays an important role in supporting family self-sufficiency by increasing employment among current and former TANF recipients. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Guidance for Validating Child Care Market Rate Surveys An examination of how well market rate surveys assess the price of care in various types of communities, what methods validate market rate survey findings, and the effects of child care subsidies on the larger child care market. Multiple data sources and data collection methods are used to assess validity, market representation, and cost effectiveness of market prices, including surveys of States, territories, and tribes to assess current market rate survey practices and issues, and child care administrative data, census data, and employment data to explore the relationship between child care subsidies and the price of care. The project provides knowledge needed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of surveys whose findings guide a major investment in America's children and families. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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How Organizations Can Help Child Care Work: Reducing Incidences and Consequences of Child Care Disruptions An investigation of the workplace factors that enable parents to cope with child care disruptions, examining employers' organizational efforts to support working parents and facilitate the utilization of child care. The hypotheses are that an organization's formal child-focused program supports will positively relate to child care accessibility and negatively relate to child care disruptions, and that an organization's informal positive workplace climate toward parenting will decrease the negative effects of child care disruptions on employees' attitudes and behaviors. This study informs work-family policies aimed at the private sector. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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The Impact of Cash Incentives on Early Childhood Workforce Development and Program Quality An assessment of the impact of Missouri's Workforce Incentive Project (WIN) on workforce development and child care quality. Using data already collected as part of the 4-year evaluation of the WIN program, this project extends the data analyses longitudinally for comparison between 503 participants of WIN and 376 non-participants who were followed over two years at 4-month intervals. Measures include turnover, professional development, and child care quality. The study informs policy and program choices about individual and program characteristics that motivate child care providers to attain additional education and training, and the efficacy of cash incentives for increasing workforce development and child care program quality. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Investigating the Impact of a State-Wide Unified Professional Development System on Quality Environments and Child Outcomes A study building on the current evaluation of the state KIDS NOW Initiative by conducting research investigating the degree to which a statewide unified professional development system impacts the educational level of early care and education providers and subsequent classroom quality. The influence of these indicators are examined to determine their impact on child outcomes. The research design includes a multi-site, mixed-methods design with 213 centers, 265 classrooms and teachers that represent three types of classroom settings (child care, Head Start, and state preschool). Child level outcome data are collected on 357 4-year-old children across settings. The primary objective of this research is to determine: (1) the degree to which a unified professional development system developed at the state level results in positive child outcomes; and (2) the degree to which the educational level of early care and education providers enhances the quality of classroom environments. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Making the Most of Connections: Illinois License-Exempt Child Care Providers' Use of Information about Early Care and Education A qualitative study that addresses the question of whether technology is an effective means of connecting providers with resources, and describes the characteristics of Illinois license-exempt child care providers, their use of information resources, and the means by which they seek information to enhance their practices. The study uses data from the Illinois Study of License-Exempt Child Care, which found that license-exempt providers had little or no child care training, but that many were interested in receiving such training. Phase 1 involves the administration of an open-ended questionnaire to 30 license-exempt providers. Phase 2 involves the administration of a semi-structured interview to 60 providers about their use of, and access to, technology. This research informs policy and program choices about the use of technology for promoting Illinois' Early Learning Guidelines. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Massachusetts Early Care and Education and School Readiness Study An assessment of the impact of varying hours of early care and education on children's school readiness, and the specific factors in both infant and preschool classrooms that promote school readiness, using two samples: one group of 236 children attending child care centers that have been followed since infancy; and another group of 160 children attending child care centers primarily serving low-income families. The project measures the following school readiness outcomes: (1) language development and communication; (2) cognition and general knowledge, including early math, social and emotional development; (3) approaches to learning; and (4) health and physical development. The study informs policy and program choices about standards for infant and preschool early care and education, the education and training of early care and education professionals, hours of care for young children, and the processes that improve school readiness among young children at risk. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Midwest Child Care Research Consortium A study that undertakes four tasks: (1) piloting and validating four linked state child care Quality Rating Systems (QRS); (2) identifying what training providers at different levels in the QRS select; (3) measuring the effects of training on child care quality; and (4) assessing provider attitudes about professional development, and parent attitudes about quality ratings. Methods include interviews and observations involving four hundred child care centers and family child care homes, 600 classrooms, 2,200 child care providers, and 200 child care center directors in 8 randomly selected communities (one rural and one urban community from each state), in addition to interviews and focus groups with subsidy-receiving and non-subsidy-receiving parents. The study informs child care policy and program choices about investments in child care quality and provider training and professional development, and outcomes that relate to alternative child care subsidy policies. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Sparking Connections: Oklahoma Tribal Connections The mission of the Oklahoma Tribal Connection is to strengthen the capacity of families, relative providers, and parents in their role as the first and most important teachers of their young children. Participating tribes include Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe and the Delaware Tribe of Indians. These five tribes in Oklahoma, along with the Oklahoma Child Care Resource and Referral Association as the lead agency, participate in the second phase of the Families and Work Institute's National research and demonstration project called Sparking Connections which addresses the quality of family, friends, and neighbor care. The Family and Work Institute focus of the evaluation is a strict process evaluation, and the Child Care Bureau evaluation portion of the project is on outcomes. The five goals and objectives of the project are: (1) strengthening relative providers; (2) parent education and support; (3) partnerships; (4) respecting and preserving culture; and (5) positive outcomes for children. The five objectives are met by each tribe in a different capacity, and each tribe utilizes some or all of the following methods: provider training; newsletters; incentives; home visits; network meetings; resource libraries; focus groups; provision of health and safety equipment; provision of education materials; and cultural components. The report details specific strategies on how each tribe implements processes to improve the quality of relative care, and reviews quality improvement outcomes from Cherokee Nation based on focus groups and written surveys. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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Understanding Quality in Context: Child Care Providers, Markets, Communities, and Policy An examination of the role and relative importance of provider and program characteristics that influence quality of care offered by child care providers, and an exploration of whether these differ for providers receiving subsidies. The project augments existing quantitative and qualitative provider data collected in five communities. A total of 417 center directors and 536 family child care providers, caring for children under age five for at least 40 hours per week, are included in a sample of subsidized and unsubsidized programs. A second project phase examines how these factors play a role in decision-making as providers decide how to allocate resources related to program quality. The study informs policy and program choices about: (1) how provider, market, community, and subsidy policy factors shape the quality of child care; (2) the relative importance of these factors; and (3) whether the factors and their relative importance differ for providers receiving voucher-based child care subsidies. |
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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