The proposed project focuses on home-based child care (HBCC) providers’ participation in the child care subsidy system and the provider-, community-, and state-level characteristics that affect participation. There is a continuing decline in HBCC providers accepting child care subsidies. At the same time, there is growing evidence documenting the vital role of HBCC providers in meeting families’ early care and education (ECE) needs, especially those families in rural communities and working non-traditional hours. We combine secondary data from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education, Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Policies Database, Quality Improvement Systems (QIS) Compendium, Child Care Licensing Study, CCDF state plans, and CCDF Administrative Data to analyze multi-level predictors of HBCC providers’ subsidy participation. We have three primary aims: 1) To develop and validate composite indicators for the provider- friendliness of state ECE policies, 2) To explore multilevel factors associated with HBCC providers’ subsidy participation, and 3) To identify the effects of provider-friendly ECE policies on HBCC providers’ subsidy participation. Specifically, we emphasize the combination of state ECE policies—looking across CCDF, licensing, and Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS)—that may make conditions more favorable for subsidy participation through nationally representative cross-sectional and state-by-year longitudinal analyses. Our work is the first to include a rigorous policy analysis focused on licensing, subsidy, and QRIS policies and their separate and combined effect on HBCC providers’ participation in the subsidy system. (author abstract)