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Child Care Subsidy Programs
One of the elements of welfare reform ushered in by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was added funding and flexibility in providing subsidies to low-income families. States receive funding through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant. That funding stream, with requirements for quality initiatives and other federal regulations, provides resources for states to meet the needs of families receiving welfare, those that are in training or the workforce, others making the transition from welfare to work, and low-income families who meet eligibility requirements. Subsidies may be paid to providers or to families with required access to multiple settings such as child care centers, prekindergarten programs, family child care homes, and care by relatives and friends. Between 1996 and 2001, total spending, including state and federal expenditures, tripled and the number of children participating doubled, from one million children to over two million children.
For participating families, market rate child care costs are out of reach. Child care subsidy programs provide a key work support. Research also shows good quality early education experiences can have a profound impact on the lives of children, including early childhood success in school and into adulthood. With 61 percent of children in the United States under age 6 in some kind of care, the demand for child care of all types has increased. Research has also raised concern about the quality of child care settings, with reports of programs with mediocre and even inadequate quality.
Key policy areas include eligibility levels, copayments, provider reimbursement rates, incentives to address gaps in care, ways to improve the quality of programs, and efforts to improve the coordination of early childhood education programs. Policy approaches to increase quality include examining reimbursement rates and compensation to address teacher turnover; training requirements to improve teacher performance and child outcomes; use of curriculum to address classroom experiences; and evaluation of programs. NCSL's Child Care and Early Childhood Education Project can access a variety of research resources to provide up-to-date information about state approaches, eligibility levels, funding transfers and other state efforts.
Child Care Spending and Policy Update
Powerpoint presentation by Steffanie Clothier for NCSL's Annual Meeting session, "Child Care: Hard Choices, No Easy Answers," July 22, 2003, San Francisco, California. The presentation includes an in-depth look at spending and policy choices states have made since 2001 including consideration of eligibility, copayaments, reimbursement rates and quality investments.
Financing Early Care and Education
Financing Early Care and Education: Funding and Policy Choices in a Changing Fiscal Environment, describes various funding and policy approaches for policymakers to consider when developing a law, policy or budget action related to child care and early childhood education.
This report can be accessed by those with passwords at http://www.ncsl.org/legis/cyf/ccfinance.pdf, or can be purchased through the NCSL publications website.
Making Child Care Better: State Initiatives
About 13 million kids are in child care and their early education experiences dramatically affect their development, including future success in school and better job opportunities. There is also evidence that good early childhood education helps decrease delinquency in later years. This book discusses four key ways to improve children's care.
The executive summary and information on how to order this book can be accessed at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/mccexec.htm
Additional Resources
Policy brief examines ways to integrate early education standards in child care
States can integrate early education program standards in child care by directly tying standards to funding, according to Meeting Great Expectations: Integrating Early Education Program Standards in Child Care, a brief published by the Center for Law and Social Policy. The authors identify three strategies in seven states that have promoted integration, including the delivery of state prekindergarten and Head Start in child care settings and the use of child care provider contracts that include required standards.
To view the policy brief or the full report, go to http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1061231790.62/meeting_rpt.pdf.
Child care subsidies help low-income parents work
Challenges and opportunities exist for those who want to integrate a stronger child development focus into the subsidy system, according to a paper that is part of the Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism Project. The paper is titled More Than a Work Support? Issues Around Integrating Child Development Goals Into the Child Care Subsidy System. The authors discuss questions that policymakers, practitioners and researchers may explore to help the subsidy system achieve a better balance between supporting child development and supporting parental work.
To view the full report, go to www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1000449_ECRQtrly.pdf.
States use provider contracts to increase supply, improve quality of child care
A national study of state child care contracting policies indicates that states use contracts to increase the supply of child care in certain high-need areas, provide care to special populations, and improve the quality of program standards and services. Researchers at the Center for Law and Social Policy conducted the study, Untapped Potential? How States Contract Directly with Providers to Shore Up Child Care Choices. They conclude that the full potential of contracting has not yet been realized.
An eight-page policy brief of the report and the full report are available at www.clasp.org/Pubs/Pubs_ChildCare.
For more information on child care issues, please contact Steffanie Clothier in the Denver office at 303.364.7700 or cyf-info@ncsl.org or either Sheri Steisel or Lee Posey in the D.C. office at 202.624.5400 or fedhumserv-info@ncsl.org.
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