The Institute for a Child Care Continuum conducts research on a wide variety of child care policy issues. They include:
State Efforts to Improve Child Care Quality
The interest in evaluating efforts to improve child care quality has escalated in the past several years. It has been propelled by many factors including rising concerns about evidence of the effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives, increased attention to accountability for public expenditures, and a growing emphasis on the need to prepare young children for school.
The Institute's research explores a wide range of issues related to state efforts to improve child care quality. They include the ways in which states use the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) quality set-aside, how to support evaluation of child care quality improvement efforts, and the results of specific initiatives that aim to achieve enhance child care for children.
Understanding Kith and Kin Child Care
Since the 1996 enactment of welfare reform legislation, the interest in license-exempt child care--care provided by family (kin), friends or neighbors (kith) who are legally exempt from regulation--has increased dramatically. Across the country, significant proportions of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and CCDF child care subsidies are expended for this type of child care: in some localities, it accounts for more than half of the total. At the same time, a growing number of states have developed initiatives to improve the quality of care that license-exempt caregivers offer to children.
The Institute's research has examined several different issues in kith and kin child care. Among them are the needs and interests of caregivers and the characteristics of the care they provide; the design and implementation of programs for kith and kin caregivers; and quality in kith and kin care. It has developed an instrument, the Child Care Assessment Tool for Relatives (CCAT-R), which is specifically designed to evaluate quality in these settings.