Equitable Inclusion of Family Child Care in Public Pre-K: A Conceptual Framework and State Perspectives

• In Event: Building Equitable Mixed-Delivery Pre-K Systems by Including Family Child Care: Perspectives From States, Researchers, and Practitioners

Abstract

As public PreK expands, family child care (FCC) programs offer relatively untapped capacity to increase access to high-quality PreK. States and cities frequently permit FCC educators to offer public PreK, yet this is usually done on a limited scale (Weisenfeld & Frede, 2021). Many FCC programs serve families living in racially, linguistically, and geographically marginalized communities where access to school or center-based PreK settings that meet their needs and preferences is limited, and many FCC educators themselves come from these same communities (Whitebook et al., 2019). The limited inclusion of FCC in PreK systems is a missed opportunity for promoting more equitable access to PreK. Goals of our project are to (1) develop a conceptual framework identifying key considerations for delivery of PreK in FCC settings and (2) better understand facilitators and barriers to successful implementation in public PreK systems where FCC educators already deliver PreK.

Our conceptual framework highlights priorities aimed at promoting FCC settings as an integral component of PreK systems. Equitable funding and compensation for FCC educators is needed to deliver high-quality PreK. Cities and states should offer accessible qualifications and professional development opportunities responsive to FCC educator experiences. Public PreK standards should take into account the FCC setting, with requirements appropriate to home-based delivery with mixed-age groups. PreK systems should also offer comprehensive services for children and families served in FCC, duplicating types of infrastructure in center- or school-based settings. Finally, data and monitoring requirements should be streamlined so they are realistic in FCC settings. These priorities leverage strengths of FCC providers while recognizing realities that they serve children across a range of ages and typically with few staff members.

After developing our conceptual framework, we conducted focus groups with 37 state/city PreK administrators from 23 locales (14 states and nine localities). Focus groups engaged participants in discussions about issues related to implementation of PreK in FCC settings including: qualifications, compensation, curriculum, assessment, monitoring, infrastructure support, and recruitment and eligibility. A key finding was that PreK programs do not differentiate requirements for FCC educators from requirements for educators in other settings, particularly around qualifications, compensation, curriculum and assessment, or data/monitoring. Most PreK systems do not employ targeted recruitment or eligibility strategies for FCC. However, some PreK systems offer FCC educators various targeted supports, including alternative educational pathways tailored professional development, and financial and administrative support. Some PreK systems have intermediary infrastructure to support FCC educators while fewer systems contract directly with educators.

In this roundtable, we will discuss how our conceptual framework can inform the design of PreK systems that authentically include FCC educators. We will also discuss how focus group results can help develop more differentiated and systematic supports to PreK educators in FCC settings. Intentionally including FCC educators in PreK expansion efforts in these ways serves a broader goal of ensuring a robust, accessible, and equitable mixed-delivery system for early care and education.

Author

• Jason Hustedt, University of Delaware