Implementing Public Pre-K in Family Child Care: Educator Perspectives

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

Abstract

Research indicates that high-quality family child care (FCC) has the potential to positively shape children’s outcomes (Bassok et al., 2016). FCC educators and settings bring numerous strengths to children and families in their care, including caregiving continuity, cultural and linguistic responsiveness, mixed-age group learning and leadership opportunities, flexible hours, and family support (Authors, 2022). FCCs are currently estimated to care for over 300,000 preschool-aged children nationwide (Datta et al., 2021), yet they are often excluded from the design and implementation of publicly-funded PreK initiatives. A recent report indicated that less than half of PreK systems in the United States allow FCC educators, many of whom are women of color, to receive PreK dollars, with fewer than 1% of preschool children served in FCC settings in the states that provided enrollment data (Weisenfeld & Frede, 2021). As local, state, and federal governments attempt to expand access to high-quality PreK for 3- and 4-year-old children, ensuring that the holistic needs of children, families, and the workforce are met by including FCC settings is essential for achieving racial equity and justice.

To better understand the experiences of FCC educators who successfully deliver publicly-funded PreK in their home-based programs, we fielded a survey to FCC educators who currently deliver public PreK or have done so within the last five years. The survey launched in May 2023 and is still in the field as of July 2023. Educators were invited to complete the survey by staff from their PreK systems, as well as by other FCC educators who deliver publicly-funded PreK using snowball sampling. The survey was distributed to PreK administrators and other relevant contacts in 17 states and nine localities where we believed PreK was currently being implemented in at least one FCC home. 64 educators have completed the survey to date, representing nine states and one city. Forthcoming analyses will include findings related to educators’ backgrounds and well-being, FCC program characteristics and strengths, the benefits and challenges of public PreK delivery, educators’ perceptions of parent demand for PreK in FCC settings, and the supports they received that supported PreK implementation.

During the roundtable session, the co-presenters will share insights from FCC educators themselves on their experiences delivering publicly-funded PreK in home-based settings. This will include a brief discussion of descriptive findings from the educator survey accompanied by firsthand narratives about the benefits and challenges of PreK in FCC implementation. A current FCC educator from a city-based PreK system will share her experiences delivering publicly-funded PreK. Implications for the equitable (re)design and implementation of publicly-funded PreK that includes FCC settings will be discussed.

Authors

• Samantha Melvin, Erikson Institute

• Adrienne Briggs, Lil Bits Family Child Care Home