Supporting Access to Quality Child Care: Subsidy Policy, Providers, and Underserved Families

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

High quality early care and education (ECE) is an essential context for fostering young children’s development (Phillips & Lowenstein, 2011). However, access to high quality ECE is limited across the United States; according to the Buffet Early Childhood Institute et al. (n.d.), there is currently a 28.2% gap in the number of children under five in need of child care and the number of formal child care slots available in the United States. 

One way to increase access to high-quality ECE for underserved children and families is through child care subsidies (Henly & Adams, 2018). Child care subsidies are a powerful policy tool to stabilize the child care marketplace and provide an essential resource for families and children who might otherwise be unable to access affordable, high quality care (Marshall et al., 2013). Child care subsidies have direct impacts on participation in the workforce across all sectors, as families without affordable means of child care may be less able to seek and retain employment (Morrissey, 2017). Child care subsidies can also help providers keep their programs running and continue offering care (Hoiting et al., 2026), by providing a consistent source of income (Blau, 2007; Davis et al., 2017). 

This panel explores how state subsidy policies for family child care home providers, children with disabilities, and other underserved populations increase access to ECE for infants, toddlers, and young children. The first paper leverages mixed methods to examine the impact of an open-ended, six-month Preschool Development Grant (PDG) funded subsidy supplement on family child care home quality and provider compensation, evaluating implementation barriers and facilitators from the perspective of providers. The second paper uses nationally representative data to explore impacts of state-level Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) policies on enrollment patterns for underserved groups of children, including infants, toddlers, children with disabilities, and children experiencing homelessness, with implications for policies targeting payment predictability and subsidy reimbursement rates. The third paper examines child care access for families of children with disabilities and the relation between differential reimbursement rates or guaranteed/priority status and outcomes related to the utilization of child care and cost of care. The fourth paper uses cost modeling and focus group data to interrogate the relationship between subsidy rates and provider business decisions, exploring how subsidy gaps affect access to high quality care.

This panel is well aligned with the theme of this year’s conference, “Fifty States, Fifty Systems: State Policy Variations and Impacts,” as each of these papers highlights how federal subsidy funds are filtered through state policies to address perceived needs within each state, with the ultimate goal of ensuring broad access to ECE. Examining how various state policies impact access to early care and education is the first step toward ensuring equitable access for all children and families. Discussants from a state agency will provide policy-relevant context and discuss implications.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Chair

• Sandra Soliday Hong, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Discussant

• Danielle Edwards, NC Department of Child Development and Early Education

Organizer

• Lindsay Ann Gomes, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• From Policy to Practice: Examining North Carolina’s Subsidy Supplement Initiative for Family Child Care Homes - Presenting Author: Lindsay Ann Gomes, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Linking State CCDF Policies to Child Care Subsidy Participation for Children from Underserved Groups - Presenting Author: Cara L Kelly, University of Oklahoma

• How Do State Subsidy Policies Affect Child Care Access for Families of Children with Disabilities? - Presenting Author: Ying-Chun Lin, Child Trends, Inc

• Child Care Subsidy Rates and the Sustainability of the Child Care Market - Presenting Author: Amanda E Danks, American Institutes for Research