Centering Family Voices: Lessons Learned From Families in Virginia’s Early Childhood System

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Social Policy

Abstract

Families consider many factors when choosing early education programs to meet the needs of their child and family. Research has demonstrated that the decision-making process is not a linear process, but rather a complex process that is influenced by several familial and community characteristics (Forry, Tout, Rothenberg, Sandstrom & Vesely, 2013; Weber, 2011). In an effort to understand and learn from the experiences of families choosing early child care, the authors partnered with a state department of education and an enterprise of community partners focused on creating a successful local early childhood network.

This poster will share findings from a study about families’ choices and decision making when seeking quality early child care. The goal of this study was to center family voices to understand and learn what families look for in a child care program, how they make decisions, and how current statewide websites that communicate about child care options support families searching for care. Additionally, one of the goals of this effort was to use family voices to guide future strategies and investment opportunities as the state considers next steps in further developing their mixed-delivery early education system. The study used qualitative research methods to examine families’ experiences and to analyze current state-identified websites (n=9) used to search for early child care in Virginia.

The study participants included families of young children who were identified collaboratively with 8 local partner initiatives throughout the state. In an effort to collect the voices and experiences that were illustrative of the experiences of their communities, the local partner initiatives recruited families of racial and socio-economic backgrounds that resembled the racial and economic backgrounds of the communities in which they lived. The study included 20 family interviews and 7 group listening sessions with participation from a total of 30 families. The study also included an analysis of 9 websites of interest shared with the study team by partners from the state leadership. Data were collected for the study in April through June of 2020.

The analysis revealed families had clear operating definitions of quality and identified priorities (i.e., classroom and program environment and accessibility) as they made decisions about early child care. However, the analysis also revealed that navigating the child care landscape is difficult and presents barriers for many families, even for those with time and monetary resources, social networks, and other supports. Participating families had to do an overwhelming amount of “heavy lifting” and balancing of priorities as they navigated the existing resources and websites, which did not consistently align with the language and trusted networks families often use. Additionally, the existing websites did not consistently provide the information families needed when making decisions about early child care programs.

The proposed poster will include findings organized into four key takeaways, a visual map to represent our website analysis, and recommendations that build on these findings. We also present a narrative highlighting the experiences of a participant family.

Authors

• Aisha Pittman Fields, School Readiness Consulting
  Presenting Author

• BreAnna Davis Tribble, School Readiness Consulting
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sherylls Kahn, School Readiness Consulting
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lindsey Allard Agnamba, School Readiness Consulting
  Non-Presenting Author

• Samantha Gray Keen, School Readiness Consulting
  Non-Presenting Author