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Equitable Access to Childcare: Tools and Solutions

Wed, April 7, 11:35am to 1:05pm EDT (11:35am to 1:05pm EDT), Virtual

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Access to affordable, convenient, and high quality early childhood care and education (ECE) is crucial for the well-being of children, families, and communities. Yet this remains an intractable challenge in the U.S., where inequities are associated with race/ethnicity, SES, home language, single parent status, and urban/rural location. This symposium addresses innovative approaches to detect and reduce such inequities. Paper 1 presents a methodology for identifying areas of greatest need and informing equitable decision-making using spatial analysis to construct family-centered metrics of childcare access at the community level. Paper 2 uses interrupted time series techniques to examine how changes in licensing regulations associated with CCDBG reauthorization impacted one state’s child care supply, particularly in communities of concentrated poverty. Paper 3 shows how community partnerships and quality improvement methods can be used to identify and reduce systems barriers to enrollment. Situating an ECE specialist in a pediatric clinic helped to bridge silos between pediatric and ECE community settings and significantly increased ECE access for a group not previously receiving high-quality care. Discussion will link these papers to the current research base on equity in ECE settings and ideas for practice and policy solutions.

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