2005-2025
The purpose of the Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis (CCEEPRA) project is to support policy and program planning and decision-making with rigorous, research-based information. Through CCEEPRA, Child Trends identifies high-priority issues in child care and early education (CCEE), develops research activities to address the issues, and shares results and implications with state, federal, and regional leaders. Research topics and activities are selected in partnership with OPRE to ensure that the project activities address the needs of children and families with low incomes and elevate the voices and experiences of parents and the child care and early education workforce. CCEEPRA activities aim to inform policies and practices related to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and other early childhood initiatives at the Administration for Children and Families. Considerations to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in all research activities. The work is intended to address critical issues in child care and early education while building the capacity for new research and evaluation efforts.
Products supported through CCEEPRA include literature reviews, syntheses of research findings, policy scans, fact sheets, data snapshots, measures compendia, meeting summaries, briefing papers, webinars, research briefs, research-to-policy/research-to-practice briefs, and research translation products disseminated in multimedia formats.
Examples of key research activities include:
- Identifying effective strategies to promote equitable access to child care and early education.
- Documenting key trends in the characteristics and supply of child care and early education through analyses of the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE).
- Documenting trends in families’ search and use of different types of child care and early education through analyses of the NSECE.
- Analyzing characteristics of and supports for the child care and early education workforce.
- Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on child care and early education.
- Understanding strategies to improve the quality of child care and early education
- Analyzing state and territory implementation of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
- Synthesizing knowledge gained through research and consultation with child care and early education experts to inform future research and policies at the national, state, and local levels.
- Translating research findings into short, easy-to-use products designed for child care and early education leaders and their teams.
- Convening research and policy experts to review research findings and identify implications for policy decision-making and program administration.
- Identifying new methodological and analytic approaches to increase the efficiency and applicability of research efforts.
Point(s) of contact: Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Tracy Carter Clopet, Shannon Warren, and Dianna Tran