Findings from the Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships Sustainability Study

This report highlights findings from the EHS-CC Partnerships Sustainability Study including how Partnerships were faring as of 2022 and the factors that supported or impeded their sustainability. The information and the lessons learned may inform ongoing and future activities of partnerships in early care and education programs as well as training and technical assistance efforts. 

The following are key findings of the study: 

• Most (77 percent) EHS programs from the first round of EHS-CC Partnership grants had at least one Partnership with a child care provider sustained between 2016 and 2022. About half (54 percent) of EHS programs formed more than two new partnerships between 2016 and 2022, most often because of a need to maintain total slots after partnership(s) with other child care providers terminated.  

• EHS program directors reported varied factors for the dissolution of Partnerships with specific child care providers. The most frequently reported (42 percent) major factor was difficulty complying with Head Start Program and Performance Standards beyond ratios and credential requirements. The most frequently reported (26 percent) minor factor was misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities. 

• EHS program directors and child care provider respondents reported a number of factors that supported the sustainability of partnerships. The three most frequently reported major supports cited by EHS program directors were: (1) mutual respect with child care providers (81 percent); (2) open communication with child care providers (81 percent); and (3) a commitment among EHS program leadership to partner with child care providers (80 percent). The three most frequently reported major supports cited by child care provider respondents were: (1) stability in leadership at the child care provider (78 percent); (2) a commitment among child care leadership to partner with EHS (72 percent); and (3) a person at the center or family child care provider who actively and enthusiastically promoted partnering with EHS (69 percent). 

• EHS program directors and child care provider respondents reported varied, though largely aligned factors that impeded the sustainability of partnerships. The three most frequently reported major barriers cited by EHS program directors were: (1) challenges recruiting qualified staff (67 percent); (2) insufficient funding (64 percent); and (3) challenges maintaining enrollment in partnership slots (64 percent). The three most frequently reported major barriers cited by child care provider respondents were: (1) challenges recruiting qualified staff (24 percent); (2) insufficient funding (24 percent); and challenges meeting child adult ratio and group size requirements (23 percent). 

The EHS-CC Partnerships Sustainability Study gathered data from three sources: 

1. A web-based survey of the 250 EHS program directors that received a 2015 EHS-CC Partnership grant, regardless of whether they participated in the NDS of 2016. 

2. A web-based or telephone survey of all child care providers (n = 469) selected to participate in the NDS (regardless of whether they participated in the NDS of 2016). The child care provider survey included some items that were just for providers in sustained Partnerships and some that were just for providers whose Partnerships had dissolved. 

3. Semi-structured telephone interviews with a subsample of child care providers (data from semi-structured interviews is not presented in the data tables in this report). 

Response rates were lower than anticipated, particularly for providers. This may be partly attributable to continuing difficulties from the pandemic, such as staffing shortages. Given our response rates of 64.4 percent for the EHS program director surveys and 35.4 percent for child care providers, we assessed the potential for nonresponse bias in each survey. This analysis indicated that, at the EHS program director level, weighted estimates are sufficiently unbiased and are representative of the EHS program director population from the 2015 round of grants. At the child care provider level, we do not recommend assuming that weighted estimates are representative of all providers who partnered with the first cohort of programs receiving EHS-CC Partnership grants. 

Clochard, Axelle, Elizabeth Doran, Myah Scott, Robert Lynn-Green, Reggie Gilliard, Daniel Mangoubi, Judy Cannon, Natalie Reid, Yange Xue, and Sara Bernstein (2023). Findings from the Early Head Start - Child Care Partnerships Sustainability Study, OPRE Report 2023-262, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.