Introduction
Research Questions
- What is the current status of state ECE consumer education efforts (described in CCDF State Plans and websites) in providing information to families, with attention to the features and information commonly included across consumer education websites?
- To what extent do existing ECE consumer education plans and websites support access to child care by offering useful information and resources for families (operationalized using the family-centered, multi-dimensional definition of access)?
For most families, the process of finding and paying for child care is challenging, particularly for families with low incomes. Families often turn to friends, family members, or the internet to find recommendations about child care options. Characteristics of families - their work schedules, transportation availability, geographic location, income, composition, and ages of their children - and the local supply of child care can all influence their child care search and decision. Access to information about child care and early education options can provide a critical support for families as they engage in the search process.
Consumer education can help raise families’ awareness about the range of early care and education (ECE) options available; let them know about the availability of financial assistance for child care or about local, public programs available at no cost (i.e. Early Head Start/Head Start and public prekindergarten); and inform families about what influences the quality of child care (e.g. the role of licensing and the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)). As a result of recent policy changes to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the federal program that offers guidance and funds to states, territories, and tribes to administer child care subsidies for families with low incomes, states have created consumer education websites to help parents make informed choices about ECE options.
Purpose
This descriptive study explored the ECE-related consumer education activities described in the FY 2019-2021 CCDF State Plans and the types of consumer education information available on states’ ECE consumer education websites (i.e., states’ official consumer education website, Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) website, and child care search engines). Using a multi-dimensional family centered definition of access, we sought to understand how states’ ECE consumer education websites support access to child care information. We examined the extent to which information is easy to find, addresses affordability, helps parents understand how ECE supports child development, and addresses parents’ needs (for example, accommodates their work schedules and their geographic location).
Key Findings and Highlights
This descriptive study provides several insights to families’ access to information through state ECE consumer education websites and offers several recommendations for state consumer education websites.
- States’ consumer education websites commonly provided information about the availability of child care subsidies to help families find affordable care and about quality ratings and licensing to promote families’ understanding of child care quality.
- Only eight states provided comprehensive information about child care through their consumer education websites that addressed every access dimension. That is, the website was easy to find, addressed affordability, informed child development, and met parent’s needs (e.g., fit their work schedule, was close to work/home).
- Only six states integrated their consumer education websites into a single site, which suggests that states could make child care information available across state websites easier to navigate (for example, by integrating their consumer education, QRIS, and child care search into a single website).
- States’ consumer education websites may be difficult for families to find; the user experience scan found that state consumer education websites were listed in search results of just 17% of the local child care searches conducted.
Methods
Information for this report was collected from a review of the FY 2019-2021 CCDF Plans and states’ ECE consumer education websites in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the summer of 2020, which included when available, the states’ official consumer education, QRIS, and child care search websites. For the review of CCDF State Plans, information about consumer education from seven components of the plans was collected, coded for themes, and summarized by dimensions of the access definition. For the consumer education website scans, the research team collected information from consumer education websites based on a protocol the team developed of website measures that aligned with CCDF requirements for consumer education websites and addressed the dimensions in the access definition. The research team also conducted simulated online child care searches, from 10 randomly selected cities/towns, to better understand the search results parents might encounter when conducting a typical online search for child care and how likely families are to find states’ consumer education websites.
Citation
Banghart, P., Hill, Z., Guerra, G. Covington, D., and Tout, K. (2021). Supporting Families’ Access to Child Care and Early Education: A Descriptive Profile of States’ Consumer Education Websites. OPRE Report #2021-161. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.