Introduction
The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) project team conducted three national surveys in 2023 with 1) state and territory child care and early education (CCEE) licensing administrators, 2) front-line CCEE licensing staff who conduct monitoring and inspections for licensed providers in each state and D.C. and 3) licensed CCEE providers (both center-based and family child care settings) in each state and D.C. Data were collected between April 2023 and August 2023. See Gal Szabo et al., (2024) for findings from the CCEE front-line licensing staff survey. See Miranda et al., (2024) for findings about licensing staff and provider views of CCEE licensing, using data from all three surveys.
Detailed information about the methodology for the three survey studies is provided in the report, The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) Survey Methods, Users’ Guide, and Respondent Demographic Characteristics (Early et al., 2024). Data from the three surveys are archived as restricted use data sets through the Child & Family Data Archive (CFData) at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
Key Findings and Highlights
Below is a list of content included in each of the instruments:
CCEE Licensing Administrator
Licensing unit characteristics
Characteristics of CCEE licensing staff
Administrators’ demographic characteristics, background and experiences; perceptions of licensing; and ideas for improving licensing
CCEE Front-Line Licensing Staff
Demographic characteristics, background, and experience
Job duties and perceptions of their role
Professional development and supervision
Perceptions of burnout, relationships with providers, and ideas for improving licensing
CCEE Licensed Providers
Experiences with and perceptions about CCEE licensing, including regulations and monitoring, opportunities to provide feedback, and available supports
Ideas about what’s working well and what could be improved
Demographic characteristics
Citation
The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) Project Team. (2024). 2023 Child Care and Early Education (CCEE) Licensing Administrator Survey instrument. OPRE Report #2024-159. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39175
The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) Project Team. (2024). 2023 Child Care and Early Education (CCEE) Front Line Licensing Staff survey instrument. OPRE Report #2024-160. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39175
The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) Project Team. (2024). 2023 Child Care and Early Education (CCEE) Provider Survey About Licensing instrument. OPRE Report #2024-161. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39175
Related Documents
Gal-Szabo, D.E., Early, D., Maglaque, D., Maxwell, K., Conway, J., & Gerson, C. (2024). Characteristics and work experiences of licensing staff in child care and early education. OPRE Report #2024-282. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/understanding-role-licensing-early-care-and-education-trlece-2019-2024
Early, D.M., Miranda, B., Gal-Szabo, D., Harris, P., Villegas, E., Madill, R., Kelley, S., Rochester, S. E., Maglaque, D., Ekyalongo, Y.Y., Lin, Y.-C., Fuller, J. & Maxwell, K. (2024). The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) survey methods, users’ guide, and respondent demographic characteristics. OPRE Report #2024-136. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/understanding-role-licensing-early-care-and-education-trlece-2019-2024
Miranda, B., Ekyalongo, Y.Y., Early, D.M., Maxwell, K. & Madill, R. (2024). Licensing staff and provider views on child care and early education licensing. OPRE Report #2024-281. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/understanding-role-licensing-early-care-and-education-trlece-2019-2024
Glossary
- Child care and early education::
- Caregiving and educational services for children from birth to age 13. CCEE includes center- and home-based settings for infants, toddlers, preschool- and school-aged children. CCEE refers to services for a larger age group than early care and education (ECE), which consists of services provided only for young children (birth to age 5 who are not yet in kindergarten). ECE programs are included within the definition of CCEE.
- Child care and early education center: :
- “Child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child in a nonresidential setting, unless care in excess of 24 hours is due to the nature of the parent(s)’ work” (National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, 2015a, p. 3).
- Child care and early education licensing: :
- Establishes regulations that must be met to legally operate a child care program. Child care licensing also monitors and enforces those regulations.
- Child care and early education provider: :
- An organization or individual that provides CCEE services (adapted from Child Care & Early Education Research Connections, n.d.).
- Family child care::
- “Child care provided for one or more unrelated children in a provider's home setting.” (Child Care & Early Education Research Connections, n.d.). “Family child care” can be used to describe a provider (i.e., person) or a setting (i.e., home).
- Front-line licensing staff::
- Individuals who routinely conduct licensing inspections of licensed CCEE programs. They may have other responsibilities as well, as long as one of their jobs is to routinely conduct licensing inspections.
- Inspection::
- A visit to assess if a CCEE provider is meeting licensing regulations.
- Licensing administrator: :
- The person who oversees the operation of the CCEE licensing agency.