Resource Library

This research brief summarizes the measures used in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems validation studies...

This white paper addresses the 2018 revision of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Federal statistical agencies use the SOC to classify workers and jobs into occupational categories. ACF’s proposals in this paper include changes to the titles, definitions, and placement of the occupations involving the early childhood care and education (ECCE) workforce....

This brief uses new, nationally representative data from The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) —funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—to describe critical elements in the decision-making process of parents and other caregivers regarding the non-parental care of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. 

Respondents (usually parents) in...

Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) is a federal grant program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Grants provide funding to communities for five years, pursuing dual goals of improving systems and services for young children and their families.   As of September, 2011, 24 grantees (in three separate cohorts) were funded, all of them representing areas with a high need for services...

This research brief summarizes the state of the field on cultural competence in social services. The information is relevant for organizations serving children and families from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, but the brief highlights research and strategies in serving Hispanic populations. The brief describes cultural competence and provides service providers and administrators with concrete strategies for the ongoing self-reflection and development that is key to strengthening...

Child welfare practitioners need effective tools to gauge children’s immediate safety and risk of future maltreatment. This brief is a resource for human service professionals on child safety and risk assessments in AI/AN communities.

What does “curriculum” mean when applied to working with infants and toddlers?

This brief discusses the meaning of the term when applied to early education and care programs serving families with infants and toddlers. The discussion focuses on how programs can incorporate and use the concepts of a curriculum in a way that is developmentally appropriate for infants and toddlers...

This report documents the use of probabilistic record linkage methods to calculate participation in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program...

This report provides a nationally representative estimate of all home-based care to children ages birth through five years and not yet in kindergarten as of 2012, using data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education.

Home-based providers discussed in the report include both paid and unpaid providers of care. The report describes the characteristics of the providers themselves and the care they provide...

This methodological report describes how selected predictors of quality can be measured using data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). The report also provides descriptive data for each of the selected predictors of quality. The report considers attributes of early care and education settings that contribute to quality at the following levels...