Resource Library

The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) is a set of four integrated, nationally representative surveys conducted in 2012 of: 1) households with children under age 13, 2) home-based providers of early care and education (ECE), 3) center-based providers of ECE, and 4) the center-based provider workforce. The four surveys are used to understand the supply of and demand for ECE in the United States. This report focuses on prices charged for ECE by center- and home-based...

The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) includes data from four integrated, nationally representative surveys conducted in 2012 to understand the supply of and demand for Early Care and Education in the United States. This fact sheet on home-based care provides the first nationally representative portrait of home-based providers of early care and education, describing individuals who care for other people’s children, age five and under, in home-based settings...

The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) includes data from four integrated, nationally representative surveys conducted in 2012 to understand the supply of and demand for Early Care and Education in the United States. This fact sheet on non-standard hours uses data from the NSECE to describe the flexibility of available ECE in the U.S., providing nationally representative estimates of the percentage of ECE providers serving young children (aged birth through 5 years)...

Research documents the high rate of exposure to trauma among infants and toddlers, particularly children living in high-poverty communities.  Beginning life in the context of trauma places infants and toddlers on a compromised developmental path.  This brief summarizes what is known about the impact of trauma on infants and toddlers, and the intervention strategies that could potentially protect them from the adverse consequences of traumatic experiences. Interventions that are...

OPRE's Child and Family Development Research — Fiscal Year 2014 presents brief descriptions of the various major projects that OPRE’s Division of Child and Family Development sponsored in Fiscal Year 2014.  The report organizes initiatives by five focus areas—child care, Head Start and Early Head Start, child welfare, cultural diversity, and cross-cutting early childhood research.  Within these domains, the piece also highlights three research initiatives...

This technical report uses new, nationally representative data—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 the current landscape of center-based early care and education (ECE) programs in this country. The NSECE includes 4 surveys, and the survey used here, the NSECE Center-based Provider...

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...

The grouping "Hispanic" often makes it challenging to observe important social experiences that relate strongly to the needs, service experiences, and outcomes of interest to ACF for various Hispanic subgroups. Existing federal surveys do not consistently collect data to sufficiently examine how Hispanic ethnicity interacts with other socio-cultural experiences or how it relates to specific outcomes. Because current measurement is inadequate to differentiate characteristics within...

What did the early childhood teaching and caregiving workforce look like in 2012? This research brief describes the Early Care and Education (ECE) workforce data developed in the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). The survey focuses on individuals providing direct care and education for children birth through five years and not yet in kindergarten. Findings are based on over 10,000 questionnaires completed in 2012 by a sample of individuals representing about one million...