About the partnership and research project
This project is a Child Care Research Partnership between California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and the Early Education and Support Division (EESD) of the California Department of Education.
The primary objectives of the project are to:
Most people think of centers when they think of child care/day care for children, but many children are cared for in homes. Our research looks specifically at licensed family child care homes: licensed, regulated small businesses run in the child care provider's own home. Sometimes families choose family child care homes because they are closer to home, cost less, allow siblings to be together, share similar cultural backgrounds to the children and families, or just "feel right." However, there is not a lot of research to document daily life in family child care homes. The research that has been done suggests that there is a lot of variability. We also know that many of the initiatives that are designed to improve the quality of care that young children receive in child care are therefore based on mostly research from center-based child care and many quality improvement initiatives have struggled to enroll family child care providers.
In California, a large statewide initiative funded by the US Department of Education called the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) includes family child care homes in a Quality Rating and Improvement System or QRIS where providers get support to make quality improvements and agree to have ratings of their child care made public. These public ratings are then made available to parents to inform their decisions about child care. However, providers from family child care homes have not been quick to sign up to participate in these initiatives. In addition, a number of other Quality Improvement Systems or QIS that provide coaching but do not include public ratings exist in California. Therefore, a major goal of the Are You In project is to better understand when and why providers would choose to participate in these optional quality improvement initiatives.
To do so, we will research three groups of family child care providers:
We are seeking answers to five main research questions:
The primary objectives of the project are to:
- Document daily life in family child care homes
- Understand how engagement in quality improvement initiatives relates to daily life for family child care providers
Most people think of centers when they think of child care/day care for children, but many children are cared for in homes. Our research looks specifically at licensed family child care homes: licensed, regulated small businesses run in the child care provider's own home. Sometimes families choose family child care homes because they are closer to home, cost less, allow siblings to be together, share similar cultural backgrounds to the children and families, or just "feel right." However, there is not a lot of research to document daily life in family child care homes. The research that has been done suggests that there is a lot of variability. We also know that many of the initiatives that are designed to improve the quality of care that young children receive in child care are therefore based on mostly research from center-based child care and many quality improvement initiatives have struggled to enroll family child care providers.
In California, a large statewide initiative funded by the US Department of Education called the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) includes family child care homes in a Quality Rating and Improvement System or QRIS where providers get support to make quality improvements and agree to have ratings of their child care made public. These public ratings are then made available to parents to inform their decisions about child care. However, providers from family child care homes have not been quick to sign up to participate in these initiatives. In addition, a number of other Quality Improvement Systems or QIS that provide coaching but do not include public ratings exist in California. Therefore, a major goal of the Are You In project is to better understand when and why providers would choose to participate in these optional quality improvement initiatives.
To do so, we will research three groups of family child care providers:
- Providers who are "In QRIS"
- Providers who are "In QIS"
- Providers who are "Not In" QRIS or QIS
We are seeking answers to five main research questions:
- What are the similarities and differences among providers who are “in” and “not in” QRIS in working conditions, beliefs, and daily routines?
- How do family child care providers’ needs and barriers align with the quality improvement available?
- How do knowledge of QRIS and desire to participate/remain in the child care workforce change over time as the RTT-ELC is being implemented?
- What are the conditions under which FCCP earn higher ratings at baseline and/or make improvements over time?
- How do variations in the specific QRIS available in these two regions relate to the FCCPs’ baseline ratings and changes over time?
About us
The Principal Investigator for this project is Holli Tonyan. Holli is a professor at California State University, Northridge in the Department of Psychology. She has two young children who both thrived in a family child care home, and she is very interested in better understanding what helps family child care providers support young children's development.
The Early Education and Support Division (EESD) of California's Department of Education oversees funds from the Child Development Block Grant administered by the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children and Families. They are interested in better understanding how to support family child care providers to participate in quality improvement initiatives.
We have many other partners who make this project possible. The Child Care Resource Center is a non-profit agency that serves children and families in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, and Antellope Valleys as well as San Bernardino County. Their support for this project has been unwavering, from conception through implementation. Their Research Division, including Dr. Susan Savage and David Bloom, conduct the surveys of licensed child care providers. Their staff from across many divisions have helped build relationships with our partners at EESD and other agencies collaborating with us to reach child care providers in multiple regions across a large state like California, and they have helped us build relationships with stakeholders like child care providers, coaches who implement the quality improvements, and unions.
We also could not conduct this research without the support of quality improvement administrators, including the Los Angeles County Office of Child Care, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, and Family Child Care Home Education Networks like Kids First and the Eben-Ezer Children's Center, LA Mission College, and CCRC's Family Child Care Home Education Network.
The Early Education and Support Division (EESD) of California's Department of Education oversees funds from the Child Development Block Grant administered by the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children and Families. They are interested in better understanding how to support family child care providers to participate in quality improvement initiatives.
We have many other partners who make this project possible. The Child Care Resource Center is a non-profit agency that serves children and families in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, and Antellope Valleys as well as San Bernardino County. Their support for this project has been unwavering, from conception through implementation. Their Research Division, including Dr. Susan Savage and David Bloom, conduct the surveys of licensed child care providers. Their staff from across many divisions have helped build relationships with our partners at EESD and other agencies collaborating with us to reach child care providers in multiple regions across a large state like California, and they have helped us build relationships with stakeholders like child care providers, coaches who implement the quality improvements, and unions.
We also could not conduct this research without the support of quality improvement administrators, including the Los Angeles County Office of Child Care, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, and Family Child Care Home Education Networks like Kids First and the Eben-Ezer Children's Center, LA Mission College, and CCRC's Family Child Care Home Education Network.
This project was supported by the Child Care Research Partnership Grant Program, Grant Number 90YE0153, from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The contents of this web site are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The contents of this web site are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
