Understanding and Incorporating Home-Based Child Care Into Early Education and Development Systems

Abstract

Millions of families across the United States rely on home-based child care-noncustodial care in home-based settings-while they work or attend school. Indeed, home-based child care is the most prevalent form of noncustodial child care in the United States, especially for infants and toddlers and children living in poverty. The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) estimated that about 7.1 million children from birth to age 5 receive care in home-based child care settings from more than 3.7 million caregivers (NSECE Project Team, 2016National Survey of Early Care and Education Project Team. (2016). Characteristics of home-based early care and education providers: Initial findings from the National Survey of Early Care and Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. [Google Scholar]). In contrast, an estimated 3.8 million children receive care in centers. About half of home-based child care providers are located in moderate- or high-poverty density areas, and less than one third are paid for providing care. Research indicates that families choose home-based care for a number of reasons (Porter, Paulsell, Nichols, Begnoche, & Del Grosso, 2010Porter, T., Paulsell, D., Nichols, T., Begnoche, C., & Del Grosso, P.(2010). Supporting quality in home-based child care: A compendium of 23 initiatives. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. [Google Scholar]). Trust is a major factor, especially for families with infants and toddlers. Some families, especially those who are recent immigrants, choose relatives or friends as caregivers because they share the same culture, home language, values, and childrearing practices. Parents who work nontraditional hours-evenings, nights, weekends, or irregular schedules-may use home-based child care because it is flexible enough to meet their needs. They may also prefer a home setting for their young children during early morning, evening, or overnight hours. Some low-income families choose home-based child care because they cannot afford center-based options or do not have access to child care centers in their neighborhoods. Home-based child care providers have less access to resources and supports than child care centers. Most states offer lower subsidy rates for home-based child care providers than child care centers. Some state quality improvement efforts exclude some or all home-based child care providers. Nearly half of unpaid caregivers have other jobs in addition to caregiving responsibilities, which limits the time during which they can participate in quality improvement initiatives (NSECE Project Team, 2016National Survey of Early Care and Education Project Team. (2016). Characteristics of home-based early care and education providers: Initial findings from the National Survey of Early Care and Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. [Google Scholar]). Home-based child care providers often work alone and do not have regular opportunities to share ideas with others about how to engage children in learning activities or in the community. Moreover, research suggests that home-based child care providers face a range of other challenges, work-related stress, physical exhaustion, and isolation (Porter et al., 2010 Porter, T., Paulsell, D., Nichols, T., Begnoche, C., & Del Grosso, P.(2010). Supporting quality in home-based child care: A compendium of 23 initiatives. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. [Google Scholar]). Research on home-based child care is limited. Studies show that many home-based caregivers are positively engaged with children and provide safe, healthy environments but also that home-based child care settings appear to provide lower levels of cognitive stimulation (Paulsell et al., 2010Paulsell, D., Porter, T., Kirby, G., Boller, K., Martin, E. S., Burwick, A., ... Begnoche, C. (2010). Supporting quality in home-base child care: Initiative design and evaluation options. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. [Google Scholar]). Available research suggests that most home-based child care is of poor to moderate quality; however, few quality measures have effectively captured the potential strengths of diverse home-based care settings. Perhaps most critical is that the field lacks rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of strategies for supporting quality in home-based child care settings. Whereas evidence-based quality interventions exist for use in center-based settings, little rigorous research has examined the efficacy of strategies for improving the quality of home-based child care. A national scan of the field conducted in 2010 identified eight such strategies, ranging from home-visiting approaches to the provision of materials and mobile reading vans (Paulsell et al., 2010Paulsell, D., Porter, T., Kirby, G., Boller, K., Martin, E. S., Burwick, A., ... Begnoche, C. (2010). Supporting quality in home-base child care: Initiative design and evaluation options. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. [Google Scholar]). However, the scan identified only four small randomized controlled trials of these strategies. As stated in the call for papers, the goal of this special issue is to explore conceptual frameworks, measurement approaches, supports for, and empirical research on home-based child care so that policymakers and researchers can better understand and include home-based child care in early education and policy development and research. This introduction sets the stage by reviewing terms used to refer to subgroups of home-based child care providers; providing a brief overview of the policy context at the time these articles were prepared; highlighting key themes among the articles; and suggesting implications for policy, practice, and research.