The work–family support roles of child care providers across settings

This paper presents a qualitative investigation of the work–family support roles of a sample of 29 child care providers serving low-income families in the Chicago area (16 family, friend, and neighbor providers (FFN), 7 licensed family child care providers (FCC), and 6 center-based teachers). Providers report offering low-income parents substantial logistical (flexible hours, help with routines) and economic help (flexible fees, help with subsidies) managing work and family, in addition to their care of children. For FFN providers, support was often provided in the context of significant stress and burden. FCC providers and center-based teachers were often constrained in their help-giving by ambivalence regarding professional guidelines and institutional constraints. Findings from this study may inform future research on the effects of child care on children and parents, and models of child care quality.     

Does training make a difference to quality in family child care?

The purpose of this study was to determine which family child care providers seek training, which providers drop out of training, and the effects of training on the quality of care offered by providers. One-hundred thirty family child care providers in three communities who enrolled in Family-to-Family training participated in the study. A comparison group consisted of 112 regulated providers in those same communities who were not involved in the training program under investigation. Each provider was observed for 3 hrs, was interviewed, and completed questionnaires. Providers in training were observed prior to training and 6 months afterwards. Results revealed that providers who sought training were very similar to typical regulated providers. Providers who dropped out of training were less experienced and used fewer business and safety practices than providers who completed it. Training increased global quality in two out of three sites, but did not affect process quality. Of 95 providers, 18 made observable (as opposed to statistically significant) improvements in quality following training, and 9 decreased in quality. These data are interpreted with respect to family child care training policies and practices.     

Predictors of Global Quality in Family Child Care Homes: Structural and Belief Characteristics

Research Findings: With a substantial number of young children receiving care in family child care settings, an examination of the characteristics, both structural and attitudinal, that predict program quality is warranted. The current study examines gaps in the research by examining both structural characteristics and provider beliefs that influence observed global quality in family child care homes. Results of this study suggest that belief characteristics can predict the quality of family child care homes above and beyond structural characteristics alone. Practice or Policy: Providing support to help all providers understand appropriate developmental expectations for children and how to effectively guide children is critical for quality improvement efforts. In addition, providing support to decrease job stress and improve professional motivation is highlighted.     

Food Safety Training Needs of Child Care Providers

Millions of children are cared for in child care centers or family day care homes. The care environment can be a significant source of foodborne pathogens if proper food safety practices are not followed by caregivers. To decrease children's risk of foodborne illness, caregivers must know and apply safe food handling practices. To identify what care providers need to know about safe food handling, and how they want to learn, needs assessment research was conducted with a random sample of child care centers and family day care homes in Michigan (n=335). Research Findings. Results indicate that persons who care for young children in licensed centers or homes wanted to know more about the relationship between food and illness. Specifically, they wanted information about what causes food to become unsafe and how to prevent foodborne illness in the child care environment. Providers in both centers and homes preferred print materials (booklets, fact sheets, and newsletters) to videotapes, audiotapes, workshops, teleconferences, or an informational hotline. Implications for Practice. Developing and providing food safety booklets, newsletters, and/or fact sheets which include application-oriented and understand- able food safety information consistent with licensing regulations could reduce the risk of contracting foodborne illness of young children cared for in child care centers or day care homes.     

Predictors of quality and child outcomes in family child care settings

Few studies have examined correlates of quality ratings in family child care arrangements. This study analyzes data from a multi-state sample of family child care providers actively seeking professional development for two purposes. First, we examine predictors of observed quality ratings focusing on characteristics of child care providers, the most proximal influences of quality in family child care. Second, we explore associations between three targets of professional development (providers’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices) and the pre-academic and social–emotional skills of preschool-aged children. Provider characteristics indicative of personal and professional resources and stress, as well as providers’ professional attitudes and beliefs, are predictive of observed quality measures. Observed quality and providers’ child-centered beliefs and perceptions of job demands are related to children's developmental outcomes. Implications for future research, policies, and practices are discussed.     

The Role of Parent,Provider, and Child Characteristics in Parent–Provider Relationships in Infant and Toddler Classrooms

Research Findings: This study examined how characteristics of parents, providers, and children contribute to the quality of parent–provider relationships in infant and toddler classrooms. Parents (n = 192) and providers (n = 95) from 14 child care centers in a large metropolitan area participated by completing questionnaires about the nature of their relationships and communication, as well as other aspects of the child care experience. Although the study did not examine causal relations between variables, characteristics of parent–provider relationships were correlated with parents’ anxiety about placing their children in care, with providers’ knowledge of child development, and with whether parents and providers had worked together in the past. Parents’ views of their relationships with providers were more positive when they had worked with them before and when they were less anxious about placing their children in care. Providers who had worked with parents before had less favorable views of their relationships when parents were more anxious about placing their children in care; however, this was not the case when providers and parents were in more recent relationships. Providers who had never worked with parents before viewed relationships more positively when they had more knowledge of child development. The opposite was true for providers who had worked with parents before. Providers with more knowledge of child development reported communicating more frequently with parents. Providers reported communicating more frequently with parents of children with easier temperaments. Practice or Policy: Implications for transition practices in early care and education settings, in-service training, and teacher education programs are discussed.     

Intention to leave,anticipated reasons for leaving,and 12-month turnover of child care center staff

Job turnover among a sample of 169 child care workers from rural and semi-rural parts of Pennsylvania was examined in relation to demographic, work related and nonwork related factors. Findings indicate that the perceived choice of other jobs and job tenure both have an impact on intention to leave, as well as on actual 12 month turnover. Turnover in this study was unrelated to a survey measure of job satisfaction as well as to wages; however, job satisfaction was frequently cited in open ended responses as a reason for staying on the job. Participants' open ended responses suggest that the dynamics of staff turnover in child care are complex and that motivations for staying on the job may be both similar to and different than motivations for leaving. Possible reasons for failure to replicate previous research on child care staff turnover are explored as are implications for policy and practice.     

Food Safety Training Needs of Child Care Providers

Millions of children are cared for in child care centers or family day care homes. The care environment can be a significant source of foodborne pathogens if proper food safety practices are not followed by caregivers. To decrease children's risk of foodborne illness, caregivers must know and apply safe food handling practices. To identify what care providers need to know about safe food handling, and how they want to learn, needs assessment research was conducted with a random sample of child care centers and family day care homes in Michigan (n=335). Research Findings. Results indicate that persons who care for young children in licensed centers or homes wanted to know more about the relationship between food and illness. Specifically, they wanted information about what causes food to become unsafe and how to prevent foodborne illness in the child care environment. Providers in both centers and homes preferred print materials (booklets, fact sheets, and newsletters) to videotapes, audiotapes, workshops, teleconferences, or an informational hotline. Implications for Practice. Developing and providing food safety booklets, newsletters, and/or fact sheets which include application-oriented and understand- able food safety information consistent with licensing regulations could reduce the risk of contracting foodborne illness of young children cared for in child care centers or day care homes.     

Adding two school age children: Does it change quality in family child care?

One hundred randomly selected family child care homes were observed prior to their intention to enroll two additional school age children. The average environmental rating score (FDCERS) was 3.81, indicating minimal quality. Custodial rather than developmentally appropriate activities were predominant. Six months after the first visit, only 28 providers had enrolled additional school age children; 10 more providers had enrolled additional children sporadically over the previous 6 months but did not have the additional children currently enrolled. The 28 providers with enrolled children were revisited. Providers were similar in environmental quality scores before and after adding the two additional school age children but were rated as less sensitive on the post-enrollment visit than on the pre-enrollment visit. Provider and children's activities were similar on the two visits.     

Regulation,subsidy receipt and provider characteristics: What predicts quality in child care homes?

Far less is known about predictors of quality for family child care homes than for child care centers. The current study of 120 randomly-selected family child care providers in four Midwestern states examined distal, state policy-level variables (family child care regulations and the concentration of children cared for who received public child care subsidies, referred to as subsidy density), and proximal, provider-level variables (providers’ level of education and reported annual training hours) as influences on global quality and caregiver sensitivity. More regulation, lower subsidy density, higher levels of provider education and more training hours were associated with higher global quality in family child care homes. Lower subsidy density and higher provider education were associated with more sensitive caregiving, but no effects on sensitivity were observed for regulation and training hours. An interaction effect indicated that regulation moderated the relation between education and sensitivity; education was especially important for sensitive caregiving among providers low in regulation. In addition, after including all predictor variables in the model, significant mean differences between states were noted. Findings demonstrate that both policy-level variables and provider characteristics influence quality in family child care homes, and further, that they may interact to affect observed child care quality. Implications for state child care policies are discussed with emphasis on implications for quality of care for low-income children whose tuition is paid by public child care subsidies.     

Child care for children with and without disabilities: The provider,observer, and parent perspectives

This three-phase study, part of a larger study conducted by the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium (MCCRC), investigated the characteristics of child care providers in inclusive and non-inclusive center-based classrooms and family child care homes, the observed quality of care in a subset of these programs, and families’ perceptions of quality and satisfaction with child care services. A telephone survey of 2022 randomly selected Midwestern providers, 36% of whom provided inclusive services, revealed that inclusive providers rated themselves higher on most quality-related indicators. Inclusion status was related to observed quality in family childcare homes (n = 132), with non-inclusive homes higher, while trends in the opposite direction were observed in preschool center-based classrooms (n = 112) but not in infant/toddler center-based classrooms (n = 105). Six percent of the 1325 parents surveyed reported parenting a child with a disability. These parents indicated less income, and more frequent changes in child care settings than other families, and reported the quality of their children's child care as good, particularly if center-based. Improved access to inclusive child care services and enhanced training opportunities related to serving children with disabilities and inclusion, especially for family child care providers, is recommended.     

Training and mentoring: Family child care providers’ use of linguistic inputs in conversations with children

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of two professional development models in increasing family child care providers’ frequency of linguistic inputs in conversations with young children. The first professional development model consisted of a 10-h in-service training focused on supporting early language development. The second included the same 10-h in-service training program and mentoring. Providers and children at 48 family child care programs participated in this study. The family child care programs were randomly assigned to one of the two professional development models (i.e., training or training with mentoring) or to a control group. Audio recordings of the language environment were collected prior to the in-service training, at the completion of the in-service training, and at the completion of the mentoring. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the average increase in the frequency of providers’ use of linguistic inputs over three observations, conducted before training, immediately at the end of training, and 6 weeks after training. Results indicate that both forms of professional development increased linguistically stimulating inputs as compared to the control group. The professional development model including mentoring support was related to greater increases in providers’ use of informational talk and teaching utterances over in-service training without mentoring.     

Mothers’ search for infant child care: The dynamic relationship between availability and desirability in a continental European welfare state

The availability, affordability, and desirability of quality child care are matters of concern, especially for children raised in poverty, given the literature showing that young children raised in poverty can benefit from early access to quality care. The unique features of the Brussels context enable us to look at the connection between availability and parental preferences, while ‘controlling’ environmental constraints on costs and quality. We looked at access policies in 83 funded providers, and examined 100 mothers’ search for child care. The results show that quality child care was distributed unequally, favoring higher-income groups. Moreover, the access policies of individual providers furthered the exclusion of lower educated and ethnic minority parents. All parents took into account both quality and pragmatic criteria when looking for early child care, although the value of these criteria may vary according to ethnic background and education. The study also shows that access to and use of good quality care is an interactional process in which the mothers’ preferences and decisions are affected by the availability of care which, in turn, is determined by external conditions.     

Demands and Job Resources in the Child Care Workforce: Swiss Lead Teacher and Assistant Teacher Assessments

Center-based child care has been struggling with poor health and high turnover rates of child care staff and their adverse impact on care quality for decades. Yet little is known about personal and structural antecedents of job resources and job demands that are valid predictors of health and turnover in the child care workforce. Research Findings: This study investigated job resources and job demands among child care staff of different education levels (491 lead teachers and 310 assistant teachers) from Switzerland. Results from t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses indicated slightly higher job resources and job demands for lead teachers than for assistant teachers but similar antecedents of job resources and job demands. Overall, center characteristics shaped job resources and job demands more strongly than staff characteristics. More specifically, job resources were predicted by structural characteristics associated with professionalism in child care work, whereas job demands were primarily dependent on adequate staffing. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that center characteristics (e.g., work environment and staffing levels) should be targeted in order to increase job resources and reduce job demands, which would in turn promote health and lower turnover rates among child care staff.     

Parents' Child Care Arrangements and their Ecological Correlates

Young children rely on their parents for making decisions about their child care experiences. Parents' child care arrangements are affected by the information they gather, their values and childrearing beliefs, their knowledge of child care quality, and the extent to which they are satisfied with their child care choices. Parents' decisions about child care are also influenced by ecological correlates, such as child age, maternal education and hours of employment, family ethnicity and income, and state and federal child care policies. This review addresses each of these elements and their role in parents' child care arrangements and concludes with recommendations for honoring parents' child care ideals through better child care quality information and higher professional standards for child care providers.     

Predictors of quality in family child care

This study of 231 regulated family child care providers proposed a theoretical model to explore the effects on quality of: (1) provider level of general education; (2) provider degree of intentionality; (3) provider training and experience in family child care; (4) provider use of support services; and (5) provider work environment. Hierarchical linear regressions confirmed the predictive power of the provider's degree of intentionality, level of education in early childhood education or a related discipline and use of support services. All these variables had a positive relationship with quality as measured by the Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS). Higher level of general education in any field was a predictor until a college or university credential in ECE or a related discipline was included in the model. None of family child care training, length of experience as a provider, or any of the variables in the work environment block emerged as predictors. The data also supported the proposed associations between intentionality and the use of support services, training and the use of both support services and the work environment, and the use of support services and the work environment. While not totally supported by the data, the proposed theoretical model has value as a framework for further research. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for governments.     

Providing High-Quality Support Services to Home-Based Child Care: A Conceptual Model and Literature Review

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Home-based child care accounts for a significant proportion of nonparental child care arrangements for young children in the United States. Yet the early care and education field lacks clear models or pathways for how to improve quality in these settings. The conceptual model presented here articulates the components of high-quality support to child care providers; related factors; and hypothesized provider, family, and child outcomes. The model is based on a literature review of research on home-based child care, home visiting, early childhood mental health consultation, coaching, and family services. We hypothesize that high-quality support to home-based child care that offers relationship-based services focused on quality caregiving (individual home visiting and group supports such as training and networking) and sustainability (materials, equipment, referrals) is most likely to positively impact quality caregiving for children and families. Practice or Policy: Current federal efforts and policy initiatives to increase the supply and quality of infant–toddler child care focus on the development of systems that support home-based providers. The conceptual model of high-quality support described here will inform future program development and research on how to improve quality in home-based child care for the millions of low-income children in these settings.     

Dual-Earner Wives' And Husbands' Perceptions of Their Children's Day Care Experiences: Relationship to Personal Well-Being,Marital Stress,and Job Satisfaction

Dual-earner mothers and fathers whose children were enrolled in day care for at least two years were asked to rate the care environment, assess its effects on children's development and parent–child relations, and to provide assessments of marital stress, job satisfaction, and emotional support. Mothers and fathers did not differ significantly on any of the measures. A path model failed to provide support for the contention that personal well- being mediates influences from the broader social context on the parent–child relationship of day care children; however, it did show that the parent–child relationship may buffer certain influences from the broader social context on children's developmental status. The data are discussed with respect to the need to examine day care issues from an interrelated systems perspective.