Child Care in Utah: How are we doing?
Project Context:
Utah is unique in its child care needs:
-Utah has the highest birthrate in the country and the youngest population.
-Utah has the highest ratio of any state for children to total population (26% of
total population is aged 14 and under).
-62% of Utah women work outside the home.
- There are more than 62,000 single parent families in Utah (20% of all families
with children)
-In Utah, 136,000 children need child care because both parents (or the only
parent) work.
Access to child care allows parents to work and that stimulates the economy while reducing the burden on social services. Quality care is crucial. Longitudinal studies indicate that children in high quality care do better in school and stay out of trouble.
The State Office of Child Care wishes to evaluate the quality of child care services provided in the state of Utah. The Early Intervention Research Institute, a division of the CPD at Utah State University, has been contracted to complete an evaluation of the child care system in Utah.
Project Focus:
Objectives of this project include:
1) To learn whether participation on the career ladder is related to the quality of child care provided by child care providers.
2) To learn whether other variables (time in field, education levels) are related to the quality of care provided.
3) To learn what motivates child care providers to remain in the field, and what challenges there are to remaining in the field.
4) To learn why child care providers are not participating in the Career Ladder program.
FY 2010 Focus:
The following activities will be accomplished:
1. A list of all licensed child care providers will be obtained from the Office of Child Care.
2. From this list, 10% of center (includes infant and toddler, early childhood, and school age) and family based child care (includes infant and toddler, early childhood, and school age) providers will be randomly chosen for participation in the project.
3. Providers will be randomly selected by location (10% of providers in the northern region will be selected, for example).
4. Providers will then be contacted, informed of the procedures of the project, and asked to participate in the project.
5. If providers agree, research assistants will schedule a time to observe the center or family day care home.
The results of these evaluations will provide a better understanding of the quality of child care provided in Utah. Areas of strength and possible improvements will be determined and reported to the Utah Office of Child Care.
Project Assets