Page 4 - Microsoft Word - Impact of Subsidized Child Care-Full Report.doc

Executive Summary
The Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) designed a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the economic, social, and child development outcomes linked to subsidized child care. Parents in the Alternative Payment (AP) program and parents waiting to be selected for this program on the Centralized Eligibility List (CEL) were asked about their family’s current economic, social, and child development status. By comparing those waiting for service and those receiving service, this allows conclusions to be drawn about the impact of subsidized child care services. Of the 5,996 families from the CEL group, we received 1,234 surveys (20.6%) and of the 653 AP families, we received 169 surveys (25.9%). These numbers are statistically representative of their respective groups.
The two sets of families are comparable in terms of ethnicity, service area within the broader CCRC service area, preferred language, and highest educational level attained. For each group, the predominant ethnicity is Latino (greater than 65% in each group), followed by Caucasian at greater than 13% in each group. Approximately 80% of each group lives in the San Fernando Valley while 20% lives in the Antelope Valley. Approximately 2/3 of each group prefers English to Spanish. For each group, approximately 1⁄4 have no high school diploma and approximately 1⁄4 have a high school diploma or equivalent as their highest level of education.
There were statistical differences between the groups on marital status, family income, and number of children age 0-5 years. A greater percentage of parents on the CEL are married (32.0%) as compared with parents in the AP program (10.1%), while a greater percentage of parents in the AP program are single, separated, or divorced (86.4%) compared to parents on the CEL (65.5%). More families in the AP program have family incomes less than $12,000/year (47.3%) as compared with families on the CEL (29.6%). However, given that 96.5% of the AP families and 88.1% of the CEL families make less than $35,000/year, none of these families can be described as affluent. Finally, the parents on the CEL are more likely to have 1 or 2 children age 0-5 years (88.3%) compared with the AP parents (66.3%). Parents report having a child with special needs in both the AP (13.6%) and in the CEL group (9.0%). A greater percentage of AP families report using only licensed care (78.2%) compared with 48.0% of CEL families. Despite the statistical differences, both groups can generally be described as Latino, living in the San Fernando Valley, with a high school diploma or lower, not married, making less than $20,000/year, and with at least one child age 0-5 years.
Compared with Los Angeles County as a whole, CCRC’s CEL families were less likely to turn down a job due to a lack of child care. However, the incidence was fairly high in each group (43.9% for CCRC and 58.0% in LA County).
Statistical tests were conducted to evaluate the impact of receiving subsidized child care in the economic, social, and child development domains of the lives of these families. Parents in the AP program report statistically greater results in each of the following areas:
• Economic Outcomes: Ability to get a job, keep a job, get a better job, attend education/training, “Make ends meet,” afford to move to a better place, work overtime.
• Social Outcomes: Spend more time with children/family, pay for special treats/outings, be the kind of parent you want to be, get connected with other needed services.
• Child Development Outcomes: children are able to grow and develop physically, learn what they should know and do at their age, get along better with parent(s), get along better with other children, express their special talents and abilities, get ready for attending school, do better in school.
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