FULL REPORT:
Increasing Access to Quality Child Care for Four Priority Populations

PRIORITY GROUP PROFILES:
Insights on Access to Quality Child Care for Children with Disabilities and Special Needs
Insights on Access to Quality Child Care for Infants and Toddlers
Insights on Access to Quality Child Care for Families with Nontraditional Work Schedules
Insights on Access to Quality Child Care for Families Living in Rural Areas

STATE DATA:
Who Might Face Barriers to Accessing Quality Child Care?

Though high-quality early care and education (ECE) can exist in any setting—including child care centers and home-based licensed and license-exempt settings—the emphasis on high-quality ECE services often translates into a singular focus on investing public funds in formal settings, especially center-based programs. This policy brief is the executive summary of a report that explores the implications of this trend in the context of the 2014 reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). It focuses on four priority populations: families with parents working nontraditional schedules, families with infants and toddlers, families living in rural areas, and families with children with disabilities and special needs. The center-based market is ill prepared to meet the needs of these four populations, yet together they make up a majority of low-income children with working parents and are a priority for the CCDBG. This brief concludes with a discussion of state policy strategies to better address the child care needs of these families.