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Why Do They Leave? Child Care Subsidy Use in Oregon (Child Care Policy Research Issue Brief)

Author(s): Deana Grobe, Roberta B. Weber, Elizabeth E. Davis

This brief highlights the major findings from a study that explores three main hypotheses on why parents leave the subsidy program: (i) Instability in other aspects of their lives, such as employment changes or family mobility, disrupts participation in the subsidy program. (ii) Parents are no longer eligible for subsidy (particularly due to increased income). (iii) Parents perceive the cost in time and effort of maintaining a subsidy is greater than the benefit of the subsidy.
Published: March, 2006

Improving Child Care: Providing Comparative Information on Child Care Facilities to Parents and the Community (Child Care Policy Research Issue Brief)

Author(s): Roberta Weber, Jerri Wolfe

This is a concept paper for a pilot project in which a local organization or collaboration involving state and local organizations would launch a community effort to improve quality of care in the child care market through collection and dissemination of factual information related to quality of care in individual child care facilities. The term “facility” is used throughout this paper and refers to an individual child care center or family child care home. The paper is addressed to state child care administrators, child care resource and referral agencies, and other child care partners who are ideally positioned to pilot a quality indicator information project.
Published: Summer, 2003

Market Rate Study Guidebook: A Guide to Implementing a Child Care Market Rate Study Using Child Care Resource & Referral Data (Guidebook)

Author(s): Deana Grobe, Roberta Weber, Clara Pratt, Arthur Emlen

This guide was developed to assist states and researchers in conducting a child care market rate study using the CCR&R data. States may be interested in using this approach, given that use of CCR&R data: (1) supports analysis of statewide market rates and geographic distribution of rates; (2) facilitates analysis of child care accessibility for those receiving child care subsidies; (3) provides convenient, inexpensive, and accessible data; (4) facilitates comparison of market rates over time; (5) reflects the complexity of the child care market; and (6) includes providers who are regularly and actively seeking business. Although several guides have been written that discuss how to conduct a market rate study using surveys, the contribution of this guidebook is to illustrate how Oregon has used CCR&R data to study market rates and to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. Description of this market rate ethodology also lays out lessons learned from the work of the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership in its efforts to build a body of policy-relevant research methodology.
Published: September, 2003

Guidebook for Implementing a Study on the Dynamics of Child Care Subsidy Use (Guidebook)

Author(s): Deana Grobe, Roberta Weber, Elizabeth Davis

The purpose of this guidebook is to enable states and researchers to conduct their own studies on the dynamics of child care subsidy use. To accomplish this goal, this guidebook describes the methodology developed through a five-state study on this topic. Although there are various ways one could approach a study on child care subsidy use, replicating the same methodology will enable states to compare their findings with those of other states. These comparisons increase the usefulness of the states' findings. Further, by sharing states' findings, we will begin to create a national picture of the dynamics of child care subsidy use.
Published: March, 2003

We Can't Get There Without Them: Addressing the Barriers to Parent Participation in Building America’s Child Care System (Research Report)

Author(s): Roberta Weber, Jerri Wolfe

This report seeks to draw attention to the critical importance of involving parents in child care decisions at the policy level, describes barriers to their participation, and lists resources for those individuals and organizations responsible for bringing people to “the table”.
Published: Summer, 2002

Creating Research That Informs State Child Care Policy: Building and Maintaining Child Care Research Partnerships (Research Report)

Author(s): Roberta Weber, Jerri Wolfe

In January of 2001, 21 research partnership members came together for a Residency Roundtable, a three day in-depth discussion of how partners can work together to produce objective, valid, and reliable information on which policy can be built and progress monitored. Representatives of seven of the nine partnerships involved in the Child Care Policy Research Consortium participated. The participants included state child care administrators from Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, and Rhode Island, and university researchers from Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Practitioners and advocates represented the states of Kansas, Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. The Roundtable began with a discussion of individual projects and proceeded to an articulation of lessons learned. This paper represents the wealth of information gathered at the Roundtable. It is designed to inform individuals about current practice of child care research partnerships and to promote and support emerging partnerships.
Published: Summer, 2002

Parents Receiving Child Care Subsidies: Where do They Work? (Research Report and Guidebook)

Author(s): Kumiko Okuyama, Roberta Weber

This report summarizes seven studies that examine the employment patterns of child care subsidy recipients. While sharing the same basic methodology, these seven studies differ from each other in scope, time period, and data sources used in the analyses. The report also includes an Employer Study Guidebook to enable others to conduct their own employer study.
Published: October, 2001

Results Accountability Guidebook: Child Care Resource & Referral(Guidebook)

Author(s): Clara Pratt, Rachel Ozretich, Roberta Weber

The guidebook illustrates program outcomes that are realistic given the typical length and nature of CCR&R activities. From the outcomes illustrated in this guidebook, CCR&Rs can select, or refine, a limited number of priority outcomes that are appropriate to their activities and communities. If no outcomes “fit” then the guidebook principles can be used to define outcomes that are appropriate to a CCR&R’s community and activities.
Published: October, 2000

Research and Child Care Policy: A View from the States (Child Care Policy Research Issue Brief)

Author(s): Janis Elliot, Arthur Emlen, Karen Tvedt, Roberta Weber

Child care research is reported with the hope that the findings will affect policy and practice. According to a survey of state child care administrators, it does not necessarily happen. This paper examines reasons for limited use of research by state policy makers. The paper explores policy issues states currently face and discusses research needed to inform policy decisions related to child care. Research partnerships, a promising strategy for addressing state research needs, are described. Recommendations emphasize strategies to close the gap between research and state policy making. The paper concludes with the need for strengthening the data and research capacity of states. The guidebook illustrates program outcomes that are realistic given the typical length and nature of CCR&R activities. From the outcomes illustrated in this guidebook, CCR&Rs can select, or refine, a limited number of priority outcomes that are appropriate to their activities and communities. If no outcomes “fit” then the guidebook principles can be used to define outcomes that are appropriate to a CCR&R’s community and activities. Findings
Published: April, 1999

Oregon's Childhood Care and Education System: A Strategic Planning Guide (Strategic Planning Guide)

Author(s): Aphra Katzev, Rachel Ozretich, Deana Grobe

This strategic planning guide provides Oregon’s 36 county Commissions on Children and Families and other interested organizations and individuals with information and strategies to achieve a quality childhood care and education system across the state.
Published: October, 1998

Estimating Child-Care Demand for Statewide Planning, 1993 (Research Report)

Author(s): Arthur Emlen, Paul Koren

This report is part of a continuing effort by the State of Oregon to develop better information for planning in the development of child care resources for Oregon families. More specifically, the purpose is to estimate child care demand and related family needs in order to assess the supply of child care resources for the state as a whole and for each of its geographic regions. We have two principle audiences. One is the network of regional resource and referral agencies whose job is to be the best independent source of information about the child care market, needs, and available resources in its geographic area. Oregon relies heavily on county-level planning for child care and other services affecting families. The other audience is the public-policy maker whose understanding of market forces and regional differences can guide decisions as to how and where to strengthen these resources for families and children.
Published: March, 1993