The first study of the child care subsidy program explored the employment of parents whose child care is supported by the subsidy program.

Brian Conway and Janis Elliot, both with the Employment Department at the time, replicated the study done by the Wellesley Child Care Research Partnership. Surveys of parents and providers involved in the subsidy program were done by Arthur C. Emlen for the Department of Human Services, the administrators of the child care subsidy program.

Oregon’s subsidy program was one of five studied by the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Team. The research was funded in part by the Child Care Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Child Care Subsidy Dynamics study was an activity of the Child Care Bureau’s Child Care Policy Research Consortium. The Study Team worked together to better understand who is served by child care subsidy programs, what services they receive, and how long they are served. Elizabeth Davis, now at the University of Minnesota, and Roberta Weber, now at Oregon State University, were the Oregon members of the team and published study findings for Oregon.

A major finding of the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Study is that child care subsidy spells average from 3 to 7 months, with Oregon spells averaging 3 months.

With partial funding from the Child Care Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oregon State University merged subsidy, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and Unemployment Insurance wage data to determine why families leave the subsidy program after such short spells.

Deana Grobe of Oregon State University was the lead; working with her were Roberta Weber of Oregon State University, Elizabeth Davis of the University of Minnesota, and Daniel Schroeder of the University of Texas.

The major finding of the study "Why Do They Leave? Child Care Subsidy Use in Oregon" was that although parents appeared to remain eligible, they exited the subsidy program when recertification was required.

Also see: Publications associated with child care subsidy program research.