Related Resources on Child Care and Early Learning

CAP work on child care and early learning

• “Child Care and Early Learning Data Dashboard”: A data dashboard that highlights data, context, and trends on each state’s child care and early learning landscape
• “Top 5 Actions Governors Can Take To Address the Child Care Shortage”: A report detailing actions governors can take to improve the supply of child care in their states
• “Early Childhood Agenda for Governors in 2019”: An outline of what governors can do to improve early childhood programs in their state
• “America’s Child Care Deserts in 2018”: A report detailing the lack of supply of child care across the United States
• “Where Does Your Child Care Dollar Go? Understanding the True Cost of Quality Early Childhood Education”: A report detailing the costs of high-quality early childhood education, including a state-by-state breakdown of the true cost of care for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers
• “Conducting a Child Care Cost of Quality Study: A Toolkit for States and Communities”: A toolkit guiding readers through the process of conducting a cost of quality study and using the results for change
• “Identifying Child Care Deserts: A Toolkit for Child Care Advocates, Administrators, and Analysts”: A toolkit explaining the child care deserts framework and guiding readers through studying child care supply in their area
• “Understanding the True Cost of Child Care for Infants and Toddlers”: A report with state-specific data detailing the costs of providing high-quality care for young children and how subsidy rates are falling short
• “Understanding Infant and Toddler Child Care Deserts”: A report examining child care supply for infants and toddlers in nine states and the District of Columbia in order to better understand why child care shortages are worst for the youngest children
• “The Child Care Crisis Is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce”: A report examining how more mothers would increase their earnings and seek new job opportunities if they had greater access to reliable and affordable child care
• “Still Underpaid and Unequal: Early Childhood Educators Face Low Pay and a Worsening Wage Gap”: A report demonstrating that new, comprehensive data on child care workers in center-based programs reveal widening pay gaps and inequality
• “The True Cost of High-Quality Child Care Across the United States”: A report examining why increased public investment in child care is needed to help families access high-quality, affordable child care that meets their needs
• “State Responses To Address the Shortage of Infant and Toddler Child Care”: A report that includes examples of state solutions to address the shortage of infant and toddler child care
• “Grants and Contracts: A Strategy for Building the Supply of Subsidized Infant and Toddler Child Care”: A report with state examples of how to use grants and contracts to build the supply of infant and toddler care
• “Child Care Spending Generates Massive Dividends”: A report that details how public investments in child care and early learning programs pay for themselves through a range of benefits, including improved child and family health, better educational outcomes, and broader economic recovery and growth
• “Increasing America’s Child Care Supply”: A resource that outlines key structural issues plaguing the child care sector and points to state actions that can help stabilize providers’ finances and build a more robust sector

CAP interactive and online resources

• “The Hidden Cost of a Failing Child Care System”: A calculator that estimates the amount lost, in future earnings, by parents who leave the workforce due to child care issues
• “U.S. Child Care Deserts”: An online map that allows users to see the supply and demand of licensed child care down to the census tract area
• “Where Does Your Child Care Dollar Go?” (interactive): An online tool that provides state-level estimates of the cost of providing quality center-based child care
• “Federal Child Care Legislation Over the Past Decade”: An interactive look at how federal legislators have engaged with the child care crisis over the past 10 years, highlighting the need for broader congressional action to support a federally funded comprehensive child care system

Policy resources from outside organizations

• “Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap 2022” (Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center): Policy guide that provides detailed information on five effective policies and six effective strategies that foster the nurturing environments infants and toddlers need, with the goal of reducing long-standing disparities in access and outcomes among racial and ethnic groups and socioeconomic statuses
• “State Policy Lever Checklists” (Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center): A set of guides for state leaders that consider the impact various policy levers have on prenatal-to-3 program design and implementation
• “Child Care and Development Block Grant” (National Association for the Education of Young Children): An overview of the federal child care assistance program—the Child Care and Development Block Grant
• “Tax Credits for Working Families” (Tax Credits for Working Families): An overview of tax credits for workers and their families by state, refundability, and a range of tax credit programs—such as the earned income tax credit, child tax credit, and child and dependent care tax credit
• “Precarious Progress: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2022” (National Women’s Law Center): A report that includes state-by-state indexes of reimbursement rates, waitlists, eligibility cutoffs, and other child care assistance policies
• “Catalyzing Growth: Using Data to Change Child Care” (Child Care Aware): A report detailing the price of care in each state
• “Child Care for All: A Blueprint for States” (The Century Foundation): A guide for implementing comprehensive child care reform at the state level
• “Improving Child Care Compensation Backgrounder 2021” (BUILD Initiative): A report providing strategies for improving compensation for early care and education providers
• “CCDBG FY 2023 State-by-State Appropriations Distribution Estimates and Increases” (Center for Law and Social Policy): A fact sheet showing state-by-state impacts of the FY 23 increases to the Child Care and Development Fund program
• “The State of Child Care in America” (StateOfChildCare.org): State-by-state data on the usage and impact of Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act funds
• “It’s time for an ambitious national investment in America’s children” (Economic Policy Institute): A report that makes the economic case for investing in child care through state-by-state data
• “Child care costs in the United States” (Economic Policy Institute): State-specific data on the costs of child care and the benefits of greater investment
• “The First Five Things to Know: The Child Care and Development Block Grant” (First Five Years Fund): An explainer that walks through what CCDBG is, how it works, and who it helps
• “FFYF’S 2023 State Fact Sheets” (First Five Years Fund): A high-level overview of the various public early learning and care opportunities available in each state, including those made possible with federal funding, as well as unmet need
• “ABCs of Federal Early Learning and Child Care Funding Streams” (First Five Years Fund): A guide that details key federal programs and sources of funding that support the care, education, and healthy development of children
• “50-State Progress and Landscape Report” (Alliance for Early Success): A 2022 overview of developments and trends in state early childhood policy and advocacy

Additional data resources

• “2023 Kids Count Data Book: 2023 State Trends in Child Well-Being” (Kids Count Data Center): National and state data presented across four domains—economic well-being, education, health, and family and community
• “Early Childhood State Policy Profiles” (National Center for Children in Poverty): 50 state profiles highlighting two-generation state policy choices that promote health, education, and strong families alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children
• “State of Preschool Yearbook” (National Institute for Early Education Research): State-specific data and information on preschool investments and policies
• “State of Babies Yearbook 2023” (Zero to Three and Think Babies): State-specific data and rankings on a range of indicators related to infant health and well-being
• “2022 Home Visiting Yearbook” (National Home Visiting Resource Center): State-specific numbers regarding home visiting programs
• “BUILD Initiative Quality Compendium” (BUILD Initiative): Resource detailing quality improvement systems in each state
• “National Database of Childcare Prices” (U.S. Department of Labor): County-level database offering child care price data by child care provider type, age of children, and county characteristics from 2008 to 2018

For more information on any of the topics outlined in this toolkit, please contact [email protected].