View Research by Author - Monica Rohacek

Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/MonicaRohacek

Child care providers are a linchpin of the voucher subsidy system, yet little is known about how the system works for them. This comprehensive report examines the voucher experiences of child care centers and family child care homes in five counties in 2003–04. Using data from a survey of representative sample of providers and discussions with providers, caseworkers, and administrators, it examines provider experiences with key features of voucher systems and highlights policy strategies to help the system better meet their needs. It is part of the Urban Institute’s Child Care Providers and the Child Care Voucher System project.

Faith-based providers are key in delivering child care services overall and for children receiving child care vouchers, though data are scarce in this area. Using data from a survey of a representative sample of centers and site visits in five counties in 2003-4, this report examines the role of faith-based organizations in center-based child care, the extent to which centers affiliated with faith-based organizations care for children receiving vouchers, and whether such providers face barriers to working with the voucher system. The paper is part of the Urban Institute’s Child Care Providers and the Child Care Voucher System project.

Vouchers play an important role in federal efforts to help low-income families obtain both housing and child care. These programs constitute essential components of the promise of welfare reform to encourage and support work among low-income families. And both types of vouchers have the potential to enhance long-term outcomes for children. Although federal housing and child care voucher programs differ in important respects, they also face common challenges, and innovations in one area can potentially inform efforts in the other. This brief highlights promising strategies for tackling challenges to the success of child care and housing vouchers.

Faith-based organizations play an important role in the provision and support of child care services. This document summarizes preliminary findings from a forthcoming study on the extent to which child care centers in five counties in four states across the country are affiliated with faith-based organizations, housed in buildings belonging to faith-based organizations, or provide religious instruction, organized prayer or worship services. The research also explores whether faith-affiliated child care centers appear to face any barriers to participating in child care voucher programs funded through the federal Child Care and Development Fund.

Child care subsidies now serve an estimated 2 million low-income children. Despite these numbers, policymakers all too often see child development and parental work goals as separate. As a result, work support services such as child care subsidies have not focused on supporting the development of the children that they serve. This article describes current approaches to child care subsidies and identifies the challenges facing those who want to integrate a stronger child development focus into the subsidy system. It discusses questions that policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can explore to help the subsidy system achieve a better balance between supporting parental work and supporting child development. (Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Vol 17, No. 4, pp 418-440)

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