PROJECTDC Child Care Policy Research Partnership

Child care worker with children
Project Navigation
  • Project Home
  • An Implementation Study of Capital Quality, the District’s Enhanced Quality Rating and Improvement System
  • An Implementation Study of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund
  • A Study of New Parents of “Pandemic Babies”

  • The District of Columbia Child Care Policy Research Partnership is an active collaboration between the Urban Institute and the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), DC’s Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agency. Ongoing since 2019, the Partnership brings new data and evidence to questions about access to a supply of quality child care for District children and families.

    The Partnership has three main study components:

    1. An implementation study of Capital Quality, the District’s enhanced Quality Rating and Improvement System
    2. An implementation study of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, a landmark initiative to advance pay parity between early childhood educators and public school teachers
    3. A study of new parents of “pandemic babies,” whose child care decisionmaking is happening in the wake of COVID-19

    The Partnership will generate research products to inform policy and programmatic efforts in the District of Columbia and advance the field nationwide. Links in the left navigation panel provide more information on each study component, including study publications.

    The District of Columbia Child Care Policy Research Partnership is supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of two financial assistance awards (Grants #90YE0221 and #90YE0284) totaling $3.2 million, fully funded by ACF/HHS. Study findings are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACF/HHS, or the U.S. Government. Please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements, for more information. The Partnership and is a member of the Child Care Research and Evaluation Capacity Building Center Community of Practice.

    Project leadership

    Heather Sandstrom, Principal Investigator

    Erica Greenberg, Co-Principal Investigator

    Diane Schilder, Senior Advisor

    Justin Doromal, Task Leader

    Catherine Kuhns, Task Leader

    Research Areas Children and youth Education Workforce Greater DC
    Cities Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
    Tags Child care Child care and early childhood education Child care and workers Job markets and labor force
    Policy Centers Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population Center on Education Data and Policy