Why This Matters

Quality, reliable child care helps parents work or pursue education while giving children early learning experiences that promote healthy development. In Washington, DC, subsidies offset the cost of child care for eligible families who otherwise could not afford it, yet some families using child care subsidies have difficulty finding high-quality providers who participate in the subsidy program. Understanding providers’ perspectives about subsidy program participation, and exploring providers’ perceptions of how policies may affect their participation in the subsidy program, can provide policymakers with actionable insights into opportunities to increase the supply of child care available for families using subsidies.

What We Found

• The highest percentage of providers participating in DC’s child care subsidy program indicated that supporting families with low income (90 percent) and maintaining enrollment numbers (81 percent) contributed a great extent to their willingness to participate in subsidy.
• Providers (56 percent) reported increased reimbursement rates affected their willingness to accept a child with a subsidy somewhat or to a great extent.
• A smaller percentage of providers reported that enrollment-based pay (as opposed to attendance-based pay) and family copayments were factors that affected their willingness to accept families with child care subsidy somewhat or to a great extent (47 percent and 40 percent, respectively).
• More research is needed on why some child care providers do not participate in DC’s subsidy program.

How We Did It

An Urban Institute team of researchers surveyed a representative sample of child care center directors and managers and family child care providers participating in DC’s child care subsidy program, achieving a response rate of 45 percent (N=38). Thirty respondents were from child care centers and 8 were from family child care homes. The team also conducted one round of focus groups (N=18) with 16 child care center directors and two family child care directors participating in the subsidy program. This brief addresses two questions based on an analysis of findings from the survey and focus groups:

• What factors influence child care providers’ willingness to participate in the DC child care subsidy program?
• What subsidy policies and practices do child care providers report as influencing their willingness to participate in the DC child care subsidy program?