Secondary Analyses of Child Care and Early Education Data

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to solicit applications for awards to support researchers conducting secondary analyses of data to address key questions of relevance to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). CCDF is the primary federal funding source for child care subsidies and aims to help eligible low-income working families access child care and to improve the quality of child care for all children. CCDF also aims to improve implementation of high-quality child care programs to 1) promote children’s healthy development and learning and 2) support the education, training, and well-being of child care workers through efforts that include child care licensing, quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) and professional development opportunities. Analyzing existing data sets may provide researchers an efficient and cost-effective method for answering critical research questions of relevance to CCDF. Findings from these awards are intended to inform policy, program administration, and future research.Topics of particular interest to ACF may include, but are not limited to: reducing barriers to access and/or improvements in access to child care and early education, particularly high-quality programs for those most in need of services; consumer education; recruiting and retaining a qualified early care and education (ECE) workforce; stabilizing the supply of high-quality care and education programs; improving teacher and caregiver competencies through professional development; supporting workforce well-being; and, approaches to engage, support, and meet the needs of families. Data sets of particular interest to ACF may include, but are not limited to, the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education and state- or territory-level workforce registry, subsidy, Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), licensing, monitoring, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R), or Preschool Development Grants B-5 data.