Caring for North Carolina's Children:

Results of a Survey Conducted by the North Carolina Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development

Introduction
County by county reports
Description of survey respondents
Which Child Care Services are most helpful to your family
Are children better prepared to be successful in Kindergarten because of their child care experiences?
Teacher Response to child readiness for Kindergarten
How child care has affected "you" in the past five years?
Employers asked how child care or lack of child care has affected them
Teachers select most helpful programs
Parents response to how child care helps them
How child care can be better in your community?

Over the past 5 years there have been many improvements in North Carolina child care. The NC Institute of Early Childhood Professional Development has documented many of these improvements, however, before now there was little documentation from parents and service providers about how these changes have impacted their lives.

The Institute developed a web-based survey to gather information from users of child care, employers, and child care providers. Announcements about the survey were sent to at least 30 organizations across the state that work with families, child care providers, and employers. During the window of time between February 15 and March 30, individuals either completed the survey online or completed a hard copy to return to a central location for entry into the online survey system.

Results

Over 1000 surveys were completed, however with time constraints, only 667 were entered into the database. The following tables represent the types of respondents.

• Table 1 - Description of survey respondents
• Table 2 - Type of child care used by survey respondents
• Table 3 - Ages of children in child care

Table 1 - Description of survey respondents

* Many selected more than one description or added "Other" ranging from 4-H agent or health department employee to speech pathologist, or researcher.

Table 2 - Type of child care used by survey respondents

Respondents were provided a list of services that have been initiated for children and families using child care during the past 5-10 years. When asked which of the following efforts have helped families in your community, Smart Start projects seemed to be the most popular response (77%) followed closely by higher child care teacher education requirements (72%), better child care licensing rules or star ratings (69%) and more information made available about what quality child care means (60%).

Respondents who were parents were asked how child care helps them. The most popular response (44%) was that child care helps their children learn new skills (n=296) followed by "I would have to quit work or school without child care" (34%) or I would have to leave my child home alone (6%). Comments related to this question included:

" I am a single mother, so childcare allows my child and I to survive."

" I have peace of mind while at work I like working here. My kids can come after school."

Table 3 - Ages of responding parents' children in child care

Parents were also asked if children are better prepared to be successful in Kindergarten because of their child care experiences. Ninety-seven percent said yes they are better prepared. As a follow-up, they were asked to comment on how their children are better prepared and 302 parents commented. Their comments focused primarily on social skills development including relating to others, gaining confidence, and independence and pre-literacy skills.

"I feel it increases their social skills as well as learning structure and routines."

Many named additional specific school skill development such as learning to follow directions, take turns, follow a schedule, and adhere to rules. This quote summed these comments:

"I feel that because the standards have been raised the quality of learning has also risen and children are being better educated when they are in preschool so they are well prepared for kindergarten and beyond."

"I think the experiences are better because we have upgraded the educational requirements of teachers in NC. Education of teachers has been shown to be a higher indicator of quality in child care centers. Plus, education allows the teacher to understand why it is important to build positive self-esteem in young children. It also helps them understand why providing rewarding experiences during the early years wires the brain for the rest of life."

Respondents who were employers were asked how child care or lack of child care has affected their employers. Among the 331 comments, the primary ways child care has affected employees is by lost work or absenteeism, concern over sick child care and no back-up plans for loss of child care, parental guilt and the inability to focus or concentrate when children are not well cared for, and a reduction in the workforce due to lack of child care. A few positive comments such as employees are able to work longer hours or can focus better at work were attributed to good child care. One such comments was: "Lack of available, reliable, and affordable child care would prevent most of my workforce from coming to work. The expanded child care options in our county is a significant improvement;" and "the availability of dependable child care is critical to attendance and focus of employees."

Respondents who were teachers were asked to indicate the programs or services that have been the most helpful to them. Table 4 reflects their responses with the most popular programs being Smart Start, Wage$, and T.E.A.C.H.

Table 4 Programs that are most helpful to child care teachers

Teachers were also asked if child care experiences better prepare North Carolina children to be successful in Kindergarten. Ninety-four percent said yes. There were 400 participants who commented as to why they responded in the affirmative. Their responses focused primarily on Smart Start programs that made a difference, that child care and Head Start provides a foundation for school, that health screening and dental care have been critical to children's success in school, and that teacher wage supplements (Wage$, T.E.A.C.H.) have made a difference in retaining teachers to provide consistent teachers for children.

When asked an open-ended question to all respondents about how child care has affected "you" in the past 5 years, 336 people responded with comments. The flavor of their comments follows:

"Both my husband and I are able to work. Also my daughter has been able to make friends and improve her social skills. I know that she is in a safe environment while I am at work which makes me a more focused employee."

"By having my son in a quality child-care program, I have been able to complete my education and earn a
degree. I have a great relationship with his childcare providers and trust them completely. That has been a great stress-reducer! "

"Child care has allowed me to work in an environment that I love and by getting help to advance my education I feel I have been able to better the quality of learning that I give to the children. As a parent, knowing my child is in an environment where she is happy, learning, and confident makes leaving her each day less stressful for both of us."

"Childcare could be better in this community if the teachers received fair compensation for their time and the ratios were lower in each age group. It is insane to really believe that one teacher can watch 10 two-year olds and give them what they need. Teachers burn out fast and children are left with lots of new faces coming into their classroom all the time because of turnover in staff. Children require lots of attention from DEVOTED teachers and caregivers."

"I am new to the child care industry(four months). I use to teach first through eighth grade."

"I am only able to work full-time because of an excellent after-school program at my child's elementary school. Being able to work full-time means health insurance, sufficient income to pay the monthly bills, and access to other benefits such as a retirement account."

All respondents were asked "how child care can be better in your community." A sampling of their comments follows:

Quality child care is still at a premium, particularly for those who are not wealthy, but who do not qualify for child care subsidies. Even when one can afford it, waiting lists are long at the better centers.

The market rates for subsidized care are not based on quality--they select a rate that is not reflective of the community in which a center is located. Parents in our county can not afford to pay what it costs for quality care. I have a great place for my children but can not afford to pay full time. I can barely afford part time, but I do it because I have to work.

There could be more changes in the daycare laws and make it possible for all children instead of just low income families to get subsidy. Parents cannot afford the high prices for quality childcare nowadays.

Child care providers are under paid which leads to many quality individuals leaving the field. Those left are generally poorly educated and unprepared to provide a rich environment.

Encourage childcare providers to get past the babysitting mode. So much growth and development occurs during the first few years it is important for children to be in a stimulating environment.

I cannot stress enough the need for care for older children, beyond infant/toddler.

Elementary children should not be left alone.

Better educational opportunities for Day Care Providers as well as more stringent rules requiring these teachers to further their education.

Because we are rural county we are unable to charge higher rates because families could not afford to put their children in child care. Smart Start funds have helped programs by providing resources otherwise unavailable to them Over 50% of our child care programs are 4 star and higher. This is due directly because of Smart Start projects and their ability to impact programs' opportunities to increase teacher benefits and pay, improve physical environments, and reduce staff child ratios. We need continued resources to continue our efforts to provide quality child care services.

It is very difficult to terminate bad child care settings. State Licensing Consultants do not routinely visit child care settings such as Family child Care Homes anymore unless a complaint is lodged. I know of child care homes that have not been visited by a Licensing consultant in over 5 years. The standards for homes and centers receiving State and County Subsidy reimbursements need to be made higher.

Continued strengthening of licensing requirements. Continued emphasis on technical assistance and training for providers. More 'unannounced' visits by licensing staff. More money for child care subsidies!

More diversity and more centers offering child care with teachers who speak Spanish and other languages

I would like to see more diversity in child care funding to make high quality child care available to all children birth to 12 years old. There are many parents who are working and make too much money to qualify for child care subsidy but who are still unable to afford the high cost of child care.

In summary, this comment provided interesting insights:

Child care workers are taking care of our nations most valuable asset--our children. The public needs to be educated about the importance of this career. While parents are the first and most important teachers for their children, some of the children in our county are spending more time with child care workers than they are at home. The workers, therefore, need to be educated and/or trained so that they provide a nurturing environment where all children can develop the social, emotional, physical and intellectual skills that will serve them in the future. Unfortunately, child care is a low paying job that does not offer the prestige that it deserves.