Suchergebnisse

The chapters in this volume take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the influence of seven distinct contextual domains on children's development. Two chapters are devoted to each domain, with one reflecting a basic research perspective and the other reflecting an applied research perspective

Significant investments in public early childhood care and education (ECE) have yielded higher Hispanic enrollment in preschool-age programs, but progress has been uneven and inconsistent, especially for the youngest Hispanic children and low-income families. We review how ECE has contributed to Hispanic children's development, offering a detailed review of Hispanic children's participation in ECE, including evidence of effectiveness from ECE programs such as Early Head Start and Head Start, and state pre-K programs. We conclude with a discussion of why Hispanic children remain underserved by ECE and what policy changes could increase participation in these programs among Hispanics. We argue for expansion of established high-quality ECE into Hispanic-dense communities, for strategies that enroll and retain Latino children in ECE in ways that are family-centered and culturally responsive, and that ECE must adapt to better serve Hispanic families and dual language learners who require culturally appropriate pedagogy.

AbstractPolicymakers have long recognized child care as a key ingredient in low‐income parents' employability. We examine the effects of expansions in child care policies that were bundled with a mix of employment‐related policies and implemented as part of several random assignment studies on families' child care access and cost. Almost all of these welfare and employment programs increased employment and led to concomitant increases in the use of child care, especially paid child care. Only the programs that also expanded access or affordability of child care consistently increased the use of child care subsidies and reduced out‐of‐pocket costs to parents, allowing parents to purchase center‐based care. With one exception, such programs had small effects on employment‐related child care problems, suggesting that broader and more generous targeting of child care assistance may be important for achieving the goal of enhancing the stability of employment among low‐income families. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.