Parent Perceptions of Child Care Choice and Quality in Four States

Authors

Helen Raikes, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Brian Wilcox, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Carla Peterson, Iowa State UniversityFollow
Susan Hegland, Iowa State University
Jane Atwater, University of Kansas
Jean Ann Summers, University of Kansas
Kathy Thornburg, University of Missouri
Jacqueline Scott, University of Missouri
Wayne Mayfield, University of Missouri
Julia C. Torquati, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Carolyn P. Edwards, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Julia C. Torquati

Date of this Version

10-31-2005

Comments

Published by the the Gallup Organization for the Center on Children, Families, and the Law, University of Nebraska. COPYRIGHT © 2005 THE GALLUP ORGANIZATION, PRINCETON, NJ. Used by permission.

Abstract

The purpose of the Year 2 Studies of the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium was to assess parent perceptions of child care choices and quality across four states. The states studied — Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska — comprise U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region 7. The current study was conducted by asking 1,325 parents to complete a paper and pencil survey. The parents all had children receiving child care from providers who participated in an earlier telephone survey of 2,022 providers and in observations of 365 providers. Results from that study are reported elsewhere1. Providers in the original study were selected at random from state lists of licensed and subsidy-receiving providers stratified for state, subsidy, and type of care (infant-toddler center-based, preschool center-based, licensed family child care, registered family child care, license-exempt home providers, and a few state-specific categories). In the current parent study, all the parents completed questionnaires and mailed their confidential responses to The Gallup Organization.