2015 Colorado Child Care Market Rate Study

2015 Colorado Child Care Market Rate Study

Erika Moldow, Christine Velez, Tracey O'Brien, Bonnie Walters University of Colorado Denver The Evaluation Center, School of Education and Human Development School of Public Affairs Barbara Lepidus Carlson Mathematica Rose Krebill-Prather Social and Economic Sciences Research Center

Prepared for Colorado Office of Early Childhood October 2015

Suggested Citation: Moldow, E., Velez, C., O'Brien, T., Walters, B., Krebill-Prather, R., and Carlson, B.L. (2015). 2015 Colorado Child Care Market Rate Study. University of Colorado Denver: The Evaluation Center, School of Education and Human Development.

? October 2015, The Evaluation Center, University of Colorado Denver.

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Contents

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................................ v

About the Organizations...............................................................................................................................vi

Glossary.......................................................................................................................................................vii

Executive Summary......................................................................................................................................ix

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 1 CCCAP Legislation....................................................................................................................................... 1 CCCAP Study Questions.............................................................................................................................. 3

Methodology................................................................................................................................................ 4 Study Approach.......................................................................................................................................... 4 Survey Questions........................................................................................................................................ 4 Pilot............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Study Population......................................................................................................................................... 7 Sampling Plan............................................................................................................................................. 8 Community Outreach...............................................................................................................................10 Data Collection.........................................................................................................................................11 Survey Population.....................................................................................................................................13 Converting Market Prices.........................................................................................................................14 Estimating Prices.......................................................................................................................................16 Validity. ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Presenting County and Cluster-Level Prices............................................................................................. 18 Study Limitations and Future Research.................................................................................................... 22

Findings....................................................................................................................................................... 24 Market Prices............................................................................................................................................24

Statewide Prices...................................................................................................................................24 Prices by Cluster...................................................................................................................................26 Equal Access.........................................................................................................................................30

Program Policies........................................................................................................................................31 At Capacity...........................................................................................................................................31 Summer Programming.........................................................................................................................31 Absentee and Vacation Policies........................................................................................................... 32 Scholarships and Discounts.................................................................................................................33 Fees...................................................................................................................................................... 33

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CCCAP. ...................................................................................................................................................... 35 CCCAP Participation.............................................................................................................................35 Reasons for Limiting CCCAP Participation........................................................................................... 35 Why Providers Have Never Accepted CCCAP...................................................................................... 36 Why Providers No Longer Accept CCCAP............................................................................................ 38 Challenges in Administering CCCAP.................................................................................................... 40

Summary and Recommendations..............................................................................................................45 Appendices A. Colorado Office of Early Childhood Outreach Letter........................................................................... 49 B. List of Child Care Market Rate Survey Questions................................................................................. 50 C. Technical Sampling Memo....................................................................................................................57 D. Technical Weighting Memo..................................................................................................................61 E. County-level Market Prices...................................................................................................................69 F. Cluster-level Market Prices.................................................................................................................145 Notes.........................................................................................................................................................153

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Professor Elizabeth Davis of the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota for her invaluable advice throughout development of this study. She is a leading researcher in the field of market rate studies, and we have been fortunate to have her guidance through critical decisions in the study design. Our sincere gratitude also goes to Stacy Buchanan, vice president of programs for Qualistar Colorado, for sharing her extensive experience and insights into collecting data in Colorado's complex child care market. Stacy gave us access to Qualistar Colorado's dataset for the study sample and graciously responded to our

many questions. A special note of appreciation goes to Elizabeth Garner, Colorado State Demographer, and her staff who provided us with the Cost of Living Index and took time to explain how county-level data were compiled. We also wish to thank our colleagues at The Evaluation Center for their ideas in the study design, especially Amelia Challender, Peter Rumbach, Jessica Presley, Bridget Buckley, and Susan Connors. Finally, we would like to extend our great appreciation to our editor, Leann Stelzer, for her remarkable speed and careful eye. Any errors in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Most important, this study was made possible by the dedicated child care providers from across the state who took time from their long work days to respond to the survey. We recognize and value their contribution to this year's child care market rate study.

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