A Variety of Organizations Work to Improve the Quality of Family Child Care

Many organizations sponsor initiatives to improve the quality of family child care. Research on child care quality shows that the types of activities support networks conduct contribute to enhancing the level of professionalism of the provider and, thus, improve the quality of child care. The Family-to-Family project focused on improving the quality of care in family child care settings in 40 communities nationwide (see app. Family Child Care Quality Initiatives Are Financed With Public and Private Funds

		Federal Child Care Funds Are Primarily for Subsidies

The federal government’s role in child care has been primarily one of helping parents pay for child care. Of the $8 billion, approximately $156 million was for quality support activities, such as training and monitoring, in all types of child care settings. USDA’s Food Program Is the Second Most Frequently Used Federal Funding Source

The other federal funding source most often used to support quality initiatives for family child care was USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program. Given that research shows that quality child care settings particularly benefit poor children, the need for quality in this care will also grow. We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, and to other interested parties.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed family child care, focusing on: (1) public and private initiatives to enhance the quality of family child care; (2) the financing of family care initiatives; (3) the federal role in supporting quality initiatives; and (4) the implications of these initiatives for welfare reform.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) many national initiatives seek to improve family child care quality and are financed both from public and private sources; (2) although most of the $8 billion in federal child care support in 1993 went to subsidies to help parents pay for child care, approximately $156 million was used to improve the quality of child care through 195 different initiatives; (3) the two child care quality initiatives that are used most often are the Department of Health and Human Services' Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Department of Agriculture's Child and Adult Care Food Program; (4) research shows that child care quality improvement activities are critical to enhancing the quality of care in all types of child care settings; (5) family child care is expected to grow and is particularly important to poor children; and (6) these initiatives can provide information on ways to improve quality in family child care settings.