The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE), United States, 2023

State/territory Child Care and Early education (CCEE) licensing agencies establish and monitor regulations that child care programs serving young children must meet to legally operate. These regulations and monitoring practices play a large role in the operations of CCEE programs. The TRLECE project (The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education) includes a collection of three descriptive surveys to deepen the CCEE field's understanding of CCEE licensing systems, which play a critical role in supporting positive outcomes for providers, families, and children.
Data collection involved three national surveys with state/territory CCEE licensing administrators (DS1 and DS2), front-line CCEE licensing staff (DS3), and licensed CCEE providers (both center-based and family child care providers) (DS4). These surveys provide information on the licensing unit, characteristics and perceptions of licensing administrators, front-line staff's characteristics, experiences, and perceptions of licensing, and provider's experiences and perceptions of licensing.