Home-Based Child Care Practices and Experiences Study (HBCC P&E Study), 4 U.S. states, 2023-2024

Home-based child care (HBCC) is a vital part of the nation's child care supply and the most common form of non-parental care (Datta et al. 2021a; Datta et al. 2021b). Yet HBCC providers have fewer resources and supports than providers in child care centers have, and many HBCC providers face challenges providing care (Henly and Adams 2018; NCECQA 2020; Bromer et al. 2021a, 2021b). The supply of licensed and subsidized family child care has also declined dramatically over the past decade (Datta et al. 2021a; NCECQA 2020). The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted with Mathematica and Erikson Institute to study (1) gaps in our understanding of HBCC supply and availability and (2) challenges defining and measuring quality in HBCC settings through the Home-Based Child Care Supply and Quality (HBCCSQ) project.
The HBCCSQ project conducted two studies. The Home-Based Child Care Practices and Experiences Study (HBCC P&E Study) was a qualitative study of family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) providers across four sites in the United States. The HBCC P&E Study's objective was to learn about the experiences, strengths, resources, and strategies used by FFN providers and how these experiences intersect with their cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic identities and geographic locations.
The Home-Based Child Care Toolkit for Nurturing School-Age Children (HBCC-NSAC Toolkit) Study was a validation study of the HBCC-NSAC Toolkit, a new measure designed to assess and strengthen the quality of care for school-age children in home-based child care. The HBCC-NSAC Toolkit Study's objective was to examine the reliability and validity evidence of the English version of the HBCC-NSAC Toolkit provider questionnaire and understand if the HBCC-NSAC Toolkit provider questionnaire can support home-based providers to identify and reflect on their caregiving strengths and areas for growth.
For more information, visit the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation HBCCSQ website.