Jamie Heng-Chieh Wu received a $200,000 Michigan Department of Education grant over 18 months for the Childcare Services Mapping Project. Funding for the grant comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The goal is to develop new data infrastructure that policymakers and program leaders can use to help ensure that families across the state of Michigan have equitable access to high-quality childcare services. Wu is a research assistant professor in the MSU Department of Human Development and Family Studies and associate director for Community Evaluation Programs in the MSU Office of University Outreach and Engagement. 

“Ultimately the goal is to improve equitable access to high-quality, affordable childcare services for all children and families.” she said. “Abundant research has documented that high-quality preschool and out-of-school time programming can help children from disadvantaged backgrounds narrow the opportunity gaps between them and their more affluent peers.”

Wu and her team members have already developed a robust set of data maps for the Great Start Readiness Program, Michigan’s public preschool program for disadvantaged four-year-old children. The maps show the locations of GSRP programs in addition to equity-focused data. For example, the data show participation in GSRP programs by race/ethnicity and the Child Opportunity Index scores of neighborhoods where GSRP classrooms are located.

Michigan families already have access to a program finder through Great Start to Quality. The new childcare-related services map, intended for policymakers and program leaders, will include  GSRP, Head Start and all licensed programs for children age 12 and under. The programs range from home- and center-based childcare programs for young children to the wide variety of programs for school-aged children: school-based and community-based before- and after school programs, weekend programs, and summer camps, among others. 

The MSU team’s  research will show more than just where childcare sites are located. The team intends to show basic operations factors such as agency types, funding, subsidies, operation hours, capacity, and age groups served. Wu and her team are exploring additional analyses, such as a comparison of a zip code’s or a census tract’s income levels with the costs of childcare programming. They hope to identify “service deserts'' and analyze the barriers to more robust program offerings.

For the full story visit hdfs.msu.edu