Child Care: States Exercise Flexibility in Setting Reimbursement Rates and Providing Access for Low-Income Children

摘要

This report responds to your request that we (1) describe how states set reimbursement rates and (2) calculate to what extent subsidies and co-payments allow families access to specific types of child care providers in selected communities. To describe how states set reimbursement rates, we conducted a survey of child care officials in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and received responses from 49 of them. We also visited 3 states (Illinois, Maryland, and Oregon) and interviewed officials in state, local, and community-based organizations in three locations in each state - one urban, one suburban, and one rural.