Policy Brief/Analysis

Estimating the Cost of Supporting Quality

Including Family Child Care Homes in Publicly-Funded Pre-K Programs

Estimating the Cost of Supporting Quality

Exploring Funding for Family Child Care in Public Preschool Programs addresses how much (based on cost) and how FCC educators should be funded. The report highlights that inadequate state pre-K funding makes it difficult to create a high-quality mixed delivery system, especially one that is inclusive of FCCs. States must consider how to improve funding to adequately support all provider types including both increasing overall funding and the most effective ways to coordinate funding across early care and education systems and funding streams.

The Authors

GG Weisenfeld is a Senior ECE Policy Specialist at the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education. 

Karin Garver is an Early Childhood Education Policy Specialist at NIEER. Her research interests are in national and state early education policy trends, inclusive opportunities for preschool children with disabilities, data systems, systems integration, and public program finance.

Erin Harmeyer is an Assistant Research Professor at NIEER. Her research interests include family childcare quality; caregiver-child interactions; and the academic readiness skills of preschool-age children.

About NIEER

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, conducts and disseminates independent research and analysis to inform early childhood education policy.

Suggested Citation

Weisenfeld, G., Garver, K., & Harmeyer, E. (2024). Including family child care homes in publicly-funded pre-k programs: Estimating the cost of supporting quality. National Institute for Early Education Research.