Mixed-Delivery Prekindergarten

This project examines the integration of Family Child Care (FCC) homes into publicly funded pre-K programs across the 75 largest U.S. cities. With evidence showing that high-quality pre-K improves school readiness, many states and cities have expanded their early learning programs. In 2022-2023, 73 cities operated state pre-K programs, and 20 cities, including Washington, D.C., also ran additional city-funded programs. The report reveals that pre-K is delivered in various settings, including FCC homes, private centers, and Head Start agencies. While cities like Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle have higher FCC enrollment than state programs, overall percentages remain low. The report provides insights into FCC participation and strategies for better integration within city and county pre-K systems to support families relying on home-based care.

State-funded preschool is already offered in mixed-delivery settings in most states, meaning that along with public schools, children are also served in settings such as child care centers, Head Start agencies, and private schools. However, just 39% of 4-year-olds and 14% of 3-year-olds were enrolled in publicly-funded programs, such as state-funded pre-K, special education, or Head Start in the 2020-21 school year, demonstrating many children still lack access to these programs. Increasingly, decisionmakers and advocates are proposing that one part of the solution to ensuring more children have access to state- and other publicly-funded programs may lie in increasing enrollment slots available to children in other settings beyond school- and center-based classrooms, such as in family child care homes (FCCs).

In this report written by NIEER with support from the Learning Policy Institute, researchers take an in-depth look at how policymakers in Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia have worked to expand public preschool while addressing challenges states face expanding their preschool systems is coordinating preschool providers that operate in very different settings, including local education agencies, Head Start agencies, child care centers, private schools, faith-based centers, charter schools, and family child care homes. All five states have taken different approaches, yet each has been able to build high-quality systems that serve at least a third of the 4-year-olds in their state. While there may be more than one path, based on the analysis, the authors identify actions states should consider taking to foster a strong mixed delivery system with consistent quality.