OCCRP Research Questions and Designs | CHHS | Oregon State University

Research Activities

Child Care Subsidy Program Research

The first study of the child care subsidy program explored the employment of parents whose child care is supported by the subsidy program. Brian Conway and Janis Elliot, both with the Employment Department at the time, replicated the study done by the Wellesley Child Care Research Partnership. Surveys of parents and providers involved in the subsidy program were done by Arthur C. Emlen for the Department of Human Services, the administrators of the child care subsidy program.

Oregon’s subsidy program was one of five studied by the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Team. The research was funded in part by the Child Care Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Child Care Subsidy Dynamics study was an activity of the Child Care Bureau’s Child Care Policy Research Consortium. The Study Team worked together to better understand who is served by child care subsidy programs, what services they receive, and how long they are served. Elizabeth Davis, now at the University of Minnesota, and Roberta Weber, now at Oregon State University, were the Oregon members of the team and published study findings for Oregon.

A major finding of the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Study is that child care subsidy spells average from 3 to 7 months, with Oregon spells averaging 3 months. With partial funding from the Child Care Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oregon State University is merging subsidy, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and Unemployment Insurance wage data to determine why families leave the subsidy program after such short spells. Deana Grobe of Oregon State University is the lead; working with her are Roberta Weber of Oregon State University, Elizabeth Davis of the University of Minnesota, and Daniel Schroeder of the University of Texas.

See all the publications associated with child care subsidy program research.

Child Care System Accountability

Oregon is committed to continuously improving the workings of its child care system. Child care partners have identified a set of outcomes that system partners work to achieve. Indicators of progress toward the desired outcomes are measured annually or biannually, depending on the measure. The Child Care Division collects, analyzes, and reports on system performance annually. A description of Oregon performance measures can be found in the most recent report done by the Child Care Division.

Relying on the expertise of Clara Pratt at Oregon State University, the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership worked with other Child Care Policy Research Consortium partners to produce a guidebook for integrating results accountability into child care using child care resource and referral as the example. Pratt is currently heading up an effort to design performance measures for child care workforce investment initiatives.

See all the publications associated with child care system accountability.

Oregon Child Care Dynamics: Supply, Demand, and Other Estimates (formerly called Data for Community Planning)

From 1989 to the present, the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership has analyzed a series of population surveys of Oregon households. The purpose of the research is to build a statewide picture of where all the children are, who's in paid child care of one type or another, and which family characteristics appear to drive use of paid care. The Oregon Population Survey is conducted every 2 years. Arthur C. Emlen and Paul Koren of Portland State University developed the methodology that involves combining data from the Oregon Population Survey with Census and Child Care Resource and Referral Data in order to develop the estimates. Findings are reported biennially as Data for Community Planning and as county profiles. Roberta Weber of Oregon State University is now lead for the study. The reports are available on this site.

Annually the Child Care Research Partnership studies Oregon’s supply of child care to estimate its size and describe its characteristics. By merging data from the child care regulatory, the child care subsidy, and the child care resource and referral systems, the Partnership is able to capture those providers who care for community children without duplicating the count. The methodology also enables the Partnership to estimate what percentage of regulated providers care for children on the subsidy program and what percent of the providers who care for children on the subsidy program are regulated. Another product of the estimation is an estimate of centers and family child care homes by county. This estimate is used to measure Oregon’s progress toward the goal of having an adequate supply of child care.

Having data from studies of child care from 1990 through 2002 makes it possible for the Child Care Research Partnership to document trends in supply, demand, and price over time. Graphics of these child care trends are available in a slide presentation.

See all the publications associated with Oregon child care dynamics.

Oregon Market Rate Studies

A critical component of market child care is rate or price – what the small businesses that serve families charge for the care they give. Since 1990, Oregon has regularly studied prices charged in child care centers and family child care homes throughout Oregon. Individually, each study documents the prices at a given point in time. Together, these child care market rate studies capture the dynamics of child care prices.

Arthur C. Emlen, Paul Koren, and Karen Tvedt of Portland State University conducted the first market rate studies. With the 2000 study, market rate research moved to the Family Policy Program at Oregon State University, where Deana Grobe is lead. The most recent study (url here) was published in 2003. Oregon has developed and tested a methodology for using child care resource and referral (R&R) data for the market rate analysis. Findings from special sample and other surveys have confirmed the appropriateness of using this comprehensive and readily available data set. Deana Grobe, Roberta Weber, Clara Pratt, and Arthur C. Emlen produced a guidebook describing the market rate study methodology using Oregon R&R data.

See all the publications associated with market rate research.

Parents as Decision-Makers and Managers

In his “Quality of Care from a Parent Perspective” research, Arthur Emlen found that flexibility from work, family, and child caregiver was directly associated with parents’ perceptions of the quality of care their child was receiving. Work and family balancing appears directly related to the quality of care children receive. Two Oregon studies deal with balancing work and family as related to child care. Desrosiers studied dependent care of flight attendants, and Elliot studied dependent care issues of employees in Eugene, Oregon.

The Oregon Partnership recognizes the critical role of parents in creating and maintaining a child care system that meets the needs of children and families. Throughout its history, the Partnership has worked to engage parents in research and policy-making. Effective strategies are captured in the publication, We Can’t Get There Without Them: Addressing the Barriers to Parent Participation in Building America’s Child Care System. The Parent Voices Project recruits, trains, and supports parents who serve on child care policy-making committees and councils.

Another parent-focused strategy aims to provide parents with empirical information on research-based indicators of quality for child care facilities in their communities. A paper will be published soon describing the rationale and recommending ways to implement a project to provide information on quality indicators to parents.

Parents are a primary source—sometimes the only source—of information about child care. Identifying questions that will elicit useful information that validly and reliably reflects parent perceptions is the focus of a current project. The Oregon Partnership facilitated a Consortium Residency Roundtable on constructing parent surveys, and a paper designed as a guide for anyone surveying parents will be published soon.

See all the publications associated with parents as decision-makers and managers.

Quality of Care from a Parent Perspective

Beginning in 1995, a study to develop measurement of quality of child care from a parent's point of view was initiated under a grant from the U.S. Child Care Bureau for wave one of the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership. Arthur C. Emlen was principal investigator. Reports and papers that track the history of this study are available in the publications section of this Web site. Among these publications is Emlen, Koren, and Schultze’s Packet of Scales for Measuring Quality of Care from a Parent’s Point of View with Summary of Method and Findings, a paper that summarizes this body of work.

See all the publications associated with the quality of care from a parent perspective research.

Tools for State Child Care Policy Research

One of the outcomes of generating policy-relevant studies has been documentation of the methodologies developed in carrying out the research. The first of these documents the methods developed to study child care dynamics. A paper from the 1993 Proceedings of the Government Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association describes the rationale, method, and early findings: Emlen and Koren, Estimating child care Demand for Statewide Planning (1993). A second is a guidebook, developed by the Wellseley Child Care Research Partnership and replicated in Oregon and other states, on how to do the employer study: Parents Receiving Child Care Subsidies: Where Do They Work?. Kumiko Okuyama and Roberta Weber worked closely with researchers who had done the study to create a guidebook to help states do this simple but extremely informative study. A third methodology guidebook, developed by Deana Grobe with assistance from members of the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Study Team, is for states who want to replicate a study on the dynamics of child care subsidy use. A fourth guidebook relates to market rate studies. Oregon has developed and tested a methodology for using child care resource and referral (R&R) data in market rate studies. This guidebook, written by Deana Grobe and associates, is designed to help states implement a market rate study using child care resource and referral data.

A number of Research Partnership papers are designed to help states create policy-relevant child care research. Most of these papers have come out of small working conferences of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium. These Residency Roundtables bring together people with expertise on a specific topic for 3 days of work. The Oregon Child Care Research Partnership has developed and managed these Roundtables for the Consortium. The first product of a Roundtable, Research and Child Care Policy: A View from the States, builds on a Consortium survey that found limited use of research in developing child care policy. The paper includes an examination of factors that limit the relevance of research for policy-making and a set of strategies to develop a solid research base for state child care policy-making. One of the strategies recommended in this paper became the focus of another Roundtable on how to use child care research partnerships to create policy-relevant research.

Developing tools for integrating accountability into the child care system continues to be central to the Partnership. Relying on the expertise of Clara Pratt at Oregon State University, the Oregon Partnership worked with other Consortium partners to produce a guidebook for integrating results accountability in child care using child care resource and referral as the example. A related strategy focuses on community planning. Aphra Katzev of Oregon State University headed a group that developed a strategic planning guide for communities working to increase quality early childhood care and education.

See all the publications associated with tools for state child care policy research.


	Limit results to this site.		Health and Human Sciences » Human Development and Family Sciences » Family Policy Program » OCCRP » Research Activities. Research Activities Child Care Subsidy Program Research The first study of the child care subsidy program explored the employment of parents whose child care is supported by the subsidy program. Brian Conway and Janis Elliot, both with the Employment Department at the time, replicated the study done by the Wellesley Child Care Research Partnership. Surveys of parents and providers involved in the subsidy program were done by Arthur C. Emlen for the Department of Human Services, the administrators of the child care subsidy program. Oregon’s subsidy program was one of five studied by the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Team. The research was funded in part by the Child Care Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Child Care Subsidy Dynamics study was an activity of the Child Care Bureau’s Child Care Policy Research Consortium. The Study Team worked together to better understand who is served by child care subsidy programs, what services they receive, and how long they are served. Elizabeth Davis, now at the University of Minnesota, and Roberta Weber, now at Oregon State University, were the Oregon members of the team and published study findings for Oregon. A major finding of the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Study is that child care subsidy spells average from 3 to 7 months, with Oregon spells averaging 3 months. With partial funding from the Child Care Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oregon State University is merging subsidy, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and Unemployment Insurance wage data to determine why families leave the subsidy program after such short spells. Deana Grobe of Oregon State University is the lead; working with her are Roberta Weber of Oregon State University, Elizabeth Davis of the University of Minnesota, and Daniel Schroeder of the University of Texas. See all the publications associated with child care subsidy program research. Child Care System Accountability Oregon is committed to continuously improving the workings of its child care system. Child care partners have identified a set of outcomes that system partners work to achieve. Indicators of progress toward the desired outcomes are measured annually or biannually, depending on the measure. The Child Care Division collects, analyzes, and reports on system performance annually. A description of Oregon performance measures can be found in the most recent report done by the Child Care Division. Relying on the expertise of Clara Pratt at Oregon State University, the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership worked with other Child Care Policy Research Consortium partners to produce a guidebook for integrating results accountability into child care using child care resource and referral as the example. Pratt is currently heading up an effort to design performance measures for child care workforce investment initiatives. See all the publications associated with child care system accountability. Oregon Child Care Dynamics: Supply, Demand, and Other Estimates (formerly called Data for Community Planning) From 1989 to the present, the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership has analyzed a series of population surveys of Oregon households. The purpose of the research is to build a statewide picture of where all the children are, who's in paid child care of one type or another, and which family characteristics appear to drive use of paid care. The Oregon Population Survey is conducted every 2 years. Arthur C. Emlen and Paul Koren of Portland State University developed the methodology that involves combining data from the Oregon Population Survey with Census and Child Care Resource and Referral Data in order to develop the estimates. Findings are reported biennially as Data for Community Planning and as county profiles. Roberta Weber of Oregon State University is now lead for the study. The reports are available on this site. Annually the Child Care Research Partnership studies Oregon’s supply of child care to estimate its size and describe its characteristics. By merging data from the child care regulatory, the child care subsidy, and the child care resource and referral systems, the Partnership is able to capture those providers who care for community children without duplicating the count. The methodology also enables the Partnership to estimate what percentage of regulated providers care for children on the subsidy program and what percent of the providers who care for children on the subsidy program are regulated. Another product of the estimation is an estimate of centers and family child care homes by county. This estimate is used to measure Oregon’s progress toward the goal of having an adequate supply of child care. Having data from studies of child care from 1990 through 2002 makes it possible for the Child Care Research Partnership to document trends in supply, demand, and price over time. Graphics of these child care trends are available in a slide presentation. See all the publications associated with Oregon child care dynamics. Oregon Market Rate Studies A critical component of market child care is rate or price – what the small businesses that serve families charge for the care they give. Since 1990, Oregon has regularly studied prices charged in child care centers and family child care homes throughout Oregon. Individually, each study documents the prices at a given point in time. Together, these child care market rate studies capture the dynamics of child care prices. Arthur C. Emlen, Paul Koren, and Karen Tvedt of Portland State University conducted the first market rate studies. With the 2000 study, market rate research moved to the Family Policy Program at Oregon State University, where Deana Grobe is lead. The most recent study (url here) was published in 2003. Oregon has developed and tested a methodology for using child care resource and referral (R&R) data for the market rate analysis. Findings from special sample and other surveys have confirmed the appropriateness of using this comprehensive and readily available data set. Deana Grobe, Roberta Weber, Clara Pratt, and Arthur C. Emlen produced a guidebook describing the market rate study methodology using Oregon R&R data. See all the publications associated with market rate research. Parents as Decision-Makers and Managers In his “Quality of Care from a Parent Perspective” research, Arthur Emlen found that flexibility from work, family, and child caregiver was directly associated with parents’ perceptions of the quality of care their child was receiving. Work and family balancing appears directly related to the quality of care children receive. Two Oregon studies deal with balancing work and family as related to child care. Desrosiers studied dependent care of flight attendants, and Elliot studied dependent care issues of employees in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Partnership recognizes the critical role of parents in creating and maintaining a child care system that meets the needs of children and families. Throughout its history, the Partnership has worked to engage parents in research and policy-making. Effective strategies are captured in the publication, We Can’t Get There Without Them: Addressing the Barriers to Parent Participation in Building America’s Child Care System. The Parent Voices Project recruits, trains, and supports parents who serve on child care policy-making committees and councils. Another parent-focused strategy aims to provide parents with empirical information on research-based indicators of quality for child care facilities in their communities. A paper will be published soon describing the rationale and recommending ways to implement a project to provide information on quality indicators to parents. Parents are a primary source—sometimes the only source—of information about child care. Identifying questions that will elicit useful information that validly and reliably reflects parent perceptions is the focus of a current project. The Oregon Partnership facilitated a Consortium Residency Roundtable on constructing parent surveys, and a paper designed as a guide for anyone surveying parents will be published soon. See all the publications associated with parents as decision-makers and managers. Quality of Care from a Parent Perspective Beginning in 1995, a study to develop measurement of quality of child care from a parent's point of view was initiated under a grant from the U.S. Child Care Bureau for wave one of the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership. Arthur C. Emlen was principal investigator. Reports and papers that track the history of this study are available in the publications section of this Web site. Among these publications is Emlen, Koren, and Schultze’s Packet of Scales for Measuring Quality of Care from a Parent’s Point of View with Summary of Method and Findings, a paper that summarizes this body of work. See all the publications associated with the quality of care from a parent perspective research. Tools for State Child Care Policy Research One of the outcomes of generating policy-relevant studies has been documentation of the methodologies developed in carrying out the research. The first of these documents the methods developed to study child care dynamics. A paper from the 1993 Proceedings of the Government Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association describes the rationale, method, and early findings: Emlen and Koren, Estimating child care Demand for Statewide Planning (1993). A second is a guidebook, developed by the Wellseley Child Care Research Partnership and replicated in Oregon and other states, on how to do the employer study: Parents Receiving Child Care Subsidies: Where Do They Work?. Kumiko Okuyama and Roberta Weber worked closely with researchers who had done the study to create a guidebook to help states do this simple but extremely informative study. A third methodology guidebook, developed by Deana Grobe with assistance from members of the Child Care Subsidy Dynamics Study Team, is for states who want to replicate a study on the dynamics of child care subsidy use. A fourth guidebook relates to market rate studies. Oregon has developed and tested a methodology for using child care resource and referral (R&R) data in market rate studies. This guidebook, written by Deana Grobe and associates, is designed to help states implement a market rate study using child care resource and referral data. A number of Research Partnership papers are designed to help states create policy-relevant child care research. Most of these papers have come out of small working conferences of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium. These Residency Roundtables bring together people with expertise on a specific topic for 3 days of work. The Oregon Child Care Research Partnership has developed and managed these Roundtables for the Consortium. The first product of a Roundtable, Research and Child Care Policy: A View from the States, builds on a Consortium survey that found limited use of research in developing child care policy. The paper includes an examination of factors that limit the relevance of research for policy-making and a set of strategies to develop a solid research base for state child care policy-making. One of the strategies recommended in this paper became the focus of another Roundtable on how to use child care research partnerships to create policy-relevant research. Developing tools for integrating accountability into the child care system continues to be central to the Partnership. Relying on the expertise of Clara Pratt at Oregon State University, the Oregon Partnership worked with other Consortium partners to produce a guidebook for integrating results accountability in child care using child care resource and referral as the example. A related strategy focuses on community planning. Aphra Katzev of Oregon State University headed a group that developed a strategic planning guide for communities working to increase quality early childhood care and education. See all the publications associated with tools for state child care policy research.