Case Studies of Child Care and Development Fund Lead Agencies' Consumer Education Strategies

Study aims: This study aims to identify innovative or promising consumer education strategies that states, territories, and tribes can use. This information may support peer learning and innovation to advance the field. The information is not intended to assess the effectiveness or impact of consumer education strategies, and this limitation will be clearly stated in written materials associated with the study. ACF will also use this information internally to inform future planning and decision-making.

Research questions:

What motivated the state/territory/tribe to use the identified current consumer education strategy, and how was it selected? What successes has the state/territory/tribe observed in terms of improving the timing of outreach to families, raising awareness of child care search resources and care options, and supporting families' care searches? What, if any, implementation challenges did the state/territory/tribe experience? Which types of families were hardest to reach with the strategies implemented, and why? What is involved in searching for CCEE? When, how, and why do parents search? What supports do parents need to help them search for and make decisions about care under different circumstances (e.g., first-time parent)? How aware are families of sources of child care consumer education in their state/territory/tribe, and what are their perspectives on them? What do they think would be useful to them in their search for care?

Recruitment: Within each selected site, the study team purposely selected case study participants to bring a range of perspectives to address the study's research questions regarding the state or territory's strategy. In addition, the study team recruited parents across the six selected sites using a flyer distributed with the help of site agency staff and others who participated in the case studies. The recruitment flyer included information about study eligibility, requirements for participation in the focus groups, information about the $60 thank-you gift card participants received for their time, and the research team's contact information.

Data collection methods: The study team conducted virtual semi-structured interviews and focus groups as the primary methods of data collection along with a short survey administered to participating parents. Semi-structured interviews were selected for collecting data from case study participants. This selection was done as it allows for an in-depth understanding of each participant's perspective while also permitting enough flexibility to adjust the questions depending on the specific strategy's characteristics and how it is implemented. Data collection was completed by a trained researcher via Zoom.gov.