Page 61

61 | P a g e FFY 2025–2027 CCDF State Plan

While licensed-exempt and informal caregivers are allowed to participate in the subsidy program under certain conditions, their availability as an option to families should not mean that they should be considered an influential part of the total cost study. These programs cannot participate in the state's quality rating and improvement system and typically care for less than 1.5% of all children in care in the subsidy program. For licensed- exempt providers to participate, they must be either government owned and operated or a seasonal camp for school aged children. An informal caregiver can also participate but is not typically a provider that would market themselves for services or otherwise collect a fee for services. Including these unlicensed providers would ultimately skew analysis in a way that would negatively impact license providers and their markets. Also, licensed- exempt providers that participate are reimbursed at the same level as child care centers and informal caregivers are reimbursed at the same level as family child care learning homes. d. How does the Lead Agency define higher quality and what assumptions and data did the Lead Agency use to determine cost at higher levels of quality (e.g., ratio, group size, staffing levels, staff compensation, professional development requirements)? A Lead Agency can use a quality improvement system or other system of quality indicators (e.g., accreditation, pre-Kindergarten standards, Head Start Program Performance Standards, or State-defined quality measures). The Lead Agency defines higher levels of quality according to Quality Rated 2-star and 3-star ratings it issues to providers. A key question the Lead Agency sought to answer in its total cost study was the degree to which child care costs differed between higher Quality Rated and lower Quality Rated providers. As mentioned, Quality Rated does not include mandates that require higher costs to achieve a higher quality rating. By analyzing the data as described in Section 4.2.5.a. from 1,380 2- star providers and 491 3-star providers, the Lead Agency was able to observe variations compared to 1-star providers than could inform cost model assumptions regarding the true cost of quality. The Lead Agency observed variations by quality level in the following provider measurements: group size, percentage of lead teachers by education credential (at the facility), percentage of assistant teachers by education credential (at the facility), number of annual professional development training hours for center directors (or family home providers), number of annual professional development training hours for lead teachers, number of annual professional development training hours for assistant teachers, square footage allocated per child (CCLCs only), site level facility costs per child, annualized replacement cost per child for durable education equipment, and annualized replacement cost per child for other durable equipment (CCLCs only). Coupled with variations reported in Section 4.2.5.b., the Lead Agency was able to develop a robust set of assumptions to inform its cost model for its total cost study.

While licensed-exempt and informal caregivers are allowed to participate in the subsidy program under certain conditions, they cannot participate in the state's QRIS, Quality Rated, and their availability as an option to families should not mean that they should be considered an influential part of the total cost study. These programs typically care for less than 1.5% of all children in care in the subsidy program. For licensed-exempt providers to participate, they must be either government owned and operated or a seasonal camp for school aged children. An informal caregiver can also participate but is not typically a provider that would market themselves for services or otherwise collect a fee for services.