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Page 23 The results for home-based child care providers should be interpreted with caution because the total number of home-based child care providers in Mississippi is unknown. Consequently, it is unclear whether the information reported by the home-based child care providers in the sample (n=102) is representative of the larger population of home-based child care providers within the state. Therefore, these responses are not included in the main analyses and are presented separately. The home-based child care provider results are also not weighted to compensate for potential non-response bias because a complete list of all home-based providers within the state is not available for purposes of constructing sampling weights. Seventy licensed and registered home-based child care providers were included in the sample of providers obtained from the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), though six were closed, and 87 home-based child care providers were included in the group contacted by the Nurturing Homes Initiative (NHI) staff. Therefore, a total of 151 home- based providers were contacted. Eighty-four providers completed survey interviews administered by NHI staff, and 18 of the home-based providers in the MSDH sampling frame completed survey interviews with SCL staff. Given that the representativeness of the home-based child care sample (n=102) is not known, home-based rates should be interpreted with caution. Table 9 shows the mean, or average; median; and 75th percentile market rates for home-based child care providers in Mississippi by age. Prices are indicated for both full-time and part-time care. Full-time care is defined as child care provided for six or more hours of a 24-hour day. The median price indicates the tuition rate at which 50% of child care providers fall at or below, and the 75th percentile indicates the tuition rate at which 75% of child care providers fall at or below. RESULTS: HOME-BASED PROVIDER SURVEY Home-based Sample Home-based Rates