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APPENDIX B. Child Care Market Rate Survey: 2023

Child Care Market Rate Survey 2023

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2023-2024: Instructions and Definitions: How to Complete the Survey

DEFINITIONS

● Subsidized Child Care: A “child participating in the NC Subsidized Child Care Program” is a child whose child care rate is partially or completely paid on a regular basis by the Division of Child Development and Early Education which provides the subsidy for the specific child. The funds used to make the subsidy payment are public funds. Funds may be paid from the county Department of Social Services, local Smart Start Partnership, or Child Care Resource and Referral Agency acting as an agent of the DSS. The Subsidized Child Care Program and the NC Pre-K program are to be considered separately. (Note: Smart Start payments made to child care providers based on the total number of children in care or star rating are not considered subsidies.)

● NC Pre-K program: On July 1, 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly transferred the More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program to the Division of Child Development and Early Education in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and renamed it the NC Pre-Kindergarten Program (NC Pre-K). The NC Pre-K provides and pays for high-quality educational experiences to enhance school readiness for eligible four-year-olds through the Division of Child Development and Early Education.

● Regulated Care: There are some situations when regulated programs may provide full-time care for school-age children that are unregulated. Please answer Question 6 ONLY if the full-time school-age care that you provide was included within your regulated child care program in JULY 2023.

● Head Start centers, Developmental Day centers, and programs for preschool children offering just part-time care: These programs are not being surveyed because they are different from other child care centers in important ways.

● IF your program is a Head Start center, a certified Developmental Day center or a facility that only offers care for children ages 0-5 for less than 32 hours a week in September, you DO NOT need to complete the survey.

● If your facility did not have any children enrolled in September 2023 or if your facility has been closed, you do not need to complete the survey. Please put that information on the PREPAID GREEN POSTCARD and drop it in the mail.