Impact of the School-Age Child Care Needs Assessment Project

The surveys were undertaken to gain locally derived data that could be used to guide community-based planning. In all instances, the release of the findings in the county resulted in increased attention for school-age child care issues. Additionally, other short-term impacts were identified. A brief overview of how counties have used or plan to use the data and noted short-term impacts is presented below.

Columbia County (Report of findings issued September 1995)
Efforts to date have been concerned primarily with sharing the report, particularly among Commission members and school personnel. The Commission plans to initially use the report to raise awareness of the issues surrounding school-age care, educating citizens and policy makers about the needs families have. The findings will also be used to inform discussions leading to the identification of Commission priorities for upcoming years and the design of family support policies.

Coos County (Report of findings issued February 1995)
Information from the report has been shared widely throughout the county. One of the first steps taken by the Commission as a result of the survey was to award a $2350 grant to the Coos County 4-H After-School Activities Program to help expand services at elementary schools. Currently there are approximately 44 children in grades K-3 who participate in the Coquille Program. Volunteers are being recruited to provide similar activities programs at other schools.

Crook County (Report of findings issued July 1994)
There have been three primary outcomes associated with the needs assessment project. First, an after-school program to serve children in grades K-6 was developed and implemented at Powell Butte Elementary School. The program is currently full, and the waiting list indicates that there is still a need for additional spaces.
A second outcome was the funding of a position to recruit and train family day care providers. The Crook County Commission on Children and Families awarded the grant for the position to the regional child care resource and referral agency.

The development of a program to educate children and families about the responsibilities of self-care and the importance of safe practices when children are left on their own was yet a third outcome of the survey process. The Home Alone and Prepared (HAP) program was developed by the OSU-Crook County Extension Service, based on survey information families provided regarding the self-care topics they felt their children needed to know about and parents' preferences for how information should be delivered. The HAP program provides a workbook and videotape to families with children in third grade. The materials are designed to involve both adults and children in deciding whether or not children are ready to be left alone for short periods of time, and, if they are, to help prepare them to safely handle the related responsibilities. Introduction of the program began in November 1995 within Crook County, and the program immediately drew interest from other areas of the state.

Harney County (Report of findings issued June 1994)
Survey findings led the Harney County Commission on Children and Families to appropriate $8,000 to start an after-school program in Burns. The program opened midway through the 1994-1995 school year and was unable to generate enough participation to make it economically feasible to continue after an initial trial period. However, a new and more successful approach was used at the start of the 1995-96 school year. In September, a local day care center agreed to add an after-school program designed to provide developmentally appropriate activities for elementary school children. Several local organizations contributed equipment, and the program has attracted consistent attendance by 13 children. The program answers the need for child care during vacation periods as well as for after-school times. Enrollment during the winter break period is expected to double.

Jefferson County (Report of findings issued October 1994)
The Jefferson County needs assessment process was undertaken to further explore school-age child care issues that had been identified in a series of earlier community forums. The survey confirmed findings gathered through the forums and, when added to existing data, resulted in several actions by the Commission and community partners. These included establishing an after-school program for children in grades one through five in Culver, appropriating funds to conduct a monthly support group for child care providers, and funding a position with the regional child care resource and referral agency to recruit and train family day care providers. The person who filled the position to recruit and train providers is bilingual and has been able to increase connections with the Hispanic community around the issue of school-age child care.

Josephine County (Report of findings issued August 1995)
The report of findings was widely disseminated throughout the county. Members of the Child Care Task Force, the Josephine County Commission on Children and Families, and local school districts all received copies. In addition, each school that participated in the survey process received a copy of results particular to that school. The Commission chose to address the issue of self-care as the first step in using the survey information. Working in cooperation with the Child Care Resource and Referral Network, the Commission made information pamphlets available to families with children in grades four and five. These pamphlets help families to assess whether or not their child is ready to stay home alone and also provide guidance on how to prepare children, who are ready, to stay alone safely. Information on both topics is also being covered in newsletters sent to parents of children in sixth grade. Although the Commission prefaces the information with a strong statement about the importance of supervised school-age care and its relationship to quality experiences for youth, it does recognize that children may be left on their own for varying time periods. The information provided will hopefully increase the safety of children during those times.

Malheur County (Report of findings issued July 1995)
The data have been used by the Commission in decisions regarding distribution of child care block grant funds, and by local school site councils in determining the school-age care needs of their families.

In conclusion, the experience of the counties demonstrates the value of locally-derived data in community-based planning. The survey generated information from local families about local needs and issues, and the relevancy of that information led to local action. Communities have not only gained important information about school-age child care issues, they have also experienced the benefits of a collaborative approach to research that capitalizes on the resources of both local communities and the University.

Subsequent Study

The most important information individual counties gained through the school-age child care needs assessment process was information that could be readily and confidently applied to solve local problems. However, the data may be explored further to provide a more general sense of how families living in rural areas define their school-age child care needs. Thus an additional study was conducted during the fall of 1995 in which data provided by families in all of the counties but Josephine County were aggregated and analyzed. A summary of the methods used in the study and the findings that emerged are provided in the following report.

What Are the Child Care Needs of Families in Rural Communities?

A core of questions common to the six county surveys was identified and formed the basis of the study. The responses of 3697 families with a youngest school-age child in grades K-4 provided the data base. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions: 1) Where do children spend their after-school hours? 2) What problems do parents have with care arrangements? 3) At what age do parents feel children can be left home alone? 4) What educational information is needed by children in self-care? and 5) How often and for what time periods do families need child care?

The study used both qualitative and quantitative data gathered by the questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics. Not all questionnaires were completely filled out, and thus the number of responses to any one item varied between items. All percentages used in this report were based on the actual number of responses received for an item. Qualitative data, in the form of written comments, were analyzed inductively, using a content analysis strategy and were used primarily to provide additional understanding of quantitative responses.

A Description of the Families

In each county, families self-selected to participate in the study. More families with younger children are represented in the sample because the survey asked families to provide information based on their youngest school-age child. Over half of the families have a child in kindergarten or first grade as compared to 13% of families with a child in fourth grade (see Figure 2). Seventy-nine percent of the families who responded were two-parent families, 21% were single-parent families (see Figure 3). In terms of employment, defined as a minimum of ten hours of work per week, 57% of two-parent families had two or more adults employed, and 40% had only one adult employed. For single-parent households, 84% had one or more adults employed. Unemployment rates for two-parent and single-parent families were 3% and 16% respectively (see Figure 4).

Figure 2. Families Who Answered the Survey Have Youngest Child In:



 

Figure 3. Family Types



 

Figure 4. Parental Employment

3a: Two Parent Households (n=2839)



3b: One-Parent Households (n=766)

Current Care Arrangements

Families were asked to identify all care arrangements they used in a typical week (see Figure 5). The following were the five most frequently used types of care: at home with a parent (74%), at home with an older child (22%), at a relative's home (18%), at home with another adult (18%), and at family day care (18%). These five types of care held as most prevalent across family type, although with some noted differences. Single-parent families (56%) were less apt to have a parent home after school than were two-parent families (78%), and single-parent families reported larger percentages in the use of other adult-provided care. Both family types used care provided by an older child with approximately the same frequency. Families were least likely to place their children in child care centers (6%) or leave them home alone or with younger siblings (4%).

The infrequent use of child care centers is in sharp contrast to findings from other studies (Hofferth & Phillips,1991; Oregon Childhood Care and Education Data Project, 1995) which show a more equal distribution of use between care provided by relatives, family day care, and center care. This may be explained, in part, by the limited number of child care centers that were available to serve school-age children in these counties.

Although most families managed to provide adult supervision for their children after school, 25% of children were without adult supervision at least part of each week, and 6% were without adult supervision every day. As noted above, the use of older children as caregivers was second only to care by parents. The age of these older children ranged from 7 to 17 years. In some instances, the child providing care was not much older than the child who was receiving care.

Forty-six percent of families used just one type of care each week. (In 29% of families, the youngest school-age child went home to a parent every day.) Twenty-five percent of families reported using three or more types of care each week.

Figure 5. Typical After-School Child Care

Problems with Child Care

Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated they experienced child care problems (see Figure 6). Finding care for a sick child topped the list of concerns (27%). Worrying about children while at work, coordinating child care with work hours, arranging transportation for children after school, and the cost of care were other identified problems. Parents also indicated a concern that their children missed out on activities because of current care arrangements. Finding care they liked and finding care before school were problems for 10% or fewer of the families. A comparison of data for two-parent and single-parent families revealed that although the two groups had similar care problems, single-parent families experienced more problems. Two thirds of single-parent families reported problems as opposed to half of two-parent families.
Twenty-two percent of all families (28% single-parent, 20% two-parent) indicated that the lack of good child care kept them or their spouse from working as many hours as they would like.
The cost of child care was problematic for many families. Twenty percent of single-parent families and 11% of two-parent families indicated a concern about cost, and no other topic on the questionnaire prompted more comments from respondents. Overwhelmingly, written remarks expressed the problems families have in paying for child care, especially if they work for minimum wages or have more than one child who needs care. Charges of $2 per hour or higher were rejected as decidedly beyond the reality of family budgets. Respondents suggested that fees based on level of income and special family rates would make care more affordable for them.

Figure 6. Parents' Problems with School-Age Care

Self-Care

On average, families indicated that children become capable of handling the responsibilities of being on their own after school each day at approximately twelve years of age. Recognizing, however, that younger children are sometimes left without adult supervision not only after school but at other times during the week, the survey asked families to identify self-care topics for which their children needed more information. All six of the topics listed on the questionnaire were identified by a majority of families (see Figure 7). To address the need for this information, parents overwhelmingly indicated a preference for video taped information or for written materials they could use with their children at home. Classes taught at school were also favored. Parents showed little interest in evening or weekend classes (see Figure 8). No differences were noted between the responses of single- and two-parent families on the issue of self-care.

Figure 7. Percentage of Parents Who Say: "My child needs to know more about ..."



 

Figure 8. Parent Preferences for Education Programs



 
When Care Is Needed

When asked how often they would use supervised child care if it was available, sixty-five percent of families indicated they would use it to some extent, projected use decreasing as the grade level of the children increased. Single-parent families (76%) would be more likely to use care than would two-parent families (63%). Overall, 20% of all families indicated that they would use school-age care daily, 17% would use care two to three times a week, and another 27% would use it on an irregular basis. Most families would be well served by care provided as early as 6:00 a.m. and as late as 6:00 p.m., although comments from families indicated there is some need for care that extends beyond these times (see Figure 9).

 

Figure 9. Number of Families Needing After-School Care by Time Needed



 

Number of Families Needing Before-School Care by Time Needed


 
School-Age Child Care Issues

The findings that emerged from the data identified four major school-age child care issues that challenge rural families. First, the need for care was substantiated. Only 29% of the children in the sample went home to a parent every day. Most families must find alternative after-school care arrangements, and the fact that 54% of families used two or more kinds of care in a typical week suggests that finding consistent care may be a problem. Second, the impact child care problems have on parents' job performance was underscored. Child care problems may limit the times and the number of hours parents are able to work in addition to affecting their productivity on the job. A third issue that emerged was the need for affordable care, particularly for limited income families and families with more than one child. The fourth issue revolved around quality of care. Twenty-five percent of the children had no adult supervision on some days of each week, and while there is no conclusive proof that children in self-care necessarily fare worse than those in adult-supervised care (Hayes, Palmer, & Zaslow, 1990), certainly there should be some concern as to the quality of the care these children experience.

Conclusion

The need rural families have for school-age child care and the issues that surround providing that care are similar to those reported elsewhere for families in general (Hayes, Palmer, & Zaslow, 1990; Hofferth & Phillips, 1991). Rural families present a range of needs and preferences for care that cannot be met by any one approach. Instead, a multiple-resource base is necessary, and families, communities, and government each have contributions to make. Parents must be advocates for their needs and those of their children and actively participate in community planning. They must also take responsibility for evaluating the quality of available care options and for making informed decisions about choice of care. Government must continue its role of subsidizing the training and support of care providers and the cost of care for limited-income families. A wide variety of community organizations, including schools, youth organizations, hospitals, and churches also have important contributions to make. Providing space for school-age child care programs and/or offering after-school programs, providing sick child care, and educating youth and adults about quality care are just a few of the practices they might adopt to support quality school-age care. Through combined efforts, a community-based system of care can be developed that will promote the healthy development of children and, at the same time, permit parents to successfully meet parenting and job responsibilities.

References