Published December 2024 | RESEARCH and PUBLICATIONS

Child Care in Rural Oregon

An Update on Child Care in Rural Oregon

In 2020, The Ford Family Foundation commissioned the research that produced the report Child Care in Rural Oregon: Bold Approaches to Address Systemic Inequity and Rebuild Child Care. Led by Louise Stoney, a nationally recognized expert in early childhood care and education, the research investigated the economic impact of Oregon’s child care policies on rural families and child care businesses. It included five strategies to improve Oregon’s child care system.

Since then, much has changed. Oregon has weathered a pandemic, sworn in a new governor, passed legislation to reform the child care system, and created a new state agency, the Department of Early Learning and Care. Despite this progress, many families—particularly in rural Oregon—remain underserved by the child care system.

This follow-up report, Progress at Risk: An Update on Child Care in Rural Oregon, details progress and prevailing challenges across the five strategic recommendations:

  1. Use a cost-based model to calculate subsidy rates
  2. Lower family copayments
  3. Stabilize funding for child care programs
  4. Support child care providers through shared services alliances
  5. Adjust licensing regulations to support new and mixed models of care

DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS

» Full report: English (pdf) | Spanish (pdf)
» Summary report:  English (pdf) | Spanish (pdf)

Progress at Risk: An Update on Child Care in Rural Oregon
Child Care in Rural Oregon cover

Published December 2020

Bold Approaches to Address Systemic
Inequity and Rebuild Child Care

Leaders across the state and nation are deeply concerned about ensuring that Oregon’s children receive high-quality early education, and that hard-working Oregon families have the child care supports they need to succeed. In 2019 the Center for American Progress reported that 90% of Oregon was in a child care desert (an area where there is only one child care slot for every three children who need care).

This landmark report produced in 2020 by Louise Stoney, a nationally recognized expert in early childhood care and education, investigates the economic impact of state policies that affect rural children and their families, as well as the challenges of operating a financially viable child care business in rural Oregon.

DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS

» Full report PDF
» Summary report PDF