Data and information used to updatein the 2009 Oklahoma Child Care & Early Education Portfolio comes from a wide variety of sources in Oklahoma and around the nation. This section identifies the sources for the information found in this document and the method used for computations where applicable.
CHILD CARE
AVAILABILITY
— see
LICENSED CHILD CARE CAPACITY.
CHILD CARE
COSTS
display the average weekly cost of full time licensed care
in child care centers and family child care homes. For child
care centers and homes, state and individual county costs
are reported for the following age groups: Infants,
Toddlers, Two-Year-Olds, Three-Year-Olds, Four- and
Five-Year-Olds, and Six and Over (school age). To view
individual county child care cost please visit
www.okchildcareportfolio.org.
SOURCE: Data from NACCRRAware provider updates completed by local child care resource and referral
agencies, and report generated by the Oklahoma Child Care Resource & Referral Association, Inc., FY 2009.
CHILD CARE SLOTS
— see
LICENSED CHILD CARE CAPACITY.
CHILD POPULATION is the total resident population, including dependents of Armed Forces personnel stationed in the area. In the Need section state and county counts are displayed for two age groups (birth through 5; 6 through 12) and the combination of those ages (birth through 12). Ages displayed in the Need section omit older children for whom child care is not likely to be sought.
SOURCE: Data provided by Oklahoma State Data Center, Research and Policy,
Oklahoma Department of Commerce (ODOC), using Missouri Census Data Center’s
Population Estimates by Age, using data from the US Census Bureau’s Population
Estimates Division, 2007.
http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/estimates_by_age.shtml
Children Needing Care for Every Licensed Child Care Slot is calculated two
different ways to report child care need for the state and for individual counties:
-
Children 0-12 Needing Care for Every Licensed Child Care Slot a takes the total number of Children With Working Parents (birth through age 12)
by the Licensed Child Care Capacity for the state and for each county. This number may be larger than the number of children actually needing
care since many families needing care may use relative care or unlicensed care of a friend or neighbor.
-
Children 0-5 Needing Care for Every Licensed Child Care Slot approximates the child care need which is met in Oklahoma. The rate is calculated
by dividing the number of Children With Working Parents (birth through age five) by the Licensed Child Care Capacity for the state and for each
county.
SOURCE: See Licensed Child Care Capacity and Children With Working Parents.
Children Receiving Subsidized Child Care measures the number of children by
state and by individual counties who receive child care paid in part by an OKDHS
subsidy (June 2009). The percent of children with working parents who receive a
child care subsidy is reported for the state and for individual counties.
SOURCE: Data from Office of Policy, Planning and Research, Oklahoma Department
of Human Services (OKDHS). OKDHS Statistical Bulletin: June 2009. Table 7:
Child Care Services Provided, By Age and County.
Children With Working Parents counts the children under the age of 13 who live
in two-parent families in which both parents work outside the home and children
who live in single-parent households in which the only parent works outside the
home. Children under the age of 13 living with working parents approximate those
for whom child care is most likely to be needed. The percent of children with
working parents displays the proportion of all children in each age group who
live in two-parent families in which both parents work outside the home and
children who live in single-parent households in which the only parent works
outside the home. State and individual county information is displayed for two
age groups (birth through 5; 6 through 12) and the combination of those ages
(birth through 12). Percentage of children living in homes with working parents
from the 2000 Census is used in conjunction with 2007 child population Census
estimates to calculate recent numbers of children living with working parents.
Calculated totals may vary from the sums of their components due to rounding.
SOURCE: Percentage of children living in homes with working parents from data
provided by the Oklahoma State Data Center, Research and Policy, Oklahoma
Department of Commerce (ODOC), using Oklahoma Department of Commerce - State
Data Center, using data from the US Census Bureau and Missouri Census Data
Center 2007. Reason/Methodology:
-
Started with Table P46 Age of Own Children Under 18 Years In Families and
Subfamilies by Living Arrangements by Employment Status of Parents from 2000
Census Summary File 3.
-
Calculated ratios of labor force participation for parents by child age groups.
-
Assumed ratios were consistent in 2007.
-
Multiplied ratios by child population reported by Missouri Census Data Center to
get final results.
See also Child Population.
Early Education details public school programs and enrollment for preschool age
children. State and individual county data displays the number of public
pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs and the number of children enrolled
in each. Information is displayed by all programs, by full-day programs and by
half-day programs. The levels of participation are recorded as a percent of all
four-year olds who are enrolled in either a full-day or part-day
pre-kindergarten program and as a percent of all five-year olds who are enrolled
in either a full-day or part-day kindergarten program. In some cases single year
population estimates fell below the actual preschool enrollment in a given
county. In such an event, the level of participation was recorded as 100%.
SOURCE: Data from Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), 2008 – 2009
School Year. See also Child Population.
Head Start is a
federal program for preschool children primarily from low-income families. Most
children enrolled in Head Start are between the ages of three and five years
old. Early Head Start services are also available to infants and toddlers in selected sites.
Children enrolled in Head Start typically attend either a full-day or half-day
center-based program. Head Start and Early Head Start programs and slots are included in the count of
Oklahoma’s licensed child care center-based programs. See Licensed Child Care
Capacity.
Licensed Child Care Capacity (frequently referred to as Child Care Slots or
Child Care Availability) displays the number and capacity for the state and by
county of child care facilities licensed by the State of Oklahoma in June 2009.
State and individual county percents are reported for all facilities, by
center-based programs and by family child care homes. Center-based programs are
comprised of Head Start and regular child care centers. Counts exclude child
care not required to be licensed or child care operating in violation of
licensing requirements. While Licensed Child Care Capacity is used in this
report as a measure of child care availability, it is not precise. Capacity
overstates available child care when facilities operate at less than full
capacity, keeping some licensed slots unavailable to children. Capacity also
understates available child care because not all child care is required to be
licensed.
SOURCE: Number of facilities and total capacity of homes from Office
of Policy, Planning and Research, Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS),
OKDHS Statistical Bulletin: June 2009. Table 10: Child Care Licensed Facilities
and Capacity by Type and County.
Data from OKDHS Statistical Bulletin: June 2008. Table 10 does not distinguish between regular center-based programs and Head Start programs so NACCRRAware data had to be used to get the most accurate number of regular center-based programs.
Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act requires most child care facilities
to be licensed by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS). Licensing
is designed to ensure that minimum standards for the care of Oklahoma children
are met and maintained. The specific standards address a wide variety of issues,
including staff qualifications and training, programming, safe environment,
sanitation, health and record keeping. Exemptions allow some types of child care
to operate without being licensed by the state. Child care exempted from
licensing primarily includes that provided in a child’s own home or by
relatives, informal arrangements made by parents with friends or neighbors for
occasional care (babysitting), home school programs, pre-school programs
operated by school districts, accredited summer youth camps for school age
children, and so on. Unlicensed child care programs and providers not falling
within a listed exemption violate the law. The examples provided are
illustrative only. For a full explanation of licensing requirements and
exemptions contact OKDHS or review the cited Oklahoma Statutes.
SOURCE: Oklahoma Statutes Annotated, Title 10, Section 401 et seq. (2004). See
also Licensed Child Care Capacity.
Percent of Children on OKDHS Child Care Subsidies Receiving Care in 2- or 3-Star
Facilities measures the proportion of low-income children from working families
receiving subsidies to help pay for child care who receive that care in a
facility (includes both centers and homes) which is Two- or Three-Star rated,
indicating the facility provides a higher quality of care. Percents are reported
for the state and for individual counties.
SOURCE: Data from Office of Policy, Planning and Research, Oklahoma Department
of Human Services (OKDHS). OKDHS Statistical Bulletin: June 2009. Table 9: Child
Care Facilities and Subsidies, By Type, Stars and County.
Percent of Facilities Accepting OKDHS Subsidies displays the proportion of
licensed facilities reporting a willingness to serve low-income children whose
care is subsidized by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS). State
and individual county percents are reported for all facilities, by center-based
programs and by family child care homes.
SOURCE: Data from Office of Policy, Planning and Research, Oklahoma Department
of Human Services (OKDHS). OKDHS Statistical Bulletin: June 2009. Table 10:
Child Care Licensed Facilities and Capacity, By Type and County: Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
Percent of Facilities with Waiting Lists
displays the proportion of licensed
child care facilities reporting an inability to serve all children seeking care
and maintaining a list in the event a slot becomes available. State and
individual county percents are reported for all facilities, by center based
programs and by family child care homes. Counties listing no information for
center-based programs are those for which no center responded to the survey
question.
Review of the data presented for the Percentage of Facilities with Waiting Lists
for centers and homes requires caution be used and recognition of recognize the
impact ofa low response rates can have. Many of the questions associated with
the 2007 Market Rate Survey (MRS) had as few as two respondents. Low response
rates can skew the data resulting in the reader incorrectly interpreting the
data. The reader is cautioned to be aware of very small and very large numbers
when comparing county data. Relying solely on the data presented without
considering the context and the numbers involved can result in poor decisions
and poor interpretations. Other sources of data and viewpoints are available
from other sources that can aid in placing the data presented here in a broad
and proper context.
SOURCE: Unpublished data from Oklahoma State University, Child Care Market Rate
Survey, prepared for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), 2007.
Public Kindergarten Programs
— see
Early Education.
Public Preschool Programs for Pre-K (4-year olds)
— see
Early Education.
Quality of Child Care
— see
Star Ratings for Child Care Facilities.
SOURCE: Data from Office of Policy, Planning and Research, Oklahoma Department
of Human Services (OKDHS). OKDHS Statistical Bulletin: June 2008. Table 10:
Child Care Licensed Facilities and Capacity, By Type and Count and OKDHS
Statistical Bulletin: June 2008. Table 9: Child Care Facilities and Subsidies,
By Type, Stars and County y: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Requests to Resource and Referral Programs displays information about care
sought by families through local child care resource and referral programs.
State and individual county data include the number and proportion of families
seeking full-time or part-time child care (or both), the ages of the children
for whom care is being sought and the types of non-traditional schedules needed.
Ages of the children are reported by categories, including infants (birth
through nine months), toddlers (ten through 23 months), two-year olds (24
through 35 months), three- through five-year olds (36 through 60 months), and
school age children (over 60 months), and are reported as a number and as the
percent of all requests each age category represents. Types of non-traditional
schedules requested include after-school, before-school, 24-hour care, evening
care, overnight care and weekend care, and are reported as a number and as the
percent of all requests each schedule represents. County data indicates whether
or not the local resource and referral program received requests for providers
serving children with special needs, speaking a specific non-English language or
using sign-language.
SOURCE: Data from NACCRRAware compliance reports completed by local resource and
referral agencies, then submitted to and tabulated by Oklahoma Child Care
Resource & Referral Association, Inc., FY 2009.
Star Ratings for Child Care Facilities display the proportion of licensed child care
centers and homes and their capacity at each level of the Reaching for the Stars rating system
created by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Star ratings are reported
for the state and for individual counties. Absence of one or more of the Star
ratings from the pie chart means that county had no facilities licensed for that
Star rating in June 2009.
SOURCE: Data from Office of Policy, Planning and Research, Oklahoma Department
of Human Services (OKDHS). OKDHS June 2009 moment in time data. Child Care
Facilities, By Star Levels, Capacity and County.
Starting Wage
displays the average starting hourly wage a beginning child care provider is paid
to work in a child care center and child care home. Wages can be found for the
state and for individualized counties in the Archived Data from 2008. There is
no updated data on starting wages to report. The data comes from the Department
of Human Services, Market Rate Survey and the data was not made available at time of
collection. However, we know that many child care providers are paid low compensation,
usually around the minimum wage level which is currently, $7.25/hour.
Subsidized Child Care
— see
Children Receiving Subsidized Child Care.
Turnover Rate displays the rate at which child care workers leave their
employment in child care centers each year. Rates are reported for the state and
for individual counties. Counties listing no turnover rates are those for which
no center responded to the survey question.
Review of the data presented for the Turnover Rate for centers and homes
requires caution be used and recognition ofrecognize the impact ofa low response
rates can have. Many of the questions associated with the 2007 Market Rate
Survey (MRS) had as few as two respondents. Low response rates can skew the data
resulting in the reader incorrectly interpreting the data. The reader is
cautioned to be aware of very small and very large numbers when comparing county
data. Relying solely on the data presented without considering the context and
the numbers involved can result in poor decisions and poor interpretations.
Other sources of data and viewpoints are available from other sources that can
aid in placing the data presented here in a broad and proper context.
SOURCE: Unpublished data from Oklahoma State University, Child Care Market Rate
Survey, prepared for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), 2007.
Quality Ranking
displays the ranking of all 77 counties by who offers the
highest quality of care based on the Star Rating and Capacity of facilities. The ranking was
calculated using the average Star Rating by county and weighted against county Licensed
Child Care Capacity.
SOURCE: Data from Oklahoma Child Care Services (OKDHS), June 2009 moment in time data; Child Care Facilities By Stars, Capacity, and County.