Understanding child care decision-making for families who have young children with disabilities: an explanatory mixed methods study

Families who have young children with disabilities have constrained child care options and often report difficulty in finding child care. However, little is understood about their child care decision-making process, and research has yet to explore how navigations between families’ child care needs and the early childhood special education system may influence their child care decision-making process. This study explores the child care decision-making process of families of young children with disabilities through three investigations. Investigation 1 employs logistic regression analyses using data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE; 2012) to examine child care preferences of families who have children with disabilities. Investigation 2 employs latent profile analysis using NSECE calendar data to examine the daily arrangement patterns of children in the U.S., and utilizes multinomial logistic regression to examine differences in arrangement patterns for children with disabilities. Finally, using interview data collected from a separate sample of Delaware families who had young children with disabilities, investigation 3 explores how families navigated between their child care needs and early childhood special education services, and the impact this navigation had on their child care decisions.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Delaware

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Riser, Danielle

• Child care
• Disabilities
• Early intervention

DOI

https://doi.org/10.58088/vzx4-3720

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:udspace.udel.edu:19716/29536