View Research by Author - Heather Sandstrom

Publications

A multiyear qualitative study describes how low-income parents view their supply of child care, how they learn about their options, and barriers to access. Common impediments include nonstandard schedules, inflexible employers, and unreliable transportation. Challenges are even more intense for immigrants, parents lacking English proficiency, and parents of infants and of children with special needs. Head Start can't enroll enough children to meet demand, and though many families qualify for child care assistance, CCDF spending is capped. Enhancing investment in these resources would help low-income working families get the higher quality and more stable care children need.

A multiyear qualitative study finds low-income families seeking dependable child care are hampered by unsteady work, fluctuating wages, and unreliable transportation. Given many low-wage workers' difficulties finding jobs, especially in the Great Recession, parents selected child care arrangements within constraints imposed by employers rather than what they felt optimal for their children's development. Policy changes could bridge the gap between working parents and professional child care centers. For example, increasing public funding for Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care subsidies would encourage child care providers to extend hours, which would better accommodate more families' work schedules.

States can both save money and serve low-income families better if they create integrated eligibility systems for all the support programs they administer, propose Olivia Golden and Heather Sandstrom in this commentary for Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity.

A case study of the initial implementation of Best Start LA-a place-based community investment in Los Angeles County designed to improve the well-being, development, and care experienced by children ages five and under-finds mostly positive results, thus far. At the family level, home visiting for pregnant and parenting mothers is off to a strong start, rendering services to nearly 750 families by the end of 2010. Community-level efforts to mobilize community members and develop family-support strategies have been slower to develop. Systems-level investments to develop family-friendly policies and services across the county are proceeding on schedule.

This research report presents the findings from a qualitative study of the child care choices of low-income working families in two urban communities. Participants included 86 parents with young children, many of whom were immigrants, English language learners, or parents of children with special needs. We discuss the key themes and variations in family experiences, giving particular attention to parental preferences and the factors that influenced their decisions, within the contexts of their employment and the early care and education programs in their communities. We conclude with policy recommendations that can promote parental access to affordable and high quality care.

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