Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map

Methodology Related to Demographic and Early Childhood Service Data

Various organizations and agencies use different data methodologies to relate the availability of early child care and education services and the number of children who need these services. Here we present some of these organizations' and agencies' methodologies.

IECAM Demographic Estimates for 2005

Besides its data on early care and education services in the state of Illinois, IECAM provides demographic data on population, poverty, and language. These demographic data in IECAM include U.S. Census data from the 2000 decennial census, and estimates for 2005 based on the U.S. Census. Read the detailed Methodology for Preparing Demographic Estimates.

View a comparison of 2000 Census demographic data and 2005 demographic estimates.

Chapin Hall Center for Children

The Chapin Hall Center for Children provides data on population, eligibility, utilization, and slots. Chapin Hall explains its methodology for determining population and eligibility.

With regard to population, to determine a possible undercount, Chapin Hall compared, on the one hand, the number of children born in 2000 (as reported in the 2000 Census) and the infant mortality, and, on the other, the number of infants reported. These numbers were in sufficient agreement that Chapin Hall determined that there was no concern about an undercount.

To determine population estimates through 2005, Chapin Hall began with the 2000 Census data and used trend extrapolation methods to generate estimates for individual age groups in 2005. The extrapolation methods used Census data and rate of change in Chicago Public School enrollment.

To determine Head Start eligibility, Chapin Hall began with the 2000 Census data on number of children 0-5 at various percentages of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Then they took the total number of children at or below FPL. Finally, they separated the children into two age categories according to the percentages of children in those categories in each community, and they adjusted the numbers by the population change from 2000 to 2005 as discussed above.

This explanation is taken from the Understanding the Data section of the Chapin Hall Web site. For more details, please see that section of the Web site.

Additional information on Chapin Hall’s work can be found on the Chapin Hall home page and the Early Childhood Programs Supply and Demand page.

IFF
Moving Towards a System

The IFF conducted a statewide study of the distribution of full-day, full-year child care, including subsidized slots, Head Start, and Pre-K. Moving Towards a System was published in November of 2003. The Report (Preview, p. 3) documents need for these early care and education programs. Two comparisons of supply and demand are presented:

Demand was calculated using family work status and income data obtained from the 2000 U.S. Census. The demand for both subsidy-eligible child care and all-income child care was adjusted by estimating the number of children in families that were likely to use kith and kin care and then removing them from the demand figures. The report did not estimate the size of the overlap in the number of children who may be eligible for more than one early childhood service.

Data on available slots were obtained from the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA), the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region V.

Moving Towards A System (p. 7) also explains why both measures, service level and slot gap, are necessary to determine the relative need between counties and municipalities. If service level alone were used, then low-population areas with few resources and few children would rank artificially high in need. If slot gap alone were used, then high-population areas would rank artificially high regardless of their service levels. The IFF ranked all Illinois counties and municipalities based on the findings in order to evaluate the distribution of resources against need. (Preview, p. 3)

For more details on this methodology, see the documents listed below on the IFF Web site.

Illinois Action for Children
2005 Report on Child Care in Cook County: Elements of Child Care Supply and Demand

The 2005 Report on Child Care in Cook County: Elements of Child Care Supply and Demand discusses the range of child care options available to families in Cook County. The report examines affordability of child care, access to child care slots, issues related to accommodating schedules and finding providers, and dilemmas that face the public sector in relation to child care.

The report notes that determining the supply of and demand for child care is not simply a matter of comparing the number of child care slots and the number of children in need of care. Appendix 2 of the report provides a detailed discussion of the various elements that influence child care supply and demand.

Enterprise Community Partners
Understanding Child Care Supply and Demand in the Community

Understanding Child Care Supply and Demand in the Community (2004), by Enterprise Community Partners (formerly the Enterprise Foundation), provides community-based organizations (CBOs) with tools to measure the demand for and supply of child care in their communities. The manual describes how to identify the community, understand and measure demand, measure supply and document the gaps, and learn how to invest in child care to meet the needs in a particular community. Understanding Child Care Supply and Demand in the Community is available on the Enterprise Community Partners Web site.

Policy Analysis for California Education
Understanding Child Care Demand and Supply Issues

Understanding Child Care Demand and Supply Issues: New Lessons from Los Angeles (June 2001), a Policy Brief, by Linda Jacobson, Diane Hirshberg, Kathleen Malaske-Samu, Brenda Ball Cuthbertson, and Elizabeth Burr, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), provides an overview of options facing policymakers as they grapple with keeping family demand for child care from outpacing supply and how best to target resources in neighborhoods most in need. The brief states:

A number of factors impede efforts by state and local planners to understand how much licensed child care is available to parents. Among these are differing data on the actual supply of licensed care and differences between how many children a provider is licensed to care for and how many they prefer to have. (page 2)

Calculating the number of spaces available in child care homes is further complicated by the fact that a variety of combinations of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children are possible in one family child care home. (page 3)

Understanding Child Care Demand and Supply Issues is available on the Web.