The Urban Institute’s A Brief for CCDF Lead Agencies is a three-part series that explains how narrow cost analyses can be used to better understand what it costs providers to deliver child care and how that information can be used to inform Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidy payment rates. The brief distinguishes the cost of care—the value of the resources needed to provide services—from the prices or tuition providers charge families, and describes approaches for estimating costs at different levels of quality. The Brief’s purpose is to help CCDF lead agencies analyze the gap between the estimated cost of providing care and existing payment rates, providing additional information that can support longer-term rate-setting decisions and families’ equitable access to high-quality child care.
Access each part of the series below:
Approaches to Narrow Cost Analysis
Using a Narrow Cost Analysis to Inform Payment Rates