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Purdue researchers attempt
to study quality of
childcare
By Kurt Esposito
Assistant
Campus Editor
There is data to show how welfare reform programs
have done, but there is none to show what effect it has had on children.
Purdue researchers have received a grant of about
$700,000 from the federal childcare bureau to research what quality
of childcare is provided to children in low-income families.
Policy changes in welfare required that people
obtain welfare benefits only for certain periods of time and must then
obtain a job. James Elicker, associate professor of child development
and family studies, said, "So a lot of parents who have few resources
are working low-wage jobs full time even when they have very young children
— infants, toddlers and preschoolers."
Because they need to sustain their families, both
parents are forced to work. So they put their children into different
kinds of childcare, which include relatives, childcare homes and daycare
centers.
He said a lot of research has shown how the welfare
reform programs have performed, but none of the research has shown what
effects they have on children; a component, he said, that needs consideration
when evaluating those programs.
Susan Kontos, professor of child development and
family studies, said the researchers will look at the different kinds
of care, the quality of care and how it affects the child's development.
They will look at the availability and accessibility
of the care as well as what resources families and communities have
to fund them. Kontos said a lot of these families do not have the resources
for adequate childcare.
Researchers will recruit low-income families with
children ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years in four counties —
Marion, Allen, Lake and St. Joseph. They will look at what kind of care
the children are receiving and what effect it is having on them. The
research will look at the child while it is in care to learn about the
child and the environment of the childcare.
Kontos said because they are doing the research
in four counties, they will be able to see what different communities
provide for children in childcare, and support those who are no longer
on welfare and become part of the workforce.
She said research opportunities are available to
undergraduate and graduate students for the three years of the research.
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Purdue
researchers attempt to study quality of childcare
CAMPUS DESK PHONE:
(765)
743-1111 ext. 253
Campus editor:
Laura Pelner
Assistant campus
editors: Kurt Esposito,
Dave Stephens
To
send a letter to the editor, please email campus@purdueexponent.org
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