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Executive summary: Cutting through complexity: Using behavioral science to improve Indiana's child care subsidy program

Description:
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project is the first major opportunity to use a behavioral economics lens to examine programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States. Sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and led by MDRC, the project applies behavioral insights to issues related to the operations, implementation, and efficacy of social service programs and policies. The goal is to learn how tools from behavioral science can be used to deliver programs more effectively and, ultimately, improve the well-being of low-income children, adults, and families. This report describes a collaboration between the Indiana Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL) and the BIAS team. The OECOSL is the lead agency responsible for administering the state's Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which provides child care subsidies to low-income parents who are working or in school. The CCDF has the dual goals of supporting parental employment and furthering children's development. Over a period of 19 months, the BIAS team designed and evaluated three behavioral interventions that aimed to improve outcomes at two important points in the child care program -- when parents enroll in the CCDF program and must select a child care provider, and when they renew their subsidies. The first intervention, which was launched statewide in June 2014 and ran through October 2014, focused on child care decision making among low-income parents. It aimed to increase the percentage of parents who used their CCDF subsidies to pay for highly rated providers in the state's quality rating and improvement system -- Paths to QUALITY (PTQ). The PTQ program ranks child care providers on a four-point scale based on standards related to health and safety, staff qualifications, parental engagement, and curriculum development. The OECOSL sought to increase the percentage of CCDF parents who selected PTQ providers, and to increase the number who chose highly rated providers (Levels 3 or 4). Two additional interventions, which ran from January through November 2014, focused on CCDF redetermination in Marion County, a large urban county that includes the city of Indianapolis. Parents had to verify their continued eligibility for child care subsidies at least every six months by submitting required documentation. The OECOSL aimed to use behavioral insights to encourage parents to attend their first scheduled appointment and to complete the process in one visit. (author abstract)
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Executive Summary

Related resources include summaries, versions, measures (instruments), or other resources in which the current document plays a part. Research products funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation are related to their project records.

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Executive Summary
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