Comparative Evaluation of AB 3059 Alternative Child Care Programs. Summary Report.

Findings from the evaluation of the AB 3059 alternative child care programs are presented in this report. (AB 3059 child care programs were mandated by the California legislature in 1976 with the goals of assessing features that might reduce child care costs, ensuring maximum parental choice among facilities, addressing unmet child care needs throughout California, and encouraging community-level coordination of support for child care programs.) Section I, the introduction, provides an overview of the legislation establishing AB 3059 child care programs, summarizes background information about AB 3059 and other child care programs funded by the California State Department of Education, discusses the evaluation study's objectives and limitations, and defines key terms and concepts used throughout the report. Major findings of the study as they relate directly to the legislative goals of AB 3059 are presented in Section II. The central question addressed in this section is "To what extent have AB 3059 programs succeeded in meeting the objectives specified by the California state legislature?" Major findings for each of the four types of program constituting AB 3059 (center-based child care, family day care systems, vendor payment programs, and resource/referral programs) are presented in Section III. Finally, Section IV assesses the cost and resource structures of different methods of child care delivery, the impact of wage rates and caregiver/child ratios on the costs of center-based care, and the interrelationship of cost and quality considerations. (Author/MP)