Using the Access Framework to Guide Child Care Policy During the COVID-19 Crisis
This issue brief provides a framework that states can use during the COVID-19 crisis to create child care policies that promote equitable access and mitigate the chance that child care closures will be concentrated in low-income and middle-income neighborhoods and rural areas. The ECE Access Project, supported by OPRE (Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation) in the Department of Health and Human Services, developed an access framework with four interrelated dimensions: (1) affordable; (2) supports child development; (3) meets parents' needs; and (4) reasonable efforts. The brief includes a table of policy-related questions along each dimension and recommendations. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.