Chapter V

Provider Survey

As noted earlier in the report, a random sample of licensed child care providers throughout the state were surveyed for this study. The survey gauged their opinions concerning a variety of topics regarding technical assistance. Surveys were distributed to 1,360 providers, including 925 family day care homes, 415 centers, and 20 group day care homes. The sample represents 25 percent of each type of provider. In total, 231 (25 percent) surveys were received from family providers, 115 (28 percent) from center directors, and 7 (35 percent) from group day care providers.

Although the 26 percent overall response rate is somewhat low, the committee believes the information collected is relevant for this report. The survey data represent the opinions of 353 random providers, more than committee staff could have interviewed on an individual basis.

For analysis purposes, survey results are categorized by center-based facilities (centers and group day care homes) and family day care homes, since each group operates under its own set of regulations. The analysis below focuses on key technical assistance questions from the survey. A full accounting of the results is included in Appendix A.

Child Care Centers and Group Day Care Homes

Survey responses from centers and group day care homes were combined, given both types of facilities operate under the same regulations. General provider information from the survey responses shows:

· on average, the center-based providers have been licensed in Connecticut for 16 years;

· 117 of the 122 center-based providers indicated the type of technical assistance they received; over half (53 percent) reported their most recent technical assistance from DPH was part of a routine two-year inspection; and

· 82 percent responding noted their technical assistance occurred within the past year.

Technical assistance services. Providers were asked several questions about the most recent technical assistance they received from DPH child care staff. Table V-1 shows the results.

Table V-1 shows the vast majority of center and group day care home providers responded favorably in terms of the technical assistance services received from DPH child care staff. For example:

· over three-fourths of the providers "agreed" the technical assistance received helped them either attain or maintain child care regulations;

· 73 percent "agreed" the child day care staff had a thorough knowledge of the regulations;

· almost two-thirds of the respondents "agreed" the technical assistance received clarified state child care regulations;

· 59 percent said DPH staff explained the relevant regulations in terms of what the regulation was, the purpose behind the regulation, and ways to ensure compliance; and

· 82 percent "agreed" DPH child care staff was courteous during providers' most recent technical assistance session.

Quality and amount. The committee was very interested in providers' thoughts about whether the overall quality of the technical assistance received from DPH child care staff was sufficient to meet their needs to comply with state regulations. Providers were also asked if DPH child care staff offered the proper amount of technical assistance for providers to attain and maintain regulations.

Based on providers' overall experience:

· 80 percent responding believe the technical assistance received from DPH child care staff was sufficient to meet their needs to comply with state child care regulations; and

· 78 percent of providers believe DPH child care staff offers the proper amount of technical assistance to help them attain or maintain compliance with child care regulations.

Workshops and helpdesk. An initiative within the DPH child care regulatory division is offering workshops to providers, as discussed in Chapter II. The workshops allow providers direct access to child care regulatory staff and are designed to inform providers about regulatory requirements. The committee's survey of centers/group day care homes, however, shows almost 60 percent of providers responding said they were unaware the workshops were offered. This indicates more communication is needed by DPH to inform providers the technical assistance workshops are available.

A helpdesk within the community based regulation division is available to answer providers' questions over the telephone. The division places a lot of emphasis on this service as a means of providing technical assistance on a daily basis. According to the survey, 71 percent of the 120 providers responding to that question were aware they could call the helpdesk using a toll-free number; almost 30 percent, however, did not know the service exists, again indicating more effective communication on part of DPH is needed.

Family Day Care Providers

General information about the family day care home providers responding includes:

· on average, the family day care providers have been licensed in Connecticut for an average of nine years;

· 228 of the 231 family providers indicated the type of technical assistance they most recently received from DPH; 62 percent responded it was part of an unannounced spot inspection; and

· 95 percent noted their technical assistance occurred within the past two years.

Technical assistance services. Table V-2 shows how family providers responded to questions regarding the most recent technical assistance received from DPH child care staff.

Table V-2 shows the vast majority of family day care providers responded favorably in terms of the technical assistance services received from DPH child care staff. Overall:

· 87 percent of providers "agreed" the technical assistance received helped them either attain or maintain child care regulations, showing a correlation between technical assistance and regulatory compliance;

· 87 percent "agreed" the child day care staff had a thorough knowledge of the regulations;

· 84 percent "agreed" the technical assistance received clarified state child care regulations;

· 83 percent "agreed" DPH explains the relevant regulations in terms of what the regulation is, the purpose behind the regulation, and ways to ensure compliance (almost 25 percent higher than center-based providers); and

· 91 percent "agreed" DPH child care staff was courteous during providers' most recent technical assistance session.

Quality and amount. The results of family providers' responses to the quality and amount of technical assistance offered by DPH child care staff were very favorable to DPH. Based on their overall experience:

· 80 percent of providers responding believe the technical assistance received from DPH child care staff was sufficient to meet their needs to comply with state child care regulations; and

· 78 percent of providers believe DPH child care staff offers the proper amount of technical assistance to help them attain or maintain compliance with child care regulations.

Workshops and helpdesk. The committee's survey of family day care providers shows 68 percent said they were aware technical assistance workshops were offered by DPH child care staff. Although the percentage is much higher than the response from center-based providers, the result still shows almost a third of providers were unaware the workshops were available. The committee believes this indicates more communication is needed by DPH, as recommended in Chapter II, to inform providers that workshops are available.

According to the survey results, 80 percent of providers were aware they could call the helpdesk using a toll-free number, while 20 percent did not know the service exists, further indicating more effective communication on the part of DPH is needed.

General Comments from Providers

The providers surveyed were asked several "open-ended" questions regarding the most common problems with technical assistance and possible solutions. Although providers rated child care staff technical assistance services very favorably as highlighted above, some providers made specific comments as to general problems and solutions. The general themes of the responses were reviewed, as summarized below:

• more consistency is needed among licensing specialists regarding answers to regulation questions and applying regulations during inspections;
• phone calls need to be answered/returned in a more timely way, particularly by the helpdesk;
• child care staff needs to balance enforcing regulations with technical assistance;
• more/better communication is needed, including mailings/reminders about regulations, newsletters, and handbooks; and
• providers need more assistance on "how" to fix problems, not just that problems exist.

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