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Understanding the True Cost of Child Care in Sacramento County
The Sacramento County Child Care Cost Modeling Project is bringing local data and provider experiences together to better understand the true costs of providing child care and inform future funding and policy conversations.
What does it really cost to provide child care in Sacramento County?
That question is at the heart of the Sacramento County Child Care Cost Modeling Project. Child Action is working with Children’s Funding Project, community leaders, and child care providers to better understand the true costs and realities of providing care across our region.
Staffing, facilities, supplies, and other expenses are all part of what it takes to operate and sustain child care. By bringing these costs into clearer focus, the project can help ensure local provider experiences are represented in future funding and policy conversations.
Local providers have been essential to this work. Through the ECE Cost Modeling Provider Survey, child care centers, family child care homes, and Family, Friend and Neighbor caregivers shared information about their costs and experiences providing care.
Hear From a Sacramento County Child Care Provider
Hear from Maria Lopez, a local child care provider, about the work and costs that often go unseen when providing care. Her encouragement to fellow providers reinforces the importance of sharing their experiences and helping build a clearer picture of what it truly takes to provide child care in our community.
Our Work Continues
In November, Community Engagement will host seven provider focus groups to dive deeper into provider experiences and help validate what we learned through the survey.
Together, the survey findings, focus groups, and other local data will help build a cost model that better reflects the needs, costs, and realities of Sacramento County’s child care community.
We are grateful to every provider who has contributed their time, experiences, and expertise to this important work.
Learn more about the Sacramento County Child Care Cost Modeling Project.