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Child Care in Rural Communities

Rural areas face particular challenges when developing strategies to increase the supply, quality, accessibility, and affordability of child care, and to expand the options available to parents. The following organizations and publications provide information about research and resources to support early care and education services in rural communities.

Federal Agencies

• U.S. Department of Agriculture
  World Wide Web: www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture administers services and programs that support the development of rural communities and food safety and nutrition, and that conduct research for agricultural technology. The following agencies and programs, within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, support families and children in rural communities.

  • Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) Families, 4-H & Nutrition
    Phone: 202-720-7441
    World Wide Web: www.csrees.usda.gov/
    

    CSREES seeks to improve early childhood, school-age, and teen programs by linking the teaching, research, education, technology, and 4-H youth development expertise to local communities across the United States. As part of the initiative, the system provides access to research, best practices, and education resources related to child care, including rural child care, through the National Network for Child Care Web site at http://cyfernet.ces.ncsu.edu/cyfdb/browse_3.php?cat_id=493&
    category_name=Rural+Child+Care&search=NNCC&search_type=browse.

  • Rural Housing Service National Office
    Community Programs
    Phone: 202-720-4323
    World Wide Web: www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/cf/cp.htm

    Community Programs administers programs designed to develop essential community facilities for public use in rural areas. These facilities include schools, libraries, child care settings, hospitals, medical clinics, assisted living facilities, fire and rescue stations, police stations, community centers, public buildings, and transportation facilities.

  • National Rural Development Partnership (NRDP)
    Phone: 202-690-2394
    World Wide Web: www.rurdev.usda.gov/nrdp/

    NRDP brings together Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, as well as the private for-profit and nonprofit sectors, to work in partnership for the improvement of rural communities across the United States.

  • Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS)
    Phone: 202-720-1400
    World Wide Web: www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs

    RBS works in partnership with the private sector and community-based organizations to provide financial and technical assistance to businesses and cooperatives located in rural communities.
     

  • Rural Information Center (RIC)
    Toll free: 800-633-7701
    World Wide Web: www.nal.usda.gov/ric/

    The Rural Child Care Center FAQ section of RIC’s Web site at www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/rural_child_care.htm provides information about starting a rural child care center and funding resources. RIC’s Web site also includes a database with Federal funding sources for rural areas. This resource is available on the Web at www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/funding/federalfund/ff.html.

  • Rural Development Housing & Community Facilities Program (HCFP)
    Phone: 202-720-4323
    World Wide Web: www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/

    HCFP provides funding for the development of essential community facilities, including child care centers in rural areas and small towns.

• U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement
  21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC)
  Toll free: 800-USA‑LEARN (800-872‑5327)
  World Wide Web: www.ed.gov
  

  The focus of the 21st Century Community Learning Century (CCLC) Program is to provide expanded learning opportunities for participating children in a safe, drug-free, and supervised environment. Approximately 6,800 rural and inner-city public schools in 1,420 communities—in collaboration with other public and nonprofit agencies, organizations, local businesses, post-secondary institutions, scientific/cultural, and other community entities—are now participating as 21st CCLCs.
  
  Many States around the country are conducting competitions to award 21st CCLC grants. Contact information for States’ 21st CCLC program is available on the Web at www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/contacts.html#state.  

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
  Child Care Bureau
  World Wide Web: www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ccb/

  In February 2000, ACF’s Child Care Bureau sponsored a National Leadership Forum, “Expanding Child Care to Underserved Populations: Meeting the Needs of Rural Communities.” The Forum brought together leaders and recognized experts in the field to focus attention on the critical need to make high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care available in rural communities. Video clips of Forum speakers are available online at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/forum/.

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ACF
  Head Start Bureau
  National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Quality Improvement Center (MSHS QIC)
  Toll free: 800-864-0465
  World Wide Web: www.mhsqic.org/
  

  MSHS QIC provides culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance to migrant and seasonal Head Start programs nationwide.

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD)
  Phone: 202-708-1112
  World Wide Web: www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/
  

  CPD’s Rural Housing and Economic Development (RHED) program provides funds for capacity building at the State and local level for rural housing and economic development and for supporting innovative housing and economic development activities in rural areas, including child care services. For additional information about RHED, call the Rural Gateway at 877-RURAL-26 or visit the Web at www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/economicdevelopment/programs/rhed/index.cfm.

National Organizations

• National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives (NCRECLI)
  Phone: 501-662-325-4954
  World Wide Web: http://ruralec.msstate.edu/index.htm

  NCRECLI promotes research about the quality, accessibility, and replication of early educational intervention services for at-risk young children and families in rural America.

  The Early Childhood Atlas, a project of NCRECLI and the Community Information Resource Center of the Rural Policy Research Institute, is a set of online tools for geographic analysis, including sorting, displaying, and mapping indicators about early childhood services and child well-being. The Atlas includes Early Childhood Status Reports for a limited number of counties and States and an archive of custom maps. Additional information about the Early Childhood Atlas is available on the Web at http://earlychildhood.msstate.edu/atlas/.

• National Research Center on Rural Education Support (NRCRES)
  Phone: 919-962-0333
  Email: info@nrcres.org
  World Wide Web: www.nrcres.org/

  NRCRES conducts research that addresses significant problems in rural education. The NRCRES is conducting three research programs to help address the issues faced in rural education.

  • The Rural Early Literacy Initiative program examines the issues that children face as they begin their education. Additional information is available on the Web at www.nrcres.org/trans%20one.htm.
  • The Rural Early Adolescent Learning Program examines the issues that students face during the transition to early adolescence and helps teachers support youth during this period. Additional information is available on the Web at www.nrcres.org/trans%20two.htm.
  • The Distance Education Program examines the role that distance education can play in rural schools, especially in enrichment and advanced level courses. Additional information is available on the Web at www.nrcres.org/distance%20ed.htm.

Publications

• “Rural Disparities in Baseline Data of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: A Chart Book” (January 2006), Rural Early Childhood Report No. 3, by Cathy Grace, Elizabeth Shores, Martha F. Zaslow, Brett Brown, Dena Aufseeser, and Lynn Bell, published by NCRECLI Mississippi State University, compares the access to early care and education and the school readiness between rural children and nonrural children. This resource is available on the Web at www.ruralec.msstate.edu/reports/ecls-frontmatter.pdf.  
• “The Health and Well-Being of Children in Rural Areas: A Portrait of the Nation” (2005), by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, is a chart book that highlights the major findings of the National Survey of Children’s Health about children in rural areas. This resource is available on the Web at www.mchb.hrsa.gov/ruralhealth/.
• Rural Children at a Glance (2005), by Carolyn C. Rogers, published by the U.S. Economic Research Service, for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reports the social, economic, and demographic characteristics of rural children. The data used are from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses of Population: the March 2004 Current Population Survey and the 2002 National Health Interview Survey. This resource is available on the Web at www.ers.usda.gov/publications/EIB1/EIB1.pdf.
• Young Children and the Rural Information Gap: The Weaknesses of Major Data Sources for Examining the Well-Being of Rural Children (December 2004), by Jeffrey Capizzano, published by the Urban Institute, examines national data sets that provide source data for child well-being indicators. The study finds that data confidentiality protocols and small sample sizes limit the extent to which child well-being indicators can be estimated for rural children. This resource is available on the Web at http://ruralec.msstate.edu/reports/Dec_04/report-dec04.pdf.
• Welfare Reform: Rural TANF Programs Have Developed Many Strategies to Address Rural Challenges (September 2004), by the General Accountability Office (GAO), presents information about (1) the size of the rural Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) caseload (i.e., the number of families receiving monthly cash assistance), how that caseload is distributed, and how the caseload’s size has changed over time; (2) the challenges and strengths that rural TANF programs have when implementing welfare reform; (3) the strategies being used to address these challenges; and (4) what ACF is doing to help rural areas address these challenges. The report GAO-04-921 is available on the Web at www.gao.gov/new.items/d04921.pdf.
• Implementing Welfare-to-Work Programs in Rural Places: Lessons from the Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies Demonstration Evaluation (April 2004), by Andrew Burwick, Vinita Jethwani, and Alicia Meckstroth, published by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examines whether innovative programs can improve employment and other outcomes for rural low-income people. This resource is available on the Web at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/welfare_employ/rural_wtw/reports/rwtw/rwtw_title.html.
• Finding Resources to Support Rural Out-of-School Time Initiatives (2003), by Elisabeth Wright, published by the Finance Project, discusses the resource challenges that program leaders in rural communities are facing. It describes Federal programs that can support rural out-of-school time programs and identifies strategies that State and local leaders can use to support and sustain out-of-school time in rural communities. This resource is available on the Web at www.financeprojectinfo.org/publications/ruralost.pdf.
• “Meeting the Challenge of Social Service Delivery in Rural Areas”(March 2003), Issue Note Vol. 7, No. 2, by Pamela Friedman, published by the Welfare Information Network, explores the challenges social service agencies face when delivering services to meet the special needs of rural area residents. It offers suggestions about how to design programs and policies to address those needs. This resource is available on the Web at www.financeproject.org/Publications/meetingthechallengeIN.htm.
• The Importance of Place in Welfare Reform: Common Challenges for Central Cities and Remote-Rural Areas (June 2002), by Monica G. Fisher and Bruce A. Weber, published by the Brookings Institution, reviews existing literature and analyzes new data to determine how welfare and economic outcomes vary across the geographic continuum. It describes the specific challenges to employment caused by child care issues related to availability, location, transportation, and hours of work. This resource is available on the Web at www3.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/weberfull.pdf.  
• “Child Care for Welfare Participants in Rural Areas,” in Rural Welfare Issue Briefs (November 2000), by Laura J. Colker and Sarah Dewees describes, some of the child care challenges that low-income rural residents face, and child care services welfare recipients in rural areas use. This resource is available on the Web at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/welfare_employ/rural_wtw/reports/cc_wlf_part/cc_for_welfare.pdf.

Updated April 2007