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SRCD State Policy Fellow Portfolio Abstracts: Kate Giapponi Schneider, Ph.D.

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2017-2018 State Policy Post-doctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)
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Kate Giapponi Schneider, Ph.D.
Kate Giapponi Schneider, Ph.D.
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Portfolio Entry 1: Market Rate Survey Project

Project Overview:

Goal: To write core sections of and evaluate a Request for Proposals (RFP) aimed at the development and implementation of a survey to assess whether Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) subsidy reimbursement rates are high enough to enable families to competitively find and afford child care.

Contributions of Fellow:

  • Wrote core sections of the RFP including the methodology and data analysis sections, and given expertise, fellow served as the only reviewer for these sections.
  • Added sections on the new Child Care Development Block Grant requirements to the RFP.
  • Once awarded to a vendor, worked on this project as a senior team member from start to finish (i.e., from conducting the core work of the survey through the final release of the report). Fellow’s background in research methodology and data analysis were integral to the team’s approach for this project.
  • Co-created presentations on interim and final results of the survey development and implementation along with the vendor that were presented to key stakeholders at a meeting of the Fiscal Committee of the Placement Agency’s Board.

Activity Focus Keywords: Data Analysis, Presentation, RFP Development, RFP Proposal Evaluation, Survey Design, Written Report
Policy Area Keywords: Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), Child Care Subsidy

Portfolio Entry 2: Child Care Contract Allocations Project

Project Overview:

Background: The placement agency operates a mixed-mechanism child care subsidy system in that the state offers subsidies through 1) vouchers that families can use at any provider willing to accept vouchers as payment and 2) contracted slots at prescribed providers. The placement agency will be re-procuring subsidy contracts with child care providers.

Goal: To determine how many slots to allocate to each region of the state for each provider type (center-based vs. family child care) and child age group served under the procurement.

Contributions of Fellow:

  • Used public and state administrative data sources to analyze current contract allocations compared to a variety of measures of demand/unmet need across the state.

Activity Focus Keywords: Administrative Data, Data Analysis, Presentation, Written Report
Policy Area Keywords: Center-based Child Care, Child Care Subsidy, Contracted Slots, Family Child Care, Vouchers

Portfolio Entry 3: Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Implementation Research and Evaluation Grant Project

Project Overview:

Background: In October 2016, the agency was awarded a planning grant, CCDBG Implementation Research and Evaluation Planning Grant, by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE). As a follow-up to this planning grant the agency will respond to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that would award four years of funding for states to execute their implementation research and evaluation design developed during the planning grant.

Goal: To organize and write a response to a FOA from OPRE.

Contributions of Fellow:

  • Presented preliminary analysis based on work of OPRE planning grant at 2018 Annual Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium Meeting.
  • Contributed to grant application in response to the FOA from OPRE.

Activity Focus Keywords: Evaluation, Grant Application, Grant Review, Implementation Research, Presentation, Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
Policy Area Keywords: Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium (CCEEPRC) Meeting, Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)

Portfolio Entry 4: Ad Hoc Analyses Project

Project Overview:

Goal: To conduct data analysis to understand child care subsidy wait list times by month of the year, child age, and in towns across the state.

Contributions of Fellow:

  • Analyzed data within a 24-hour turn-around and presented results to senior leadership. Results included descriptive statistics and charts and figures to provide visualized explanations.

Activity Focus Keywords: Data Analysis, Data Visualization, Presentation
Policy Area Keywords: Child Care Subsidy