GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT
Identifying the Most Effective Child Care Solutions for Mercer County’s Children
Reinvestment Fund
The Reinvestment Fund is conducting a comprehensive research project that will produce a deep understanding of the unique early care and learning landscape in Mercer County.
The project will include an assessment of the barriers to access facing families as well as the barriers to service facing providers of high-quality care for infants and toddlers. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, research will include both licensed and unlicensed centers to help provide an extensive and accurate understanding of the available resources in the area.
In addition, researchers have assembled the Mercer County Early Care and Learning Advisory Committee made up of parents, childcare professionals, early childhood non-profit organizations, and child advocacy groups to gather their unique perspectives and experiences from the front lines. Their voices will help address long-existing gaps in information about Mercer County’s early care and learning landscape and help guide investments in a thoughtful way.
This analysis will culminate in the creation of several policy briefs and actionable recommendations to improve the quality of childcare in the County and will be published at the end of 2021.
Estimates suggest that over 70% of Mercer County’s children ages 0-3 who likely need care were not enrolled in licensed center-based programs.
In Trenton, 91% of infants and toddlers who are likely in need of care do not have access to licensed, center-based slots.
