Family child care providers in Kansas: a descriptive analysis of training and professional orientation.

Abstract

Three categories of family child care homes are regulated in the state of Kansas including licensed group, licensed family, and registered family. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which regulates child care facilities, does not require a minimal level of education for family child care providers. However, providers must obtain initial and ongoing training in order to be licensed group or licensed family child care providers. Other than training in first aid, registered providers are not required to obtain training. However, education and training have been found to be associated with the quality of teacher behaviors, job satisfaction, and professional orientation. The purpose of this study was to gather descriptive information about family child care providers in Kansas. Specifically, the study focused on providers' perceived job role, satisfaction with their profession as a business, and professional orientation and training. Data was grouped by family child care category (licensed group, licensed family, and registered family) for analysis. Data was also grouped by the providers' level of education for further analysis. A random sample of five hundred providers were sent a self-report questionnaire for data collection. The response rate was 30%. Twenty hypothesis were tested. Findings indicate that a) providers with different levels of education did not provide child care services for the same length of time, b) providers from the different categories of regulated family child care were not similar in their memberships in professional associations, and c) providers from different categories of family child care did not obtain similar training. Recommendations were made that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment require a course in child development or early childhood education for all family child care providers and that registered providers be required to obtain training. In addition, a recommendation was made for further research regarding family child care providers' role perceptions.