Strategies for Supporting Quality in Kith and Kin Child Care: Findings from the Early Head Start Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Evaluation

Families with infants and toddlers, especially low-income families, rely heavily on child care that is provided by family, friends, and neighbors ("kith and kin" caregivers). The national evaluation of Early Head Start found that a large proportion of program families used kith and kin care. In 2004, the Office of Head Start funded 24 Early Head Start programs to implement the Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Project, designed to support the quality of care that kith and kin caregivers provide to children enrolled in Early Head Start. Mathematica's two-year evaluation identified program models, documented implementation strategies and challenges, explored promising practices, and assessed the quality of these child care settings. Researchers note that more than two-thirds of caregivers in the pilot were related to the children in their care, with nearly half being the children's grandparents. Nearly all programs implemented strategies to improve communication and increase consistency between parents and caregivers in caregiving practices. The results suggest that initiatives for improving the quality of kith and kin child care settings can be implemented in Early Head Start with modest additional resources.