Statewide Participation in Parent Aware Among Early Care and Education Programs

Parent Aware, Minnesota’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS), is designed to rate the quality of care provided in the state’s early care and education (ECE) programs,[1] to provide tools and resources for families to connect with high-quality care that meets their needs, and to support programs in improving their practices. Parent Aware defines quality in ECE settings by awarding programs a One- to Four-Star Rating. Program participation in Parent Aware is currently voluntary, meaning programs can choose whether to become Parent Aware Rated and which Star Level to pursue.

In March 2022, Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) contracted Child Trends to conduct an evaluation of Parent Aware. As part of this evaluation, DCYF shared administrative data about licensed ECE providers in the state with Child Trends, which then conducted a series of analyses to summarize the data and identify any trends. The goal of these analyses was to understand patterns in which ECE programs participate in Parent Aware, as well as any program- or community-level factors that may be associated with participation trends. The findings from these analyses, which are outlined in this report, can inform future efforts to engage more providers in Parent Aware and expand families’ access to high-quality care across the state.

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Footnote

[1] Parent Aware is available for family child care and center-based programs that are licensed through the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, certified child care programs, Head Start programs, and public school-based pre-K programs.