2019-2029

The TRLECE team conducts research on child care and early education (CCEE) licensing and supports licensing agencies in collecting, analyzing, and using data.
Through this work, we aim to:
- Improve the understanding of licensing for government leaders and administrators, licensing staff, CCEE providers, researchers, and others in the CCEE field; and
- Increase licensing agencies’ capacity to use data to strengthen licensing.
TRLECE publications are listed below.
2019-2024
The TRLECE team engaged individuals throughout the first contract to ensure its research and products were relevant and meaningful to licensing staff and licensed providers. The team completed the following activities between 2019-2024:
- Created a framework that shows how aspects of licensing relate to one another.
- Conducted national surveys with CCEE licensing administrators, front-line licensing staff, and licensed centers and homes. The data are available as restricted use data sets through the Child and Family Data Archive .
- Developed products for CCEE professionals and researchers, each of which is linked below.
- Partnered with licensing agencies to answer questions using their data.
2024-2029
The second contract continues the aims and collaborative approach of the first contract. Key tasks include:
- Address questions about licensing by collecting new data and analyzing existing data
- Support licensing agencies in collecting, analyzing, and using data
- Develop products and share information about CCEE licensing
- Review the licensing research since 2019 and refine the framework developed in the first contract
- Archive data for other researchers to use
Products
State and Territory Approaches to CCEE Licensing
- CCEE Licensing Information Hub
- Four State Licensing Approaches to Supporting License-Exempt CCEE
- Technical Assistance Offered within CCEE Licensing in Four States
- Review of CCEE Licensing Guidance Documents
- TRLECE Brief Series: State Approaches to CCEE Licensing
Guidance for CCEE Licensing Agencies on Collecting and Using Data
- Improving the Quality of Licensing Data
- Using Surveys to Learn About CCEE Provider Perspectives on Licensing
- Considerations in Conducting CCEE Facilities Needs Assessments
General Information about CCEE Licensing
CCEE Licensing Staff
- Characteristics and Work Experiences of Licensing Staff in CCEE
- CCEE Front-Line licensing Staff Snapshot (PDF)
Views on CCEE Licensing
CCEE Licensing Violations
- Exploring Relationships between CCEE Licensing Violations and Program Characteristics (research summary and full report)
- Licensing Violations and Program Quality in CCEE (research summary and full report)
2023 National Surveys of CCEE Licensing Administrators, Front-Line Licensing staff, and Licensed Centers and Homes
- TRLECE Survey Methods, Users’ Guide, and Respondent Demographic Characteristics
- Licensing Administrator, Front-line Licensing Staff, and Provider Survey Instruments
Other
Contractor: Child Trends, with subcontractor ICF
Points of contact: Tracy Carter Clopet, Laura Cutler, and Ivelisse Martinez-Beck