The State of California requires early care and education programs to be licensed by the state. Sierra Nevada Children’s Services (SNCS) and the Placer County Office of Education (PCOE) collects data on the number of licensed childcare facilities and the number of corresponding available childcare slots. U.S. Census data was used to find the population of children aged 0-5. A lower percentage indicates that families are having a difficult time accessing ECE programs.
Methodology
Factors Impacting the Trend
The Center for American Progress defines a childcare desert as "any census tract with more than 50 children under age 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots." There are fourteen census tracts that make up the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. Out of these 14, five census tracts are considered childcare deserts.
Sources:
Center for American Progress. (2017). https://childcaredeserts.org/?state=CA.
Early Care and Education Services Provider Survey. 2019.
Qualitative Surveys to Family Room Participants, 2018-2019.