Early Care Capacity in Rhode Island

Early childhood education (ECE) is critical for young children to help them enter school academically and socially prepared. It is also a necessary community resource that allows parents to participate in the labor force and complete training or education programs, in turn helping local economies thrive. Decisions, actions, and advocacy in the childcare sector are often based on anecdotal information rather than on comprehensive place-based data specific to the geography of interest. This is partially because there is no single source of supply or demand data and thus no way of directly assessing how many families are being left out of child care (especially that which is high-quality). Reinvestment Fund’s ECE analysis is a powerful analytic that locates gaps in access to high-quality ECE. This approach allows stakeholders and investors to better understand the existing ECE landscape and make data-based decisions on where to expand or improve the quality of ECE to have the greatest impact.

Reinvestment Fund gathered information on ECE providers to estimate the number of seats available to families seeking care. Statewide there are 22,367 ECE seats available, 6,870 (31%) of which are highly rated and 7,833 (35%) serve infants and toddlers (children younger than 3 years old). The table below shows how ECE seats are distributed by provider type. Centers account for 85% of all and 99% of highly rated seats statewide.

The supply of ECE seats varies across Rhode Island. Supply is most concentrated in and around Providence, Pawtucket, Warwick, West Warick, East Greenwich, South Kingstown, and Middletown. In the more rural block groups in western Rhode Island there are often fewer than 50 seats available within a half-mile radius of each block group.

Highly rated ECE seats are even more spatially concentrated. The map below shows the estimated supply of highly rated ECE seats. Block groups with the most seats are located in Providence, Central Falls, Warwick, West Warwick, East Greenwich, and Middletown.

There are 7,833 seats available for infants and toddlers statewide. Most are in Providence, West Warwick, Smithfield and Newport. 21% of seats available for infants and toddlers are at highly rated providers. The spatial distribution of highly rated seats for infants and toddlers was similar to that of all seats.

Not all households with children require care out of the home. Some children are cared for informally by friends or family members or privately by babysitters or nannies. And not all households seeking care will do so close to home; some families will look for care closer to their workplace. Reinvestment Fund estimates maximum possible demand for ECE starting with the number of children under five within a block group and adjusting that demand based on parental commuting patterns derived from the US Census Bureau and adjusted to  estimate the impact of remote work. 

The table below shows the total maximum demand for ECE care across Rhode Island. There are 53,954 children under five years old statewide, over a quarter of whom live within the city of Providence. Other cities including Pawtucket, Warwick, and Cranston have sizeable shares of ECE aged children.

The maps below show how maximum possible demand varies across the state in more detail. The first map shows demand for children under five. Demand is particularly high in and around Rhode Island’s population centers, including in and around Providence, Warwick, and Newport. Block groups in those areas typically have more than 1,500 children under five living within a half- mile radius. In less well populated areas in the western and southern edges of the state demand is lower. Block groups there typically have less than 500 ECE aged children within a half-mile radius. Maximum possible demand is greatest within and around Providence.

Household attributes like family composition, income, and capacity to speak English can impact early childhood education outreach and needs. This section examines the intersection of household attributes and shortages of highly rated ECE seats to show not just where but who is likely to be impacted.

This research was conducted by  Reinvestment Fund  for the  Rhode Island Department of Human Services  in partnership with the  Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)  as part of a strategic planning initiative to articulate Rhode Island's child care supply and demand and plan targeted strategies to improve equitable access to quality care for all Rhode Island families.

The project team would like to acknowledge and thank everyone in the Key Informants group whose generous support and constructive feedback allowed us to develop and refine the research methodology to better illustrate and analyze the child care sector in Rhode Island:

• Leanne Barrett, Rhode Island Kids Count
• Marykate Bergen, The van Beuren Foundation
• Julie Boutwell, The Center for Early Learning Professionals
• Kristin Caine, Children’s Friend and Service
• Nicole Chiello, Rhode Island Department of Human Services
• Erin Cox, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
• Owen Heleen, Children’s Friend and Service
• Lisa Hildebrand, Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children
• Cindy Larson, Project Consultant
• Khadija Lewis-Khan, Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center
• Kara Rocha, Rhode Island Department of Human Services
• Kayla Rosen, Office of the Rhode Island Governor
• Cassandra Thomas, City of Providence
• Mary Varr, Woonsocket Head Start Child Development Association
• Anusha Venkataraman, ONE Neighborhood Builders

Lastly, special thanks to RI Kids Count and Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children (RIAEYC) who graciously shared crucial data that strengthened the analysis.