Estimating the unmet need for services: A middling approach

Social Service Review

Volumn 73, Issue 4, 1999, Pages 524-559

  Queralt, Magaly ^a   Witte, Ann Dryden ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040802821     PISSN: 00377961     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/514444     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Magaly Queralt and Ann Dryden Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply of Child Care in Massachusetts" (hereafter cited as "Influences on Neighborhood Supply"), Social Service Review 72, no. 1 (March 1998): 17-46.
2. See Dennis C. Mueller, Public Choice II (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); Raghbendra Jha, Modern Public Economics (London: Routledge, 1998).
3. See Dennis C. Mueller, Public Choice II (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); Raghbendra Jha, Modern Public Economics (London: Routledge, 1998).
4. See, e.g., Maryland Committee for Children, "Child Care Demographics: Maryland Report" (Baltimore: Maryland Committee for Children, Inc., as operator of the Maryland Care Resource Network, 1996); Magaly Queralt and Ann D. Witte, "A Map for You? Geographic Information Systems in the Social Services" (hereafter cited as "A Map for You"), Social Work 43, no. 5 (September 1998): 455-69.
5. See, e.g., Maryland Committee for Children, "Child Care Demographics: Maryland Report" (Baltimore: Maryland Committee for Children, Inc., as operator of the Maryland Care Resource Network, 1996); Magaly Queralt and Ann D. Witte, "A Map for You? Geographic Information Systems in the Social Services" (hereafter cited as "A Map for You"), Social Work 43, no. 5 (September 1998): 455-69.
6. For example, a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that 43 percent of America's children under age 5 with working mothers received primary care from relatives other than their mother (e.g., fathers, grandparents siblings, aunts, or uncles). Also, about 5 percent of the children were cared for informally in their homes by a nonrelative (e.g., babysitter or mother's boyfriend). In addition, an unknown portion of the 16 percent of children cared for by a nonrelative in another's home (e.g., neighbor's or friend's home or family child-care home) were cared for informally, that is, by persons not licensed to provide care. See Lynne M. Casper, Who's Minding Our Preschoolers? Fall 1994 (Update), U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Populauon Reports P70-62 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997); tables B and C from this report, updated with 1994 Current Population numbers, were released on the Internet on January 14, 1998; they are available at [http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/child/p70-62/]. The most recent child-care data shedding light on the proportion of care that is informal in Massachusetts come from a survey of Massachusetts families that was conducted in 1988 under the auspices of the Massachusetts Office for Children. The report indicated that 40 percent of the children under age 13 who were in nonparental care were cared for by relatives and 13 percent were cared for by nonrelatives in the child's home (e.g., by babysitters). See Nancy Marshall and Ann D. Witte, Caring for Our Common Wealth: The Economics of Child Care in Massachusetts (Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1988).
7. For example, a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that 43 percent of America's children under age 5 with working mothers received primary care from relatives other than their mother (e.g., fathers, grandparents siblings, aunts, or uncles). Also, about 5 percent of the children were cared for informally in their homes by a nonrelative (e.g., babysitter or mother's boyfriend). In addition, an unknown portion of the 16 percent of children cared for by a nonrelative in another's home (e.g., neighbor's or friend's home or family child-care home) were cared for informally, that is, by persons not licensed to provide care. See Lynne M. Casper, Who's Minding Our Preschoolers? Fall 1994 (Update), U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Populauon Reports P70-62 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997); tables B and C from this report, updated with 1994 Current Population numbers, were released on the Internet on January 14, 1998; they are available at [http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/child/p70-62/]. The most recent child-care data shedding light on the proportion of care that is informal in Massachusetts come from a survey of Massachusetts families that was conducted in 1988 under the auspices of the Massachusetts Office for Children. The report indicated that 40 percent of the children under age 13 who were in nonparental care were cared for by relatives and 13 percent were cared for by nonrelatives in the child's home (e.g., by babysitters). See Nancy Marshall and Ann D. Witte, Caring for Our Common Wealth: The Economics of Child Care in Massachusetts (Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1988).
8. Jonathan Bradshaw, "The Concept of Social Need," New Society 19, no. 496 (March 1972): 640-43.
9. See, e.g., Robert Pampalon, Alain Saucier, Nicole Berthiaume, Pierre Ferland, Regis Couture, Patricia Caris, Lynda Fortin, Diane Lacroix, and Rene Kirouac, "The Selection of Needs Indicators for Regional Resource Allocation in the Fields of Health and Social Services in Quebec," Social Science and Medicine 42, no. 6 (1996): 909-22.
10. R. A. Wright, T. L. Andres, and A. J. Davidson, "Finding the Medically Underserved: A Need to Revise the Federal Definition," Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 7, no. 4 (1996): 296-307.
11. For a review of service use and consultation with community experts or key stakeholders as needs assessment methods, please refer to Magaly Queralt and Ann Dryden Witte "Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care Services in Massachusetts," Special Report no CRW24 (Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley, Mass., 1999).
12. For examples of surveys to assess the need or unmet need for child-care services, please refer to Sue Leibowitz and the Preschool Enrichment Team, Inc., "Springfield Child Care Needs Assessment" (Springfield Early Care and Education Partnership, Springfield, Mass., September 1997), and "Holyoke Child Care Needs Assessment" (Holyoke Early Childhood Partnership Council, Holyoke, Mass., October 1997); and Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, "Evaluation of State Subsidized Child Care Services: Final Report," RFR no. 98OCCS06 (Coopers and Lybrand, L.L.P., Boston, January 1998).
13. For examples of surveys to assess the need or unmet need for child-care services, please refer to Sue Leibowitz and the Preschool Enrichment Team, Inc., "Springfield Child Care Needs Assessment" (Springfield Early Care and Education Partnership, Springfield, Mass., September 1997), and "Holyoke Child Care Needs Assessment" (Holyoke Early Childhood Partnership Council, Holyoke, Mass., October 1997); and Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, "Evaluation of State Subsidized Child Care Services: Final Report," RFR no. 98OCCS06 (Coopers and Lybrand, L.L.P., Boston, January 1998).
14. For examples of surveys to assess the need or unmet need for child-care services, please refer to Sue Leibowitz and the Preschool Enrichment Team, Inc., "Springfield Child Care Needs Assessment" (Springfield Early Care and Education Partnership, Springfield, Mass., September 1997), and "Holyoke Child Care Needs Assessment" (Holyoke Early Childhood Partnership Council, Holyoke, Mass., October 1997); and Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, "Evaluation of State Subsidized Child Care Services: Final Report," RFR no. 98OCCS06 (Coopers and Lybrand, L.L.P., Boston, January 1998).
15. Examples of the use of social indicators in estimating the availability or need for services include James A. Ciarlo, Dan L. Tweed, David L. Shern, Lee A. Kirkpatrick and Natalie Sachs-Ericsson, "I. Validation of Indirect Methods to Estimate Need for Mental Health Services: Concepts, Strategy, and General Conclusions," Evaluation and Program Planning 15 (1992): 115-31; Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply of Child Care in Massachusetts"; and Robert W. Heath and Jerald D. Plett, "The Identification of Priority Sites for Parent-Child Services," Journal of Social Service Research 11, no. 4 (1988): 45-60.
16. Examples of the use of social indicators in estimating the availability or need for services include James A. Ciarlo, Dan L. Tweed, David L. Shern, Lee A. Kirkpatrick and Natalie Sachs-Ericsson, "I. Validation of Indirect Methods to Estimate Need for Mental Health Services: Concepts, Strategy, and General Conclusions," Evaluation and Program Planning 15 (1992): 115-31; Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply of Child Care in Massachusetts"; and Robert W. Heath and Jerald D. Plett, "The Identification of Priority Sites for Parent-Child Services," Journal of Social Service Research 11, no. 4 (1988): 45-60.
17. Examples of the use of social indicators in estimating the availability or need for services include James A. Ciarlo, Dan L. Tweed, David L. Shern, Lee A. Kirkpatrick and Natalie Sachs-Ericsson, "I. Validation of Indirect Methods to Estimate Need for Mental Health Services: Concepts, Strategy, and General Conclusions," Evaluation and Program Planning 15 (1992): 115-31; Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply of Child Care in Massachusetts"; and Robert W. Heath and Jerald D. Plett, "The Identification of Priority Sites for Parent-Child Services," Journal of Social Service Research 11, no. 4 (1988): 45-60.
18. B. M. Rosen H. F. Goldsmith, and R. W. Redick, "Demographic and Social Indicators: Uses in Mental Health Planning in Small Areas," World Health Statistics Quarterly Report: Mental Health Planning 32, no. 1 (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1979), pp. 11-101.
19. Andrea Cohen and Nigel Eastman, "Needs Assessment for Mentally Disordered Offenders and Others Requiring Similar Services," British Journal of Psychiatry 171 (1997): 412-16; Pampalon et al., pp. 909-22.
20. James A. Ciarlo et al., pp. 115-31.
21. Karen S. Harlow, "Proxy Measures, Formula Funding, and Location: Implications for Delivery of Services for the Aging," Journal of Urban Affairs 15, no. 5 (1993): 427-44.
22. In England, e.g., Michael Noble and Teresa Smith illustrated how GIS might be used to explore mismatches between need for child-care services and provision of such services. See "Children in Need: Using Geographical Information Systems to Inform Strategic Planning for Social Service Provision," Children and Society 8, no. 4 (1994): 360-76. As a proxy for the number of children in need, they used a social indicator - specifically, the number of children under age 4 living in families dependent on public assistance. They suggested that by mapping the supply of child-care services and the distribution of children in need, one could compare the two images to identify areas of high need.
23. Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply" (n. 1 above), and "A Map for You?" (n. 3 above).
24. Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply" (n. 1 above), and "A Map for You?" (n. 3 above).
25. The towns that constitute Hampden County, Massachusetts, include Agawam, Blandford, Brimfield, Chester, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Granville, Hampden, Holland, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow Monson, Montgomery, Palmer, Russell, Southwick, Springfield, Tolland, Wales, West Springfield, Westfield, and Wilbraham.
26. U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing, Summary Tape File 3a (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Data User Services Division, 1995).
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply."
30. Childhood Care and Education Data Project, "1994 Oregon Population Estimates and Survey Findings: Data for Community Planning, Executive Summary" (Portland: State of Oregon, Employment Department, Child Care Division, 1994).
31. Maryland Committee for Children (3 above), p. 6.
32. D. Allen and T. Copeland, "Child Care Trends in Minnesota: The Supply and Demand of Child Care in the 1990s" (Saint Paul, Minn.: Resources for Child Caring, 1992).
33. Massachusetts Child Care Resource and Referral Network, "Child Care Data Report: Fiscal Year '97" (Acton: Massachusetts Child Care Resource and Referral Network, 1998).
34. For analyses of part-time care, please refer to Queralt and Witte, "Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care Services in Massachusetts" (n. 8 above).
35. The Community Partnerships for Children (CPC) program grew out of the Chapter 188 early childhood program initiated by the School Improvement Acts of 1985 in Massachusetts. Its aim is to build a collaborative system of early childhood programs within communities so as to increase the availability and affordability of high-quality early care and education programs to all 3- and 4-year old children in the Commonwealth. In 1996, the eligibility criteria for the program were changed to limit the program to preschool-aged children of working families earning under 100 percent of the state median income.
36. Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply" (n. 1 above).
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid. See, e.g., the review of the literature in Queralt and Witte, " Influences on Neighborhood Supply," pp. 19-25.
39. Locating, extracting, and combining these data is very time consuming but important for policy-relevant research. Omission of relevant variables would likely result in inaccurate and inconsistent estimates of the child-care supply and of the unmet need for services.
40. We contacted by telephone a total of 37 public and private elementary schools in Hampden County that appeared in the Massachusetts' Department of Education 1997 Internet directory of public and private schools. By means of a brief questionnaire administered to the person in charge of early childhood education in the school or to the school principal, we obtained information on the number of slots available and the type of program. After one or two calls in most cases and three or four in a few cases, we obtained the needed information on all the schools.
41. U.S. Bureau of the Census, "1992 Census of Service Industries" and "1995 County Business Patterns." In County Scope: Hampden County, Massachusetts, CD-CS-MA-03 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Administrative and Customer Services Division, February 1998).
42. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, "Assisted Housing - National and Local Data: A Picture of Subsidized Households, 1997," HUD User data file HUD3MA2, 1998. This is available at http:// www.huduser.org/.
43. U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing (n. 18 above).
44. ARC/INFO is a GIS software produced by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) in Redlands, Calif.
45. Other part-time child-care results are available in Queralt and Witte, "Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care services in Massachusetts" (n. 8 above).
46. William H. Greene, Econometric Analysis, 3d ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1997).
47. See Edward E. Learner, "Model Choice and Specification Analysis," in Handbook of Econometrics, ed. Zvi Griliches (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1983), 1:285-330.
48. Greene.
49. See Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply" (n. 1 above).
50. We explicitly excluded labor market variables for females in our model because of endogeneity, that is, because female labor force participation is determined jointly with the supply of child care.
51. Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply."
52. According to a Massachusetts law enacted in 1997, no zoning ordinance in any city or town in the Commonwealth may prohibit or require a special permit for the use of land or structures for the purpose of operating a child-care facility, provided that such land or structures may be subject to reasonable building code regulations. In this study we observe the zoning situation at the time the law was passed. See Massachusetts General Laws Annotated, chap. 40A, sec. 3 (Saint Paul, Minn.: West, 1998).
53. Noninfant child care, however, is predominantly located near home, not near work.
54. Unmet need predictions for part-time care other than before- and after-school care are in Queralt and Witte, "Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care Services in Massachusetts" (n. 8 above), table 7, pp. 50-52.
55. Additional maps are provided in ibid.
56. See Queralt and Witte, "Influences on Neighborhood Supply."
57. Magaly Queralt and Ann Dryden Witte, "Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care: A Practical Approach," Working Paper no. 99-05 (Wellesley College, Department of Economics, Wellesley, Mass., August 1999).