Leveraging Information Interventions to Expand Access to Social Programs for Early Childhood Education

Last registered on November 09, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Leveraging Information Interventions to Expand Access to Social Programs for Early Childhood Education
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006708
Initial registration date
November 05, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 09, 2020, 10:44 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Mariana Laverde
Affiliation
Yale University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
John Eric Humphries
PI Affiliation
Yale University
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PI Name
Christopher Neilson
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-11-23
End date
2021-12-15
Keywords
Education, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Childcare services have important long-term effects on children's human capital. Access to affordable childcare services likely has important financial implications for low- and middle-income families and can contribute to the reduction of achievement gaps, and promote female labor participation. For these reasons, state, local, and federal programs typically provide subsidized childcare via a menu of options that include free Head Start programs, various voucher schemes to pay for private care, and free pre-k programs that are the entry-way to public elementary schools in many school district across the country.

Overall, low to middle-income families may qualify for a number of subsidized childcare and early education options, but they may also struggle to know what is available and if they meet the various criteria for eligibility. Moreover, families that qualify for multiple programs may find it challenging to find the most cost-effective option available.

Covid-19 has likely amplified this information frictions. Care facilities may have closed temporarily or permanently, leaving families in search of care. At the same time, families that face important reductions in their income may now qualify for programs they did not qualify for before. All these, while childcare centers may be struggling to find users to prevent closures.

This project will study the childcare landscape in Connecticut and aims to understand a) what childcare and early education options and subsidy programs did families in this state utilize before the COVID pandemic, b) what information do parents have about available care options, and subsidy programs and their eligibility criteria, c) what are the main barriers that families perceive in the access to childcare services, and finally d) what is the effect of an information intervention about childcare options on parental demand of childcare services, and the utilization of the different options available.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Humphries, John Eric, Mariana Laverde and Christopher Neilson. 2020. "Leveraging Information Interventions to Expand Access to Social Programs for Early Childhood Education." AEA RCT Registry. November 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6708-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Treated families will receive detailed and succinct information about state and federal subsidies, their eligibility, and the requirements for applying to these. Information will be received in a personalized link via email that will help us track families who visited the link, the total time spent on the site, and the time each family spent in each of the sections of the site.

Information will be divided into three sections. First, we'll provide information about eligibility into the main state and federal subsidy programs in CT, as well as information on pre-k programs offered by the New Haven Public School District. Second, parents interested in a specific subsidy will be able to search for centers that take students with that subsidy near that family's residence. For pre-k programs, they will be able to search for the locations where these programs are being offered. Finally, for each of the subsidy programs parents are able to access the third section where they will see instructions to apply to these subsidies. Parents will be able to save or print these instructions and they will also be able to access the link in multiple opportunities.

Control families will be provided with an overview of state and federal programs, as well as a set of recommended activities for parents with children at home. This information will be provided in a personalized link that will help us track the engagement of each family with the information.
Intervention Start Date
2021-02-01
Intervention End Date
2021-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome we will study is the probability that an eligible family applied for a subsidy and their satisfaction with their childcare arrangement

Then we will concentrate on the outcomes of those applications: (a) From the group of families who applied, the fraction that accessed the program, and (b) the share of those whose application was returned because of submission mistakes or lack of supporting evidence.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Satisfaction with the childcare arrangement will be measured in a follow-up survey after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We start by generating a baseline via social media outreach. The survey implemented to these families will provide us with information on their demographic characteristics, their eligibility for state and federal childcare subsidies, their knowledge about these programs, and their childcare utilization in the past and expected utilizations in the future.

We expect to collect information of about 120 families in New Haven County who have a child between 0 and 5 years old. We will randomly assign half of these families to the treatment and half to the control group.

Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Unit of randomization will be all the sample
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
120
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
60 families control and 60 treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Research Integrity & Assurance - Princeton University
IRB Approval Date
2020-10-05
IRB Approval Number
13194
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials