The Role of the Childcare Practitioner in the Implementation of Childcare Policy

Abstract

Childcare has only recently emerged as a policy issue on state and federal policy agendas. As such, little is known about the factors that contribute to the successful implementation of childcare policy. Policy studies, specifically those studies focused on policy implementation, indicate that policy actors at the local level influence policy outcomes. A study of the implementation of childcare policy (the Star Rated License) through five qualitative case studies of childcare practitioners in North Carolina reveals that childcare practitioners and the policy context influence childcare policy implementation. Practitioners' attitudes and beliefs toward childcare policy, the economic and cultural context of childcare policy, the dispositions of implementing officials toward childcare policy, the availability and appropriateness of resources and incentives, how policy directives are communicated, and the overall system in which childcare policy is implemented influence the extent to which childcare policy achieves its outcomes.