Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 17
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
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TN (see Table 1). This region includes approximately 57,000 children under age 5
and a total population of approximately 900,000.1,2
Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS): One of two state agencies
that oversees licensing requirements for child care programs to ensure consistent
standards for child safety and program quality. TDHS licenses and oversees 60% of
child care providers in greater Davidson County. TDHS-licensed providers
participate in the statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System.3
Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE): One of two state agencies that
oversees licensing requirements for child care programs to ensure consistent
standards for child safety and program quality. TDOE oversees 40% of child care
providers in greater Davidson County. TDOE-licensed providers do not participate
in the statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System.4
Child Care Certificate Program: The program that provides financial assistance in
the form of subsidized child care to help make care more affordable for families
with low or moderate incomes, in which parents are working or enrolled in
education or training programs.5,6
Child Age Groups
For the Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study, we divided age groups into the
following categories:
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Infants: birth through 12 months of age
Toddlers: 13 months through 30 months of age,
Preschoolers: at least 31 months of age and who have not entered kindergarten.
These age group classifications are consistent with TDHS’ licensure rules for child care agencies.7
Child Care Supply
For the Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study, we refer to the following key
measures of child care capacity to reflect different aspects of supply:
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Licensed Capacity: The maximum number of child care slots a child care program
is legally allowed to serve at any one given time, per state licensing regulations.8
Full-Day Equivalent Slots: A generated standardized measure used to represent
child care capacity across all programs with different enrollment patterns. One fullday equivalent slot represents either one child enrolled full-time or two children
enrolled part-time.
Occupied Slots: The number of full-day equivalent child care slots currently filled
through enrollment. Occupied slots include enrollment of children served on a fulltime basis and those served part-time, converted to full-day-equivalent slots.
Open Slots: The number of full-day equivalent child care slots currently available
for enrollment. Open slots include capacity for full-time and part-time enrollment,
converted to full-day-equivalent slots.
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center 2025
www.pn3policy.org
