Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 33
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
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in scale create meaningful cost distinctions, necessitating the development of two separate
cost estimation models for family and group home-based child care programs.
Number of Educators and Capacity
Staffing patterns for model child care homes reflect evidence from the Child Care Provider
Survey and consultation with the local Child Care Workgroup. The model family home has a
single full-time educator, the owner, whereas the model group home has two full-time
educators, including the owner and one assistant educator.
Group sizes for model family and group child care homes follow Tennessee licensing
requirements.i Given the number of staff available and assuming that the home serves at
least one infant and at least one toddler, each model home serves the maximum number of
children permitted by state law. A summary of children served appears in Table 10.
Table 10: Capacity of Model Child Care Homes
Age Group
Family Home
Group Home
Infants
1
2
Toddlers
1
4
Preschool
3
6
School Age
2
3
Total Group Size
7
15
Staff Compensation and Benefits
A summary of wages for each model child care home appears in Table 11. The owner pays
themself a wage equal to the model child care center assistant director wage, plus a 10
percent bonus to account for business responsibilities similar to a center director. The fulltime assistant educator at the model group home is paid at parity with a center-based
rotating educator (see Table A-1 in Appendix A for wage scale). Full-time staff are assumed
to work 40 hours per week.
The model homes also employ part-time substitute educators to cover periods where a fulltime educator is absent. Because the model homes are open for 60 hours per week, each
home requires 20 substitute hours per week per staff member in addition to hours necessary
to cover paid time off. Substitutes earn the ALICE Wage.
i
TENN. COMP. R. & REGS. 1240-04-01-.20(1)(c)(4), 1240-04-01-.21(1)(b).
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center 2025
www.pn3policy.org
