Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 79
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
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information for our descriptive analyses. Together, these 14 responses, though too few to
facilitate population-level conclusions, provide important insights into the supply of homebased child care and the experiences of licensed home-based child care programs in the
greater Davidson County region.a
This brief examines the licensed home-based child care system in greater Davidson County
and is the third part of a five-part series presenting the findings of the Davidson County
Child Care Landscape Study.
Background
Home-based child care is vital to the early care and education ecosystem. Home-based child
care offers flexibility, affordability, and cultural alignment with the children and families
home-based providers serve.6 Many families with infants and toddlers prefer home-based
child care options because of home-based providers’ ability to offer a more intimate and
flexible environment.7 Home-based child care programs often have unique strengths, such
as small group sizes, consistent caregiver-child relationships, and flexible hours, that
support both healthy child development and parental employment.8
In greater Davidson County, however, licensed home-based child care represents a very
small portion of the overall supply of licensed child care slots. The region has just 29
licensed home-based child care programs with a combined maximum capacity of 317 child
care slots (per state licensing regulations), representing approximately one percent of local
licensed child care slots.
Under Tennessee Department of Health and Human Services (TDHS) state licensing
regulations, home-based programs are categorized as either family or group home-based
child care programs.b Family- and group-home-based programs differ in program size and
the staffing needs that follow. Family home-based child care programs serve up to seven
children, whereas group home-based programs serve at least eight and up to 15 children and
often employ at least one additional educator to meet regulatory and quality standards.9
Despite differences in size, both family and group home-based programs follow similar
operational practices, offer comparable environments, and serve families in much the same
way. Therefore, this brief discusses all home-based child care programs collectively.
The following findings share insights into the characteristics and experiences of licensed
home-based child care programs in greater Davidson County.
a To review the complete methodology and approach for the Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study, see our online
Methods Appendix.
b Out of the 29 licensed home-based providers in greater Davidson County, 23 are group home-based programs, 10 (43%)
of whom responded to the survey. Six are family home-based programs, four (67%) of whom responded to the survey.
Unlicensed or unregulated home-based child care operations are outside the scope of this study and were not included in
the Child Care Provider Survey.
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center 2025
www.pn3policy.org
