Oregon Child Care Alliance evaluation

The challenge:

Oregon is in the midst of a child care crisis; it’s difficult for families to find affordable childcare in communities across the state. To keep their doors open, child care providers must balance charging what families can afford and making enough money to pay their bills. Many child care business owners, especially smaller providers, struggle to earn livable wages or sustain their businesses, further threatening a sector already stressed to its limit.

The response:

The Oregon Child Care Alliance (OCCA) was created in 2020 as an innovative solution to these challenges. OCCA was co-designed by a group of Oregon child care providers and system partners with a deep understanding of the sector’s challenges and opportunities. OCCA supports child care businesses through coaching, training, and shared administrative resources, serving child care providers in 6 regions: Central Oregon, Marion/Polk/Yamhill counties, Multnomah County, NW Region, Southern Oregon & Washington County.

How we’re learning together:

The OCCA evaluation is held in partnership between Leonard Research & Evaluation and AB Cultural Drivers, led by Nelda Reyes. We’ve been walking alongside OCCA since 2021, supporting the organization’s growth and evolution in response to child care providers’ needs and learnings. We center child care providers in our evaluation by prioritizing and amplifying their experiences, expertise and needs, and by taking a multicultural and culturally responsive approach. We use a mixed methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative data about participating providers, their businesses and experiences with the OCCA. Through this evaluation, we also explore OCCA’s impact on participating child care businesses and the broader child care ecosystem.

As partners in this evaluation, Nelda and Kim work together closely with one another, the OCCA team and its coaches. We help the OCCA team manage and make sense of data, using existing systems and data as much as possible. When we identify gaps in knowledge or information, we conduct complementary evaluation activities, such as interviews with participating child care providers. We attend OCCA meetings to help document its evolution and help the OCCA team incorporate sensemaking and reflect on data to inform program improvements.

More information, including evaluation results and reporting, can be found here: https://www.oregonchildcarealliance.org/community-impact/.

Our entire team has enjoyed and valued working with Kim Leonard. She brings thoughtfulness, equity, and inclusivity into her evaluation work. I would highly recommend Kim Leonard for your organization.

Lisa Tynan, Director, Oregon Child Care Alliance, Neighborhood House