Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences Selecting and Securing ECCE for their Young Children

1. Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences Selecting and Securing ECCE for their Young Children Colleen K. Vesely, Ph.D. NACCRRA National Child Care Policy Symposium March 7, 2012

2. Immigrant Families & ECCE • 1/4 of children are children of immigrants • over 1/2 of children of immigrants (3-5) in ECCE • Buffers against multiple risk factors faced by immigrant families • Associated with cognitive, social, and linguistic preparedness for Kindergarten • Very limited research on ECCE decision-making among immigrants

3. ECCE Decision-making • “a critical balance between preferences, resources, and limitations” (Erstas & Shields, 2012) • characteristics of providers • characteristics of families • low-income families • immigrant families

4. Research Question • How do low-income Latina and African immigrant mothers with young children select and secure early childhood care and education?

5. Methodological Approach • Qualitative • Focus on context, meaning, and process • Focus on words and action using: • In-depth interviews • Field observations

6. Field Sites & Sample • Families recruited from 3 ECCE programs in Washington, DC metro area • 2 Head Start funded • 1 funded through UPK initiative and CCDF • 40 first generation immigrant parents • 21 immigrant parents from Mexico, Central and South America • 19 immigrant parents from Africa • 25% undocumented

7. Data Collection

8. Data Analyses • Modified grounded theory • Three phases of coding: • Open • Axial • Selective

9. Reasons for Entering ECCE “I needed help. I had three children, and nobody gave me information. But I asked and said I needed help.” (Kassa, an Ethiopian mother of four) • Parent-focused • maternal employment • maternal education • stress, mental health reasons • Child-focused • learning English • social, emotional development • cognitive development “So they told me to put him in daycare and they are going to teach him how to talk. They will teach him the language of this country. ” (Juliana, A Guatemalan mother of one)

10. Desired Characteristics of ECCE

11. Desired Characteristics of ECCE “She can talk English in school and here too, but we prefer Spanish, that way she doesn’t forget the language…” “…that’s the difference, I want bilingual because…sometimes it’s more convenient for us because they speak our language.” (Marisa, a Mexican mother of one)

12. Desired Characteristics of ECCE “Especially that she can make friends and talk with different ones you know, not just the Spanish ones, but black kids too…now she sees they are not different. They are friends too.” (Teresa, Argentine mother of two) “…how to communicate with other kids because he always saw Arabic families and I want him to learn about other cultures and religions.” (Halima, an Egyptian mother of four)

13. Connections to ECCE

14. Connections to ECCE “the cost was too much-- $150/ week. So I said I can’t afford that, because they didn’t tell me that I could get a voucher, nothing. So since a friend of mine had her daughter at La Casita del Saber, I said how did you do it because those daycares over here cost so much money? And she said, no, who told you that? I said I don’t know that’s what they told me and I didn’t do it because it was too much money. And she said, no, La Casita del Saber is a place where you can take your kids and there they do a lottery so your child can qualify for a voucher. And I said, what is that? It’s help that they give kids who were born here. I didn’t know that, I said. Yes, they’ll help you there. If you want we can go do the papers. She took me and I talked with her and she said when you come apply you have to take the address of where you work and how much you make, so if you qualify for a voucher from the government they are going to help you pay. So I did. I didn’t know otherwise I would have entered my son a long time ago in the daycare and I didn’t know. Now he’s three years.” (Juliana, a Guatemalan mother of one)

15. Obstacles to Securing ECCE • Waiting lists • weeks- years • unable to attend English classes • lower quality care arrangements in the interim • shuttling between two programs

16. Obstacles to Securing ECCE • Waiting lists • weeks- years • unable to attend English classes • lower quality care arrangements in the interim • shuttling between two programs • Documentation • residence “The one thing in La Casita del Saber I am not happy with, I don’t agree with them…because when we try to get some space for any child, they give us too much obstacles, too much…too many challenges, too many obstacles to get into the program. First of all, they ask for too many papers, you have to prove everything. So I told them, ‘How am I going to prove that I live in DC?’ Sometimes we don’t pay bills because we rent houses and the owner, we don’t pay bills, only rent, so we don’t have proofs…the landlords don’t give us any papers to sign and they pay water and electricity so we don’t have any bills in our name…it is special for us Hispanic immigrants because a lot of people don’t have papers, so that’s why they can’t rent an apartment because you have to show your social security number and prove you are legal. That’s why we try to find rooms in houses, and the landlord don’t ask for anything…not the school, the system, they ask too much.” (Pedro, a Mexican father of one)

17. Obstacles to Securing ECCE • Waiting lists • weeks- years • unable to attend English classes • lower quality care arrangements in the interim • shuttling between two programs • Documentation • residence • Knowledge of child care subsidies and other government programs “…since the beginning I didn’t know anything about the help that the government gave. When you start here you think that one doesn’t have the help of the government for being an immigrant. My son grew up without the help of the government. So, we paid for everything with our salary…”(Juliana, a Guatemalan mother of one)

18. Policy and Program Implications • bilingual, diverse programs • English classes for parents • mental health resources • utilizing immigrants’ social and organizational networks to share important information • documentation for determining residential eligibility

19. Concluding Remarks • Low-income immigrant mothers’ ECCE decision-making experiences are both similar to and unique from the experiences of native-born immigrant mothers • Importance of using immigrants’ social and organizational networks to disseminate information regarding child care • Immigrants from different regions of origin may have slightly different ECCE decision-making experiences

20. Questions for Discussion • What are your experiences working with immigrant families selecting child care? • What are some strategies your states use to work most effectively with immigrant families seeking child care? • What additional research related to child care decision-making and immigrant families is needed?

21. Acknowledgements • 40 participant families for their time and generosity in sharing their stories and experiences • Child Care Scholars Dissertation Grant Program in the Office of Child Care, Office for Planning, Research, and Evaluation • University of Maryland undergraduate research assistants for their assistance in recruiting participants, conducting/ translating interviews, and transcribing interviews