Hispanic Children’s Participation in Early Care and Education: A Look at Utilization Patterns of Chicago’s Publicly Funded Programs

In this brief, we examine the rates of participation in center and home-based ECE for low-income Hispanic and non-Hispanic 3- and 4-year-olds in Chicago. We drew on a rich and comprehensive set of linked administrative data on a representative sample of children from low-income families. These data span the years from their birth to their entry into Chicago Public Schools (CPS) kindergarten programs in 2013-2014. We also examine how ECE participation differs within the linguistically and culturally diverse group of low-income Hispanic families in the study sample.