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Tennessee

Early Childhood Profile

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Health and NutritionEarly Care and EducationParenting and Economic Supports

State Choices to Promote Access

Subsidized child care, by setting, FY 2006
Subsidized child care, by setting, FY 2006

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Subsidized child care, by setting, FY 20061

  • Set the income eligibility limit for child care subsidies at or above 200% FPL. [2009]2
    Families of three are eligible up to $30,312, or 166% FPL. This is an increase from 163% FPL in 2008.
  • Child care subsidy reimbursement rate meets the recommended 75th percentile of the market rate [2009]2
  • Redetermine the eligibility for child care subsidies no more than once per year [2008]3
    Eligibility redetermined every six months.
  • Supplement Early Head Start with state or other federal funds. [2008]4
  • Fund a pre-kindergarten program and/or supplement Head Start. [2008]5
    $80 million. This is an increase of $25 million from 2007.
50-State Data   Policy Definitions

State Choices to Promote Quality

  • Require one adult for every 10 4-year-olds, and a maximum class size of 20 in child care centers. [2007]6
    Child care regulations require one adult for every 13 children, and a maximum class size of 20.
  • Require one adult for every four 18-month-olds, and a maximum class size of eight in child care centers. [2007]6
    Child care regulations require one adult for every 6 children, and a maximum class size of 12.
  • Allocate state or federal funds for a network of infant/toddler specialists that provide assistance to child care providers. [2009]7
  • Have early learning standards or developmental guidelines for infants and toddlers. [2009]8
  • Have an infant/toddler credential. [2009]7
  • Require through regulation that infants and toddlers in child care centers be assigned a consistent primary caregiver. [2008]9
  • Operates a statewide Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) [2009]10
50-State Data   Policy Definitions
Health and NutritionParenting and Economic Supports
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Data Notes and Sources

Last Updated: December 4, 2009

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  1. Children in multiple care settings are counted more than once. As a result, the total percentage of children in all settings may total to greater than 100%. Data represent the percent of children by age in each care setting, regardless if the provider is licensed/regulated or legally operating without a license. Family home includes children served in group home care.
    United States Department of Health and Human Services. Administration for Children and Families. 2009. Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Child Care Bureau. Child Care Development Fund Administrative Data, Federal Fiscal Year 2006. [Computer file]. ICPSR23640-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor].
  2. Schulman, Karen; Blank, Helen. 2009. State Child Care Assistance Policies 2009: Most States Hold the Line, But Some Lose Ground in Hard Times. National Women's Law Center. http://www.nwlc.org (accessed October 23, 2009).
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Report of State and Territory Plans, FY 2008-2009, 2008. http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov (Accessed February 24, 2009)
  4. Rachel Schumacher and Elizabeth DiLauro, Building on the Promise: State Initiatives to Expand Access to Early Head Start for Young Children and their Families, Center for Law and Social Policy and Zero to Three Policy Center, April 2008.
  5. W. Steven Barnett, Dale J. Epstein, Allison H. Friedman, Judi Stevenson Boyd, Jason T. Hustedt, The State of Preschool 2008, National Institute for Early Education Research, 2008.
  6. National Child Care Information Center, "Child-Staff Ratios and Maximum Group Size Requirements in 2007," October 2008, http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov (accessed February 25, 2009).
  7. ZERO TO THREE, personal e-mail (received March 5, 2009) based on information gathered as of February 9, 2009.
  8. Heying, Karen, Zero to Three. October 30, 2009. Personal Communication.
  9. National Association for Regulatory Administration and the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center, The 2007 Child Care Licensing Study: Final Report, April 2009, pg 89. Available at http://www.naralicensing.org (accessed April 3, 2009)
  10. Quality Rating Improvement Systems are a method to asses, improve, and communicate information about early childcare providers.
    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center. 2009. QRIS Definition and Statewide Systems. http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov (accessed November 16, 2009)