A woman taking notes on her notebook
A woman taking notes on her notebook

Research Projects

Welcome to the Sunshine State Early Childhood Information Portal (The Sunshine Portal), your comprehensive resource for early childhood data in Florida. Our portal is a pioneering Early Childhood Integrated Data System, meticulously designed to amalgamate vital information from across the early childhood mixed delivery system. This includes crucial sectors such as health, education, financial, and social supports, with a keen focus on enhancing the well-being of young children and families across Florida.

At The Sunshine Portal, we understand the importance of accessible, actionable data. We provide in-depth data and visualizations at the community level, featuring insights into child and household risk factors, resilience factors, service access, and outcomes. Our cutting-edge geospatial analyses are presented through interactive maps, offering a dynamic view of trends across space and time.

Research Highlights

The Florida Index of Child Care Access

The Florida Index of Child Care Access (FLICCA 5.0) is an interactive mapping tool which depicts levels of access to quality child care for families enrolled in the Florida School Readiness (SR) Subsidy Program.

Florida Childcare Provider Occupancy

Interactive maps depicting childcare provider occupancy. Data reflect approximately 8,000 providers who applied for ARPA provider stabilization grants from the Florida Division of Early Learning.

Economic Self Sufficiency Analysis

The Economic Self Sufficiency Analysis (ESSA) analyses describe eligibility policy, eligible populations using services, and use administrative data to describe the experiences of households with at least one child below the age of 14 (below 6 for Medicaid) using SR, SNAP, TCA, Medicaid, and/or HCV.

Research Reports

The Early Childhood Policy Research Group (ECPRG) continues to conduct analyses important to decision-makers. As these other projects are completed, please find their results and reports here.

Resources

We strive to provide quality data and the resources to understand them. These guidance documents support data-informed decision-making within the Sunshine Portal. More resources will be included as new analyses are added.

Future Analyses

As we continue to improve and expand our tools, they will be published here and presented as interactive maps and charts covering these topic areas: population demographics and available services, population use of services, benefits cliffs, and differential outcomes.

Mapping Hurricane Ian’s Impact

Please find child care providers’ most-current operational status following the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.