State and Local Cost Models

A cost model measures the true cost of equitably implementing, maintaining, or expanding a program or service for kids. It examines a program’s requirements, staffing needs, employee wages and benefits, facility rent and utilities, number of expected participants, and other factors that influence costs to estimate how much money a state or community must spend to run a program. Explore the resources on this page to learn more about the role cost models serve in strategic public financing.

Resources

• Funding Our Kids 101: Understanding Cost Models

• “Five Tips for Improving Cost Modeling for Early Childhood Education”

• “How Cost Models Can Help Tribal Nations Support Early Childhood Programs”

• How to Initiate a Cost Model in Your State or Community

• How to Shape a Cost Model Happening in Your State or Community

Cost Calculators and Other Cost Model Tools

• Office of Child Care Provider Cost of Quality Calculator (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) 

• CostOut (Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education) 

• Cost of Preschool Quality & Revenue Calculator (Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes)

• Cost of Child Care (Center for American Progress)

• Conducting a Child Care Cost of Quality Study: A Toolkit for States and Communities (Center for American Progress)

• Out-of-School Time Cost Calculator (Wallace Foundation)

• Staffed Family Child Care Network Cost Estimation Tool (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)