52% of Mid-Hudson Valley residents have a positive impression of the quality of child care or early education programs offered in their community. 35% of residents think these services are either fair or poor, and 13% do not have an opinion on the matter.
These findings, including the high proportion of residents who are unsure, are similar to the results in 2002.
There are differences in
residents’ perceptions at the county level.A majority of residents of Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, and
Putnam Counties feel positively about the child care and early education
programs available locally.A plurality
of Ulster County residents also rates these services highly.Sullivan County residents who have a
favorable view of child care and early education programs available in their
community barely outnumber residents who do not.
58% of residents living in households with children feel positively about the child care and early education programs available to them in their community although 37% rate them only as fair or poor.
A majority of single parents and parents with low income are also satisfied with the quality of local child care and early education programs although more than four in ten rate the programs available to them as fair or poor. Residents without children are less likely than residents with children to have an opinion on the matter.
