Dataset and Variables

Data for this investigation was sourced from the dataset 311 Service Requests from 2010 to the Present, available on NYC OpenData. I searched the database using the descriptor ‘unlicensed day care’ and found the reports were made to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Child Care and Camps Complaint Unit. The ‘created date’ of the complaint was used to visualize the prevalence of the reports made over this period. The ‘incident zipcode’ was used to visualize the density of the reported day care centers. No reports were recorded between 2010 and 2015, so the visualizations below describe the reports from 2015 on. How these reports are resolved is unknown as they only list which department reviewed and investigated the complaint and the dates on which the complaints were closed without describing what specific actions were taken to resolve them.

Which neighborhoods have the most reports for unlicensed day care centers? 

In investigating the density of unlicensed day care centers across boroughs, we may uncover areas of the city lacking coverage from public programs such as Head Start and UPK (Universal Prekindergarten) and private options. Are quality issues at these unlicensed centers prompting people to report them? Or, does this prevalence indicate quality issues at the licensed centers, prompting these unlicensed centers into existence?

The highest density of reports was in Midwood, Flatbush, and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, Fresh Meadows, Flushing, and Far Rockaway in Queens, and Wakefield in the Bronx. However, the density shown in the above map describes the number of reports made, which does not indicate the number of unlicensed centers, as some were reported more than once and there may be more that have not been reported. The density exists in residential neighborhoods, compared to more commercial areas such as mid and downtown Manhattan, where no reports were made. The reports made in these neighborhoods could indicate several issues, such as quality, availability, and accessibility of child care. For example, the stress of commuting with young children to centers farther away in more commercial areas could prompt families to use locations in their local neighborhood, regardless of licensure. More information is needed to assess this data, such as what incident prompted someone to file a report and the potential bias of the person filing it. It is assumed that an issue relating to the quality of care is what prompted someone to file a report, but the lack of licensure doesn’t explicitly indicate lack of quality.

These results could indicate a number of factors, such as quality issues tending to be more common in residential settings, difficulty accessing commercial centers, or a lack of trust in daycare centers in schools and commercial buildings, prompting people to prefer home-based care in their local neighborhoods.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic effect the number of centers being reported?

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly altered people’s relationship to the city and access to resources. In the table below, the data shows that most reports were made in Brooklyn and Queens between 2016 and 2020 with reports dropping off almost completely after 2020. With many child care centers being shut down, I was expecting to see an increase in reports during the lockdowns between 2020 and 2023.

Questions to consider…

What caused these numbers to drop so low? Are more people working from home, causing less reliance on day care centers? Are people less inclined to report to 311? Is data missing, or are reports being coded differently? Did we finally solve the child care crisis when the city reopened after the pandemic?!

Further information to gather…

Census data describing the demographics of the areas with the highest number of reports could add further nuance to this story if care is taken to prevent bias. For example, exploring correlations between the density of reports and commute times or income levels. A directory and/or map of child care programs offered in these areas would also be helpful in exploring correlations between lack of coverage and density of reports.