Child care providers navigate a challenging and competitive industry, where the substantial cost of providing safe, quality care for children meeting all state standards has to be balanced against families' ability and willingness to pay for care. Operating a business where narrow profit margins can turn into significant deficits from one week to…

New Jersey's poorest and most vulnerable children--those living in the cities--suffer even more disproportionately in many ways now than a decade ago. From the 1990s to early 2000s, children living in 25 of New Jersey's largest urban areas fared worse than statewide averages on many indicators of child well-being. In this, the Association for…