DSS Virginia

[nealf]

Department of Social Services - parsing dss.virginia.gov data

https://github.com/CodeforNRV/dss-virginia

[dmoorevtedu]

As a parent
I want to see childcare options that are convenient for my commute to work
so I can find the best option for chilcare

[dmoorevtedu]

As a advocate for quality childcare
I want to be able to pull a data table of basic information about childcare centers of certain types and in certain localities into a data table
so I can analyze the information and get a broader picture of child care in my communities
(Almost like the current website, but I would want to be able to select multiple localities (not just one) and multiple types of centers and get the output in a data table (csv or excel).
I manually copied and pasted the information to create the attached file and I periodically go in and update it (add and remove providers, update capacity, hours, ages).
Iceberg.xlsx

[dmoorevtedu]

As a person concerned with economic development
I want to know ratio of child care slots to population (maybe by census tract) for my area as compared to other localities and the state
so that I can understand if we have a shortage of a certain type of childcare.

[dmoorevtedu]

As a person working with the data,
I wish there was a robust function that could process the free text entries for ages into categories (Columns yes/no)
So that is could be more easily grouped (or displayed)

Infants: 0-16 months
Toddlers: 16 months - 2 years
Twos: 2 years - 3 years
Preschool: 3 years - 5 years
Young school age - 5 years to 9 years
Older school age - 9 year to 12 years

for example, if the lower end of the range is somewhere withing the 0- 16 month time frame, they you can indicate that Yes the center serves infants. If it does starts with 1 year 4 months, then the youngest age group served is Toddlers.
Center|Infants|Toddlers|Twos|Preschool|YoungSchool|OldSchool
Center 1|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|N
Center 2|N|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y
Center 3|N|N|N|Y|Y|N

It is actually more complicated since actual line between Preschool and Young Schoolers varies since children start school at different chronological ages.

Most preschool programs will be licensed to serve children up to age 5 years 11 months. Anything above that is probably intentionally providing school age care (before school and after school programs).

[dmoorevtedu]

As a person who tries to keep up with changes at childcare centers in a particular area
I would like to receive a notification of changes to certain things (new providers, providers removed, change in license type (provisional), capacity, ages, hours.)
so that I can update materials, recruit new providers to participate in program and help centers in trouble solve problems.

[nealf]

I know child care in Montgomery county has become a huge issue with the school board's decision to change the school start times so that primary school will be starting before secondary (and getting out before them as well). Families are trying to figure out how they can adjust their schedules and arrange child care to meet the new schedule, and based on recent school board public comments, there seems to be a vast shortage of available child care options in Montgomery county. One parent mentioned using the DSS website at the school board meeting, and while she didn't complain, I'm sure she would have appreciated a better experience like David's use cases above mention!