Kenley Branscome

Kenley leads initiatives that help state and federal policymakers transform early childhood data and research into insights that improve outcomes for families, young children and the programs that serve them.

Kenley has directed studies of early childhood education markets that include geospatial analyses of the supply and demand for services, assessments of childhood risk factors, and the reach of programs that mitigate risk. He studies the cost of preschool and child care services and analyzes child care market prices. Kenley also has supported early childhood digital transformation and data integration initiatives in multiple states.

Kenley has worked in 15 states and facilitated or presented in more than 70 national conference sessions and webinars. His most recent work includes an evaluation of the relationship between child-care prices and women’s participation in the workforce for the U.S. Department of Labor. He also led a comprehensive child care industry assessments for the state of Washington that informed the 2021 Fair Start for Kids Act; preschool and child care cost studies for Minnesota and Washington states that guided more than $1 billion of new investments into early childhood programs; a national child care market analysis for the U.S. Coast Guard; and assessments of the gaps and inequities in the supply of early childhood, health and human services available to young children in Hawaii and Texas.