This brief provides information on the early care and education (ECE) patterns of children who are not yet in school and who lived in the Denver Making Connections neighborhoods during Wave 1 and/or Wave 2 of the Making Connections Cross-site Survey.1 Some of the key findings include: • About one-third of children age five and younger, who have not yet entered school, are found in each form of care in the Denver Making Connections neighborhoods. • These patterns vary by age of child in predictable ways. o For infants and toddlers, for example, the proportions in FFN care and parent-only care rise to 43% and 42% respectively, and center-based care falls. o For 3-5 year olds not yet enrolled in kindergarten, these patterns reverse, with the proportion in center-based care rising (58%) and the proportion in the other forms of care falling slightly. • When looking at ECE patterns for children with particular demographic characteristics, or characteristics that are associated with being at risk of not being prepared to enter school healthy and ready to succeed, it appears that the general patterns often hold true. In other words, about a third of children with each characteristic or risk factor are in each care type. However, for some sub-groups, these patterns vary from the overall population: o Over half of children who have a parent who was born outside of the U.S. or is a noncitizen are in parent-only care, proportions which are significantly higher than those for all children in the Denver Making Connections neighborhoods. These children are also less likely to be in center-based care (14-17%) than children overall. (Over a quarter of these children are in FFN care.) o Children who have a parent without a high school degree are significantly less likely to be found in center-based care (24%) than all children. o Children who live in households that face hardship factors such as postponing prescriptions (46%) and not having enough money for food (46%) are more likely to be in center-based care than all children. o Children who have a parent who does not know any of their friends are more likely to be in parent-care (60%) than children overall in Denver.