Access to high quality early care and education (ECE) is particularly valuable, but often most elusive, for young children and families situated on the margins of society, including many Latinx immigrant families facing income insecurity, discrimination, and limited access to resources due to documentation status. This study used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to examine the various ECE-related experiences and perspectives of 55 undocumented immigrant mothers from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Participant mothers of young children completed a qualitative open-ended child care history narrative as part of a larger interviewer-assisted survey. Our findings suggest that participants, who faced multiple constraints including income insecurity and undocumented status, were purposeful and planful in attempting to access good quality ECE for their children, focusing on safety, learning, and their children's unique needs. However, accessing and sustaining good quality ECE for their young children was often an ongoing struggle throughout the early childhood years. This study provides greater understanding about the ways immigrant families with young children adapt to ECE challenges and broader societal inequities and discusses implications for ECE service delivery in relation to diverse mixed-status Central American (CA) immigrant families.

对于处于社会边缘的幼儿和家庭，包括许多面临收入不安全、歧视和资源受限的拉丁裔移民家庭，获得高质量的早期护理和教育 (ECE) 特别有价值，但往往最难以捉摸。文档状态。本研究使用基于社区的参与式研究 (CBPR) 方法来检查来自萨尔瓦多、危地马拉和洪都拉斯的 55 名无证移民母亲的各种与 ECE 相关的经历和观点。作为更大的访谈员辅助调查的一部分，幼儿的参与者母亲完成了定性的开放式儿童保育历史叙述。我们的研究结果表明，面临收入不安全和无证身份等多重限制的参与者，有目的和有计划地试图为他们的孩子获得高质量的 ECE，关注安全、学习和他们孩子的独特需求。然而，在整个幼儿时期，为他们的幼儿获得和维持高质量的 ECE 往往是一项持续的斗争。这项研究让我们更深入地了解有幼儿的移民家庭如何适应 ECE 挑战和更广泛的社会不平等，并讨论了与各种混合身份的中美洲 (CA) 移民家庭相关的 ECE 服务提供的影响。