This project is a mixed methods study that seeks to increase the understanding of the search strategies that parents use to make early care and education (ECE) decisions. More than half of children under age 5 receive non-parental ECE on a regular basis. Searching for child care is an important part of parental ECE decision-making processes. However, little is known about parental search strategies and how they are related to parents' ECE decisions. This project focuses on parents with children ages 3 to 5. It consists of three phases. In phase I, through secondary analysis of the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education data, latent profile analysis is used to classify preschool parents based on their perceptions of three ECE arrangements. Phase II focuses on parental search strategies and investigates the relationship between parents' search strategies and their ECE choices. Phase III collects and analyzes qualitative data from local parents to understand the parental search process in more depth.