child care - Digital Library Collections

CHILD
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backward. For example, half the states no longer
guarantee child care assistance to welfare families.
Fourteen states reduced eligibility for child care
assistance, and one in five states increased or plans
to increase copayrnents for low-income parents.
Four states froze or reduced reimbursement rates
to providers. Minnesota took a giant step in the
wrong direction by passing legislation that undermines
efforts to ensure the health and safety of
children enrolled in family child care homes.
Providers may now care for a total of five children
without being licensed, and those wishing to seek a
license will actually be prohibited from doing so.
Michigan lowered the minimum age at which relatives
and at-home providers can receive public
funds, allowing adolescents as young as 16 to take
on the significant responsibility ofchild care for up
to 10 hours each day.
Financial help for needy parents. Several states,
however, recognized the importance of providing
child care assistance to low-income families, regardless
ofwhether they are receiving TANF. Although
these states have not made such assistance a legal
entitlement for all families below a certain income
level, state officials believe they have appropriated
or otherwise secured enough funds to help every
family currently eligible for child care subsiclies.
For example, Illinois increased state funding
by $100 million, making it possible to provide child
care assistance to all families earning less than 50
percent of the state median income (roughly
$22,000 for a family ofthree in 1997). The state of
Washington transferred $152 million from TANF
to the CCDBG to help families earning up to 175
percent of the federal poverty level. Wisconsin is
using $80.1 million transferred from TANF to provide
child care assistance to working families with
income below 165 percent of the poverty level.
Although these are important steps to address
child care needs, some aspects of the initiatives
raise serious policy concerns. For example, Wisconsin
families are given a financial incentive to
opt for less expensive child care with providers who
have no training, making it more difficult for financially
strapped families to choose higher quality
Table 3.3
City
Average Annual Child Care Cosl
al Cenlers, Selected Cilles,
1997
Infant Preschooler
(12-month-old) (4-year-old)
Boston $12,300 $7,900
Minneapolis $ 9,400 $6,700
Seattle $ 8,800 $6,100
Hartford, Conn. $ 7,200 $5,700
Wake County, N.C.
(including Raleigh) $ 5,800 $5,000
Denver $ 5,100 $4,600
Tucson, Ariz. $ 5,100 $4,100
Source: Joint survey of locoI resource ond referrol agencies by
the Children's Defense Fund and the Nationol Association of
Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies.
care. The state also has a "light touch" policy directing
welfare caseworkers to inform welfare recipients
only ofservices they ask for or need. Washington
state has lowered the rates it pays providers
who serve children receiving public chHd care
funds. Consequently, many providers may limit the
spaces open to poor children, charge parents additional
fees, or even leave the child care business, all
of which reduce parents' options. Il1inois has
raised families' fees in order to help finance child
care assistance. High fees make it possible for state
governments to provide aid to more families, but
they can severely strain a low-income family's
budget.
Over the next several years, as work requirements
for TANF families increase, all states will
face greater demand for child care and growing
needs for funcling. As a result, even larger investments
in child care will be necessary to enable
parents to fmd and keep jobs and to protect children's
safety and development.
Prekindergarten programs. Responding to
heightened interest in ensuring that children enter
school ready to learn, states continue to support
prekindergarten programs, either by investing in
state initiatives or by supplementing the federal
Head Start program with state dollars. In 1997
CHI L D R EN'S D E FEN S E FUN D 43