Local legislators join call for restoring child care funding

FOURTEEN STATE LEGISLATORS » namely members of the legislative Women’s Health Caucus — joined Public Citizens for Children and Youth to call on the Wolf administration to restore funding to child care providers.

“We encourage Gov. Wolf to immediately utilize the $302 million allocated to Pennsylvania for child care in December’s federal relief package to ensure that working families have access to affordable high-quality child care and help the early childhood education providers survive the immediate challenges they are facing during COVID,” state Rep.

Mary Jo Daley, D-148th Dist., co-chair of the Women’s Health Caucus, said during a recent press conference.

In March 2020, as Pennsylvania entered a mandated shut down, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning agreed to maintain state funding to child care providers at March enrollment levels, ensuring that providers could meet their regular expenses and accommodate new COVID-related staffing and cleaning costs.

But in September, at Gov. Wolf’s direction, the state slashed payment levels to child care providers based on attendance, which is lower than usual. While attendance fluctuates, costs have not. Child care providers are struggling to keep their businesses afloat.

“Expenses like rent, insurance, and utilities have remained the same. Due to social distancing requirements, no longer being able to combine classrooms, and the need for additional staff, health screenings and more intense cleanings, our payroll costs are the same,” said Erinn L. Rinn, director of operations for both Today’s Child Learning Centers and Warwick Child Care.

“Due to the policy change that happened in September, Today’s Child lost $467,000 in revenue and Warwick lost over $167,000 in revenue,” Rinn said. “And this is in addition to all of the private pay that we lost. We just can’t sustain this.”

In October, a sampling of 81 child care centers across the Southeast reported a loss of $1.5 million in state funding in just the first month of the funding change. More than four months on, the accumulated financial loss has had devastating effects, with 154 child care centers in Southeast PA going out of business; hundreds more are barely able to keep their doors open.

Gov. Wolf has the authority to direct the new federal funding to child care providers to increase payments moving forward and pay back the funding they lost.

Sen. Judy Schwank (D11th Dist.), co-chairwoman of the Women’s Health Caucus, said that child care “is just a part of our economic infrastructure. These child care programs which are run primarily by women should be considered infrastructure, just like we think about funding buildings and roads. It provides support for parents and enables healthy development and school readiness for our kids.”

“We urge the Governor, who we know cares about our children, to re-evaluate his position so we can make sure that resources are available for the child care centers across Pennsylvania that provide not just shelter and safety, but high quality education for all of our young people,” added Rep. Jordan Harris D-Philadelphia.

Legislative speakers also urged OCDEL to fulfill its promise to pay 33,000 child care employees a $600 grant and reinstate the Education and Retention Award (ERA) that has incentivized highquality educators to continue professional development opportunities, so the Commonwealth’s children have high-quality early education teachers.

“We need to provide the necessary support for [child care providers] to get through this pandemic both in the standpoint of financial needs and providing a safe work place, a place for kids to go safely. Without this resource to our constituencies, they are left with no choice. We know this is also a gender equality issue. Child care is a femaledominated field and it’s a vital service that provides the means for many women to actually enter or return to the workforce after becoming a parent,” said state Sen. Katie Muth, D-44th Dist.

“The conditions of the pandemic have already had an impact on gender equality and equity and the loss of child care infrastructure will set that back even further,” Muth said.

“When I was a single mother raising my son, access to community resources and care options allowed me to develop my career, start a business and continue to provide for my child. COVID-19 has pushed many parents to a crossroads, and I plead that funding could alleviate the tough choices facing many families and child care providers,” said state Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-157th Dist.

“If we continue on this path, hundreds more child care providers will be forced to shut down. This will leave parents scrambling to find a new provider so they can continue working and providing for their families,” Shusterman said.

“When earlier speakers spoke about infrastructure, that resonated for me. I think of [lack of child care funding] as a domino effect,” said state Rep. Joe Webster, D-150th Dist.

“You’re talking about small businesses and the parents associated that go to other businesses so every time we make it hard for child care, we make it harder for other businesses and other employees in other walks of life. It’s about the children and teachers, but it’s a foundational issue too,” he said.

Public Citizens for Children and Youth is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that works to improve the lives of children in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties by developing initiatives and advocating for quality health care, child care, public education, and family stability.