State funding changes will result in day care closures
As the owners of two independently ownedandoperated child care centers in the Lehigh Valley, weare speaking for the professionals in our field when we say that being open during COVID-19 and following strict guidance to keep children and staff safe is expensive, exhausting and uncertain.
In addition to loss in revenue and increased expenses, we are experiencing significant staffing challenges. We have been flexible to the point of breaking as the pandemic continues to shatter lives.
Child care providers are left with the enormous responsibility of helping pick up those pieces for our local communities.
Not only are 88% of open Pennsylvania child care providers serving fewer children, with overall enrollment down by 67%, but the pandemic has increased health and safety costs by $22/week per child. Through Labor Day, the minimum impact on Pennsylvania child care providers was estimated at $325 million in new costs and lost revenues.
Our industry was chronically underfunded and operating with razor-thin margins before the pandemic. So this funding situation is breaking a child care system that was in crisis before the pandemic even began.
And yet, we have a myriad of responsibilities that must be maintained despite those challenges.
We are responsible for caring for and educating children, which now includes supervising school-age children’s virtual learning when they can no longer be in a school building. We are responsible not just for traditional care and education, but we must now be informed on how to manage a program with every child living through ongoing
trauma.
We are responsible for providing that care and education in a safe COVID19-free place so families can feel secure when they go back to work.
We are responsible for providing and assuring that security without allowing parents to even enter the building where they leave their children. We
are responsible for maintaining this safe place by following guidelines and protocols that exponentially increase costs and significantly decrease the number of children for which we can safely care.
We are responsible for making sure our own small businesses keep running, even if it is at a deficit, so other busi
nesses with employees in the workforce who rely on child care may have a chance at keeping their doors open. We take these responsibilities seriously, and know that if we are not successful our economy cannot recover. We are not asking for sympathy, but we do need support.
While we appreciate that the recently finalized state budget for the rest of fiscal year 2020-21 includes level funding for child care, our administration needs to demonstrate commitment to child care providers with supportive policies as well.
Since the COVID-19 shutdown, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning had been making child care subsidy payments to providers based on the March 2020 enrollment figures, to stabilize the sector and ensure provider capacity. As of Sept. 1, OCDEL shifted to reimbursing providers based on actual attendance, resulting in decreased subsidy payments to providers.
In September our programs lost a total of $23,598. This is not sustainable. And we are not alone.
When we talked to just four other center directors, we found that, combined, the losses across our locations were over $80,000 in state funding in September, threatening our ability to provide quality child care and family support.
The unfortunate reality is that permanent closures of centers are likely, as 30%, 40% and 50% reductions in income are unsustainable.
For child care providers that serve families on subsidy, this one policy change can make or break us. And that means it can make or break all of us. This is more than an economic catastrophe for owners and employees; this maneuver will leave gaping holes in communities where high-quality child care provides an educational foundation for children — notably children of color and low-income kids.
We need the administration to reinstate the subsidy policy to make payments at pre-pandemic enrollment until this crisis is over. We need it for our children, their families, our businesses and our economic recovery.