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A new report, published by the National Women's Law Center, says recent cutbacks and changing rules for childcare subsidies have put thousands of children and their families in jeopardy.
The report, which examined federally funded child-care programs, found that over the last four years, many states have restricted eligibility for childcare subsidies, placed thousands of eligible families on waiting lists, required parents to increase their childcare payments, and failed to increase payments to child-care providers.
"The cuts have been devastating," said Helen Blank, co-author of the report and director of leadership and public policy for the National Women's Law Center, a nonprofit advocacy and litigation organization. Blank said that, although childcare programs have never received adequate funding, the new cuts are particularly drastic. "It's a pretty bleak picture," she added.
Advocates for low-income families say the cuts come at one of the worst possible times, as families struggle to survive in the midst of an economy that continues to be weak. Waiting lists for childcare assistance in many states are lengthy. As of early 2004, more than 46,000 children in Florida, 26,500 in Texas, and 23,000 in Tennessee were waiting for childcare subsidies.
While studies show that providing adequate and affordable childcare improves child development and allows parents to hold down jobs and stay off welfare, policy changes are making childcare assistance less available to needy families. Coupled with recent census figures showing that poverty rates among women and children have been increasing for the last three years, the lack of affordable childcare is causing hardship for a rising number of families.
Yasmine Daniel, director of the Children's Defense Fund's early childhood development division, said that cutting childcare assistance has disastrous effects on low-income children, including increased juvenile crime and academic problems. "These children are home alone or in unregulated childcare centers," she said. "It's a huge additional stress on families."
In response to funding shortages, many states have changed the eligibility requirements so that fewer people can receive assistance.
The study by the Law Center reports that between 2001 and 2004, the income eligibility cut-off for a family to qualify for childcare assistance declined, as a percentage of the poverty level, in about three-fifths of the states. In some states, the cuts were particularly extreme.
In Minnesota, a state once known for the accessibility and quality of its childcare assistance programs, the legislature in 2003 cut the maximum allowable yearly income for a family of three receiving assistance from $38,149 to $28,206, according to a local budget analyst. Legislators also cut funding for childcare program offerings by $86 million.
About 10,000 children lost childcare opportunities as a result, according to Ann-Kaner Roth, director of the Minnesota-based advocacy organization Childcare WORKS.
Even parents who already receive childcare assistance have experienced difficulties due to recent cuts and policy changes. Nearly 75 percent of states do not reimburse childcare providers at market rates, the report states. In many cases, families must pay the difference. Children's advocates say that many parents are simply not able to afford the extra payments and drop out of the program.
The cuts have also forced many childcare providers to go out of business -- especially those who primarily care for low-income children. Although exact figures are not known, advocates say thousands of centers have closed as a result of inadequate payments.
According to a study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, under President Bush's proposed 2005 budget, at least 300,000 fewer children will receive childcare. The report notes that the Bush administration has proposed freezing most Child Care Development Block Grant Programs and TANF funding at 2004 levels for the next five years.
Daniel, of the Children's Defense Fund, said that, despite huge federal budget deficits, childcare cutbacks are avoidable. "The tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations would have been a great source of funding for childcare," she said.
Presidential candidate John Kerry proposed legislation in 2002, still pending in Congress, to increase funding of the Child Care Development Block Grant Programs. "Will [Kerry's plan] serve every family? No," Daniel said. However, she said, Kerry's plan would clearly allow more needy families to receive assistance.
Meanwhile, parents currently receiving childcare assistance remain concerned that it could be terminated if Congress approves President Bush's budget.
- reprinted from the NewStandard