Child care access not meeting need in NY, concerns amid CCDBG re-authorization

ALBANY, NY (11/06/2014)(readMedia)-- Too many New York families still cannot receive the help they need to obtain reliable, high-quality child care according to a report released last week by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), Turning the Corner: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2014. Families in 33 states are better off in some respects but child care assistance is still not reaching enough of those who need it.

The NWLC report points out New York is one of 13 states in the country that is worse off in 2014 than 2013 in one or more policies that are critical to determining families' ability to obtain child care assistance and the extent of help that assistance offers: (1) income eligibility limits to qualify for child care assistance, (2) waiting lists for child care assistance, (3) co-payments required of parents receiving child care assistance, (4) reimbursement rates for child care providers serving families receiving child care assistance and (5) eligibility for child care assistance for parents searching for a job.

New York no longer reimburses child care providers at the federally recommended level. Most other states also pay inadequate reimbursement to child care providers, depriving them of the resources they need to maintain their businesses and support high-quality care. Many states also have long waiting lists, as more families need help than the state can assist.

Nationwide, the number of children receiving child care assistance continues to fall, according to separate data from the U.S. Office of Child Care. The monthly average of 1.46 million children receiving Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)-funded care in 2013 was the smallest number of children served since 1998. The number of children served from 2012 to 2013 alone fell by 6,600 in New York and 47,500 nationwide. At the same time, total child care spending has dropped to its lowest levels since 2002.

The imminent reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant-while making important improvements to the program-will result in more children and their families losing child care assistance and further reductions to already low rates for providers if additional federal funding is not provided to help states effectively implement the reauthorization's new requirements.

More resources are needed at all levels of government to meet the needs of working parents, employers and businesses in our communities, and to support the delivery of quality early learning and care to our youngest children.

"We can make this a turning point for the families that need assistance," said NWLC Co-President Nancy Duff Campbell. "States have started to make progress in some areas, but this is no time to pull back on efforts. There are still too many parents who cannot afford the child care they need to work and ensure economic stability for their families, and too many children who cannot obtain the high-quality care they need to learn and develop."

In New York, 31 percent of children whose families receive child care assistance are cared for in regulated family child care homes, including group family child care. Another 35 percent are in legally exempt care in almost exclusively home-based settings. The remaining 34 percent are cared for in licensed day care centers or registered school age child care programs.

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The National Women's Law Center is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization working to expand opportunities and eliminate barriers for women and their families, with a major emphasis on women's health, education and employment opportunities, and family economic security. For more information, visit www.nwlc.org.

Voice of Organized Independent Childcare Educators (VOICE/CSEA) is Local 100A of CSEA, bringing together more than 6,000 home-based licensed child care providers in 57 counties across New York (outside NYC). By supporting quality, affordable early learning and care in New York and greater investment in our children, our work and our communities, we work to keep parents earning and children learning. For more information, visit www.voicecsea.org.