The Educated Reporter (Education Writers Association blog)

“COVID really just highlighted the pre-existing situations and challenges of the early childhood system across the nation,” said Dionne Dobbins, the senior director of research at Child Care Aware of America, a research and advocacy group. “When COVID hit, it was layering it on top of a very fragile child care system — and, you know, some would say it even shattered.”

Dobbins was among the experts assembled for the kickoff panel of a recent Education Writers Association event on covering the education and care of children from birth to age 3. 

A lack of adequate federal investment in child care is the driver behind the affordability issues faced by parents, Dobbins argued. 

“The price of child care in many states is more expensive than tuition at a state college for one year,” she said.

Dobbins said data gathered by Child Care Aware indicates that a majority of states were already seeing declines in family child care, as well as the number of child care centers, in 2018 and 2019.

Read the full article.

The Lily/Washington Post

Bell’s story underscores the structural problems that fail to support struggling parents — especially women of color — in a society too quick to render someone’s fate to the incarceration system, experts say.

Mario Cardona, chief of policy and practice at Child Care Aware of America, said high-quality child care just isn’t an option for many families. “Even before the pandemic and the associated closures of child-care programs, the supply of child care was decreasing,” he said. “When covid-19 was layered onto the already fragile child-care system, it shattered.”

Before the pandemic, more than half of states reported a decline in the number of child-care centers and 79 percent of states reported a dip in family child-care providers between 2018 and 2019, according to data from Child Care Aware of America.

Cardona and his colleagues estimate that it will take a year or more to understand the impact of the pandemic on child-care services. As of July, the group found that 35 percent of centers and 21 percent of family child-care programs remain closed across the country.

Read the full article.

The Nation magazine

According to an analysis by Child Care Aware of America, while 40 states have included child care providers in the same eligibility tier as K-12 educators, five of them—Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio, Utah, and Wyoming—and Washington, D.C., put K-12 teachers ahead of those teaching and caring for children at younger ages. Like Rhode Island, Vermont originally said that child care providers and teachers would be prioritized at the same time and then changed gears to set eligibility based on age, according to Mario Cardona, chief of policy and practice at Child Care Aware. Four states—Florida, Indiana, Texas, and West Virginia—haven’t made it clear when child care providers will be eligible.

There are many reasons that child care and early childhood educators argue they should be vaccinated ahead of the general population, however.

“Child care has been essential since before the pandemic,” Cardona said. “Providers around the country are losing money and putting their health and their families’ health at risk…to keep their programs running.” K-12 educators are often getting prioritized in the hope that widespread educator vaccination can help to safely reopen schools. But “it isn’t a situation where these child care providers need a vaccine in order to open. They are open,” Cardona noted.

Cardona was quick to say that his organization is not criticizing any of the states’ eligibility decisions, noting that they’re made by lawmakers and officials on the ground. But others have no hesitation criticizing them.

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MarketWatch

As lawmakers debate how to get financially struggling Americans through the pandemic, one idea is more cash for families with children, with payments structured like mini-stimulus checks coming monthly.

In a child-care system where prices are rising and spots are contracting, however, the question is how much of dent these proposals can make for families confronting the expensive juggling act of work and daycare.

“Child care is not affordable for far too many,” said Mario Cardona, chief of policy and practice at Child Care Aware of America, an organization focused on child-care quality, access and affordability. 

Added money for families is “incredibly helpful for families, but in terms of child care, the cost of care is incredibly high,” he added. 

Families paid an average between $9,200 and $9,600 for one child’s day care in 2019, according to data from the organization. 

By July, 35% of child-care centers and 21% of family child-care centers, smaller licensed operations in a residential setting, were still closed, according to Child Care Aware of America.  

Taking stock of the proposals, Cardona said, “Making changes are incredibly helpful, but’s not going to solve the problem” of access and affordability. Furthermore, he said, there would no requirement the money gets spent on child care. That’s why direct investment in child care businesses and extra funding for child care subsidies are needed, he said.

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Money Geek

Child Care Aware of America's [2019] report on child care costs found the national average price is between $9,100–$9,600 a year for one child. That number does not reflect what most people pay but is an average across all states.

It's essential to look at child care costs based on age and type, particularly for children aged birth–4 years. In a child care center, the median price for an infant is $11,896 compared to $9,254 for a 4-year-old. The cost is lower for in-home child care, meaning licensed child care in a private home rather than a center.

Child Care Aware^® of America's data on the high price of child care was featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah:

USA Today

For the hundreds of thousands of low-income parents who rely on subsidized preschool services, those programs do much more than care for and educate their children. They provide nutritious meals and health screenings, resources to support housing stability and financial security.  

That, advocates argue, attests to the crucial role such programs play in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout – and why early-childhood workers should be given priority for the shots.  

Infection rates are, according to one study, highest among Native American, Black and Latino early-childhood workers, though it's unclear whether they contracted the virus in child care settings. Women of color, who are overrepresented in that workforce, are more likely to get COVID-19 than their white counterparts.  

Yet some states haven't grouped early-childhood workers with other teachers on their lists of who gets precedence for vaccination. Even in places that have technically included such workers in one of the first vaccination phases, confusion remains over how and where to make that happen.

According to the research and advocacy organization Child Care Aware of America, five states and Washington, D.C., prioritize K-12 staff over early-childhood workers for the COVID-19 vaccine. Another four states have yet to clarify when the latter group can access it. 

Read the full article.

Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., CEO of Child Care Aware® of America, released the following statement in response to President-elect Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan:

“President-elect Biden’s bold plan to rescue our communities and help us fight COVID-19 is sorely needed. On the heels of dispiriting news about the growing spread of the virus and the disparate impact of the pandemic on the employment and labor force participation of women of color, we need action.

Child care is a critical part of our response to the pandemic and broader economic recovery. Child Care Aware® of America is grateful to see the President-elect’s proposal to invest $40 billion in the child care system. In conjunction with his plan’s commitment to bolster wages, provide paid leave and health care, address housing and nutrition insecurity, and pull children out of poverty – all issues that families and workers in the child care system struggle with – this rescue package would have a tremendous impact on communities across the country.

We stand ready to work with Congress and the incoming Administration on this plan and urge them to act quickly.”

The 19th

A fresh round of stimulus could help the industry regain some of its footing. Congress has allocated $10 billion in funding for child care, including $250 million for Head Start, the federal program that subsidizes early childhood education. Most of that money will go to grants for child care providers who need help paying employees and rent and making modifications to their centers to follow new coronavirus rules. 

Malik, the CAP researcher, called it a “good down-payment,” but child care providers agree that more money is needed to stabilize the industry — and thereby stabilize the economy as a whole.

Lynette Fraga, the CEO of Child Care Aware of America, an industry advocacy group, said $10 billion “is far from what the child care system needs to survive the pandemic.” The group has put the real price tag around $50 billion.

“This will only provide short-term relief,” Fraga said, “on the long road to recovery for child care.” 

Read the full article.

Giving Compass

By Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D.

When COVID-19 was layered onto the already fragile child care system, it shattered. Many providers remain closed or are in danger of closing, parents are struggling to find child care arrangements that will allow them to work productively, and without a reliable, steady workforce, our country will not recover economically from the pandemic-related shutdown. 

Read the full article.