Public child care aid shrunk around much of the nation over the last year and decade, a new report found, including declines in reimbursement rates for providers that could ripple throughout early education.
In 2011, three states set reimbursement rates at federally recommended levels for child care providers who enroll families who rely on child care aid, a steep drop from 2001 when 22 states maintained that level, CLASP reports in its new report, “State Child Care Assistance Policies 2011: Reduced Support for Families in Challenging Times.”
The drop in reimbursement rates matters to more than child care operators. If providers decide they can’t afford to serve low-income students, and low reimbursement rates appear to be a common complaint, they may cut subsidized slots, making it harder for already struggling families to find care, and raising the likelihood that more low-income children will arrive in kindergarten unprepared for school.
Without sufficient rates, child care providers cannot purchase and maintain materials and supplies, pay an adequate wage to teachers and staff and make investments that improve the quality of care. Moreover, when states pay very low rates to providers, it may discourage child care providers from accepting child care subsidy payments and reduces children's access to high quality programs. – “State Policies Make Child Care Assistance Harder to Come By.” 10/11/11. CLASP.
The drop in reimbursement rates is only one chapter in the report’s depressing story about declines in child care support over the last year and decade, when families needed help more than ever.
Because families saw little if any improvement in the previous decade, this left many of them behind where they had been in 2001. As a result, far too many families are unable to receive any child care assistance, or are provided insufficient assistance to gain access to good-quality child care options. -- “State Child Care Assistance Policies 2011.” As more families are deprived of help paying for reliable child care, parents will find it more difficult to work, children will be less likely to receive the nurturing care that encourages their growth and learning, and the nation will be more likely to lack the strong workforce required for its current and future prosperity.
And now that funds from the 2009 economic stimulus package are running out, public child care support might become even lower, the report suggests.
Check it out.