The problem:
Affordable childcare is an issue that should have no detractors—it is a fiscally sound investment and an ethical imperative—however the Republican administration led by Maggie Brooks has continued to cut childcare subsides for income eligible families. These subsides help the most impoverished families—families spread across the city and the suburbs—in the County send their pre-school aged children to daycare.
While State funding for this program has increased by 5.8 percent over the past 5 years, County spending on childcare subsidies has declined by 24 percent. As a result, Monroe County has lost over 7,000 subsidy slots since 2001, according to The Children’s Agenda, a Rochester-based advocacy group. In fact due to inadequate funding, fewer than 25 percent of eligible children in Monroe County receive childcare subsidies—that corresponds to approximately 7,000 children served out of 30,000 who are eligible.
High-quality childcare is expensive. A 2012 study by Child Care Aware of America found that the average cost of one year of high-quality infant care in Monroe County was $12,000. That is more than double the cost of annual tuition at a SUNY college that year. This is a cost-prohibitive expense for many poor working families. Even when a family receives subsidies, they must pay a 35 percent co-payment, the highest allowable parent co-pay rate in the state. Due to this high rate, even when a family is eligible for and receives a subsidy, high-quality daycare may still be out of reach.
On the other side of the equation, delayed payments to daycare centers and home-based providers threaten their businesses and thus threaten their employees and the low income working families that they serve. Due to cuts in the County payment processing office, childcare providers have had to wait egregious amounts of time to receive payment. Delays as long as four months have been reported. Additionally, the county still pays daycare businesses and home-based providers with hard-copy checks that are mailed, adding mail and bank processing times to the already delayed payments. These payment delays can prevent childcare providers from paying bills and threaten to put them out of business.
According to one daycare center owner, if county funding cuts continue and/or are excessively delayed, they may be forced to lay off their thirty employees and leave sixty families with no affordable daycare alternative. Ninety families are at risk of losing employment if just one center closes. The impact from several centers closing will exceed the loss of jobs that resulted from the job losses at Sentry Safe.
The short-term economic benefits of child care subsidies:
Access to secure, high-quality childcare allows parents to succeed in their jobs by decreasing absences and turnover. In fact, according to a Cornell University study, access to childcare services decreases employee absence by 20 to 30 percent and reduces turnover by 37 to 60 percent. Additionally, employees whose children received a subsidy experienced a 17.8 percent decrease in disciplinary actions on the job and a 35 percent increase in productivity.
In other words, without the ability to pay for adequate childcare parents are unable to perform as well in their jobs and are more likely to lose them. By offering childcare subsidies to low-income working families, parents are able to send their children to daycare, enabling them to keep their jobs and support their families with minimal public assistance.
The childcare and early-years education sector in Monroe County generates over $200 million in gross receipts annually and employs approximately 7,500 people, according to The Children’s Agenda estimates. For every additional dollar invested in the childcare sector, the broader local economy reaps $1.83. Local childcare workers and businesses, as well as the economy as a whole, benefit right now from childcare subsidies.
The long-term economic benefits of child care subsidies:
Years of research has shown that children who have access to high quality care before the age of five are better prepared for the rest of their lives than those who do not have access to it. Approximately 75 percent of brain growth occurs before a child turns five, so children who fail to fully develop the proper neural connections in these early years are at a significant disadvantage for their rest of their lives. According to the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, an Albany-based nonprofit research and advocacy group, children are more likely to succeed academically and socially if they have access to high quality childcare. These children are also less likely to develop behavioral problems and to need costly special education services. They are twenty percent more likely to graduate from high school, according to a Center for Government Research report, and 23 percent more likely to attend a four-year college.
Put another way, investing in high quality early childcare reduces education costs and creates an educated and well-adjusted work force. This is why every dollar invested in early childhood education, saves seven dollars down the road. By cutting childcare subsidies, the county has followed a penny wise, pound foolish strategy that is the antithesis of conservative fiscal management.
The societal benefits of child care subsidies:
As stated above, young children who have access to high quality daycare are more likely to finish high school and go to college. Additionally they will benefit from lower rates of teen pregnancy and better health as adults. They are less likely to be involved in criminal activity, interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Finally, children who attend high-quality daycare programs will spend less time on welfare, breaking the cycle of poverty.
The solution:
The cuts to childcare subsidy funding must be reversed. Not only must funding be restored, but also more eligible families need to gain access to subsidies or other affordable daycare options. Funding needs to be increased above pre-cut levels. Graft needs to be eliminated from the one billion dollar county budget, and cronyism cut from county services, allowing reallocation of funds. Payments to childcare facilities need to be made by direct deposit, allowing for more efficient and competent rendering of government services. The high parent co-payment needs to be addressed and additional childcare resources need to be developed—for example by providing business and zoning incentives to companies and local development projects, respectively, that provide affordable childcare services, private sector participation can yield greater worker productivity, a better educated workforce for the future, and tax savings.
In summary:
Our children are our future and we must strive to provide them with every opportunity—starting with high quality childcare. By eliminating waste due to mismanagement, funding for high quality childcare can be increased. More eligible children will be able to attend affordable childcare programs, giving them the best start in life, giving their parents the ability to hold jobs, and giving the local economy a boost by supporting local childcare businesses.
Investing in children is a smart business decision in a caring community. By investing in our youngest children, we can reduce the cost of government in the long run and save taxpayer dollars, build a stronger economy with a well-educated workforce, help to break the cycle of poverty, and create a strong foundation for a better life for families. It’s time to embrace the shared values that built a great Monroe County; it’s time for a new direction and a brighter future.