Provider and Early Educator Toolkit: Responding to the Illinois Child Care Budget Crisis

We created this toolkit as a resource for child care providers, early educators, parents and allies in our work to protect the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and access to quality, affordable care that keeps 100,000 families working across our state. Since providers and parents learned of the $300 million CCAP budget shortfall—which could result in severe payment delays and service cuts as early as February 2015—parents, allies and providers have been taking action in communities across Illinois to protect access to quality, affordable child care for working families. We hope that these resources will help you join the thousands of parents, providers, early educators and community allies already leading this fight.

Many of the resources provided to you in this toolkit are designed for child care providers and early educators to reach and engage the working parents we talk to each and every day. The most important thing that we can do is ensure that we spread the stories of working parents and make parents visible in the fight to protect CCAP.

Inside our toolkit you will find:

Message points and a fact sheet on the Child Care Assistance Program to help you in talking to others about what’s at stake for working families

Resources for engaging parents, including a sample agenda for a parent meeting Sample letters to the editor and to elected officials that you and parents can use as a

starting point for your advocacy Social media tips and tools for spreading our message and parents’ stories Additional resources for parents and providers in your advocacy for quality, affordable

child care and early learning for all families.

Please feel free to use and share these resources with providers, families and early educators in your network. If you have any suggestions, feedback or questions, you can email Elizabeth.Kropp@seiuhcil.org. For more information, please visit our website at seiuhcilin.org or contact our Member Resource Center at 866-933-7348.

Our Message

CORE Message: Families of young children will lose access to childcare if Gov. Rauner and the General Assembly do not take action immediately. Almost 160,000 children across Illinois rely on quality affordable child care every day. Working parents need quality, affordable child care to complete their degrees, stay in school and go to work.

Without child care, parents can’t work and the safety of our children is at risk.

Gov. Rauner must not let this turn into a crisis that hurts Illinois families and hurts the state’s economy.

The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP):

Is a Smart Program that prepares children while preparing parents. Provides Stability for Kids, Families and Our Economy by Keeping Working Parents

Employed: A study in 2004 showed that Illinois families using child care assistance had lower probability of ending their employment by 43%.

Boosts the Economy : Every dollar spent represents an economic boost of $2.13.

Additional Background:

Funding for the Child Care Assistance Program is running out and could be gone as early as February, 2015. Without warning, hundreds of thousands of parents will have to stay home from work and school.

Without leadership, Gov. Rauner and the General Assembly will send Illinois backward.

A strong child care system is vital for Illinois’ economic health.

Unless our elected leaders act soon, thousands of working parents will lose access to child care. Parents will miss work or lose their jobs—hurting Illinois’ economic health by driving up unemployment. Even worse, parents could face the impossible choice of leaving their children without the safe and reliable care they need from a trusted provider, in order to continue to work and support their family.

Families are eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program if they earn below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level—or, for a family of 4 in 2014, approximately $44,00 per year.

Child care boosts the economy. For every additional $1 Illinois spends, child care and early learning programs inject $2.13 back into the Illinois economy. The Child Care Assistance Program doesn’t just keep families afloat—and offer parents the opportunity to lift themselves and their children out of poverty. It also helps to drive local economies by making it possible for parents to participate in the economy, and providing child care providers with hard-earned income that they spend in their local communities meeting

the needs of their own families, stimulating job creation and helping to make small businesses successful.

Fully funding the Child Care Assistance Program is also a future-minded investment that will provide benefits for years to come, both because parents are able to succeed economically and build a better future for themselves and their children and because children go on to be more successful in school and future life.

We are calling on Governor Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly to do the right thing for working families and children to avoid catastrophe by identifying revenue and approving supplemental funding for the Child Care Assistance Program.

Common Q&A on the CCAP Crisis:

Q: Why is the Child Care Assistance Program in Crisis?

Because there is a $300 million shortfall in the Child Care Assistance Budget.

The Illinois General Assembly appropriated less for the Child Care Assistance Program than was needed for the 2015 Fiscal Year. Over the past year, more parents opted to enroll their children in higher-cost programs, like child care centers, which raised monthly costs in the CCAP program. That, in combination with a backlog of bills—made even worse by problems with the State’s Child Care Management System, the database for parent cases and provider payments—ballooned the shortfall to $300 million.

Q: When will families and providers experience problems?

Problems are likely to start in the near future, but we don’t know exactly when. Our new governor hasn’t said how he plans to address this crisis for working families. We urge Gov. Rauner and the General Assembly to do the right thing by immediately passing supplemental funding for the Child Care Assistance Program, and taking steps to make sure our state has the revenue to fund quality, affordable child care for all families for the future.

Q: What is the solution? Isn’t Illinois broke?

First and foremost, Gov. Rauner and the General Assembly must take action now to fully fund the Child Care Assistance Program by finding the revenue needed to make a supplemental appropriation—otherwise, parents will experience service cuts and providers will experience delayed or missed payments. Illinois has a revenue crisis that our citizens and our elected leaders can’t ignore—we need to ensure that we have immediate and long-term solutions to funding vital programs like child care and education. Our state certainly isn’t broke—but we do have a revenue crisis that is grounded in a crisis of values. Elected officials like to talk about how they value and support working families—and especially how they support giving vulnerable children the strong start in life they need for future success, but now is the time to act and find the necessary funding to continue the program. The money is there—the

question is whether our elected officials have the will to act and place our children before big business and the very rich.

Q: What cuts to the Child Care Assistance Program would you support?

Any cuts to the Child Care Assistance Program will be catastrophic for Illinois’ working mothers and providers. Illinois parents—especially the working mothers who are earning the least and struggling the most, rarely working 9-to-5—need quality, affordable child care for their children. They need flexibility and choice—whether they work days or overnights and weekends, whether they need a full day of care and early learning, or flexible care for their changing schedule. Any cuts would create a crisis for working families, children and providers.

Q: What impact will this have on providers?

Illinois’ child care programs are already operating on a razor-thin budget. Payment delays and CCAP service cuts will force even more of Illinois’ family child care providers and child care centers to shut down. Licensed family child care providers have an annual net income of about $12,000 per year and the median wage for a child care center teacher is under $12 per hour. The child care workforce is already struggling to provide quality, reliable and truly accessible care to all families that need it while earning poverty wages. The budget crisis will push thousands of additional families over the edge—making it impossible for them to both access quality, safe care for their children AND earn a living to support their families.

Illinois State Budget Crisis Fact Sheet

Children and Families Face a CrisisState Child Care Funding to Run Out in Early 2015

The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) budget for the current fiscal year (FY15) is underfundedby almost $300 million. This means that the state will essentially run out of money to pay child careproviders as early as the end of January -- well before the June 30th end of this fiscal year. WhileIllinois will have access to federal funds to partially pay for CCAP, those dollars will not make up for this shortfall that we now face.

Background:The IDHS Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) is a critical work support for parents and earlylearning opportunity for Illinois’ children. The program serves over 160,000 children in community- and home-based child care programs that enable 100,000 families to work.

How did we get here:

The $300 million shortfall was created in the following way:

• Child Care began the year with a $190 million deficit• $84 million reduced appropriation• Cost of care per child continues to rise because more infants and toddlers are using more costlycenter-based care in greater numbers.• Home Child Care rate increases and parent co-payment reduction• Backlogs created by a prolonged implementation of the electronic Child Care Management System (CCMS) have forced IDHS to ‘automatically re-determine eligibility’ for families in the CCAP. As a result, CCAP is running on average 5,000 ‘additional’ children per month than was expected. IDHS continues to work to address the remaining problems with the system.

What does this mean for child care moving forward:• Thousands of Child Care providers - both in homes and centers - will not be paid for some or all ofthe care that they provide for children• Without a solution to this crisis, thousands of parents will be forced to decide between going to work or staying with their children, and thousands of children could face being left at home with no adult care.

We urge the Governor and the General Assembly to work together to find a solution to fully fund CCAP through the end of this fiscal year in order for the program to continue at its current level.

Tapping into Parent Power –

Tips and Talking Points for Talking to Parents:

Update your parents on the situation and share the facts.

“The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) budget for the current fiscal year is underfunded by almost $300 million. This means that the state will essentially run out of money to pay child care providers any day now -- well before the June 30th end of this fiscal year. While Illinois will have access to federal funds to partially pay for CCAP, those dollars will not make up for this shortfall that we face now.”

Explain what it means for you personally as the provider, and what your plans are if payments are delayed or stop altogether.

For example: “We might see payment delays as soon as next week. My plan is, I know I can operate for one month without payment, but after that I will likely have to shut my doors.”

Give them concrete action steps and ask for a commitment

“Parents across the state of Illinois are uniting to take action, because the truth is that working parents have the most power to bring attention to the crisis and a quick resolution. Parents are writing letters, sharing their stories with legislators and the media, and participating in a lobby day on February 19. What are you willing to do?”

Sample Agenda: Parent Meeting

1. Discuss the importance of working together—and ask for parent contacts (have parents fill out a sign-in sheet with name, phone number, email address and texting permission)

2. Lay out the facts(Handout: Fact Sheet)

3. Discussion – how will cuts affect parents in the room?Facilitation questions:a. What would happen if you lost access to child care?b. How would it impact your children? Your future?

Facilitator Tip: Make sure there is space for every parent in the room to participate in the discussion. Facilitate to ensure the loudest voices aren’t the only voices.

4. Why is this happening?Facilitation questions:

a. Why do you think this is happening?b. If the Governor and Legislature truly valued the program, do you think they

could find a way to fund it?c. The truth is – we have a tax system that is unbalanced and asks working families

to contribute a disproportionate amount of the state revenue. It’s not enough to sustain the system we have now, let alone the child care and early education system that Illinois families’ need. It’s time to change our priorities and have the very wealthy who are doing better than ever contribute their fair share to our state to not only protect CCAP in the short term but have the system Illinois families deserve

5. What can parents do?

Facilitation questions:

a. How can we make this a top priority for Governor Rauner and legislators?b. Do you think we can be effective if just you all and few others understand what

is at stake?c. Should we wait and see how this plays out, or take action now?

6. Action Plana. Write a letter to the editor of the local paperb. Write a letter to Governor Raunerc. Join parents and providers from around the state at lobby day, February 19

Facilitator Tip: Get specific commitments from each parent about what they are willing to do, then make a follow-up plan.

Sample: Parent Letter-to-the-Editor

TIPS:

Keep it short—preferably under 175 words. Most papers will cut or reject letters to the editor that are longer than that.

Include your full name, address and a phone number where you can be reached when submitting your letter to the editor.

Check your local paper’s website for guidelines on submitting letters to the editor. Many let you post online or send via email.

Sample Text:

Unless Governor Rauner and the General Assembly act soon, my family and others with young children across the state will lose the child care we count on. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) budget has a $300 million hole and state funding could run out as soon as this month.

The Child Care Assistance Program gives 160,000 Illinois children a foundation for their future and allows 100,000 parents like me to work or go to school.

[Include your personal story here]: EXAMPLE: I work full-time as a home health aide and my husband works in retail. Since our 2-year-old daughter started at Easter Seals, she has made amazing progress. She seems to learn a new word every day. My heart breaks when I think about what will happen if we lose child care assistance – on my salary, we could never afford child care and keep up with our other bills.

Illinois lawmakers say that they value working families – but my family and thousands like us will have to leave the workforce if legislators fail to step up and do what’s right.

Governor Rauner and the General Assembly must find revenue and pass a supplemental appropriations bill to save CCAP and they must do it soon.

Sample Letter to Governor Rauner & Members of the Illinois General Assembly

Find your legislators here: Illinois State Board of Elections District Searchhttp://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspxSearch for your elected officials by address and find their contact information.

Office of the GovernorJames R. Thompson Center100 W. Randolph, 16-100Chicago, IL 60601

February 10, 2015

Governor Rauner:

I am writing to you about a serious matter for our state’s working parents, young children, our economy, and my own family.

The Illinois Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) provides more than 100,000 working parents like me affordable child care, and over 160,000 children with essential early care and education.

[Tell your personal story here – how does your family rely on the Child Care Assistance Program? What would cuts mean for your family?]

Without child care, parents like me can’t work and the safety of our children is at risk.

The Illinois Child Care Assistance Program—and the care that children and families count on every day—is in jeopardy because of a nearly $300 million budget shortfall in FY15. Without supplemental funding to sustain this vital support for children and working families, parents and children could experience service cuts without warning, forcing tens of thousands of parents to stay home from work and putting children in danger.

Continued investment in the Child Care Assistance Program is vital for the health of our economy and for the well-being of our children. CCAP provides support to parents that enables them to work—which in turn allows parents to contribute to the health of Illinois’ economy

I am writing today to urge you and your colleagues in the Illinois General Assembly to take immediate action to avert a crisis for working parents and children by passing supplemental funding for the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program for Fiscal Year 2015.

We also need your leadership to ensure that our Child Care Assistance Program will continue to support parents and young children for years to come by ensuring that our State has the needed revenue to fund this and other vital services for children and families.

We need you to take action now—before this becomes a crisis for tens of thousands of Illinois’ working families.

Sincerely,

CC: Hon. _____________, Illinois State SenatorHon. __________________, Illinois State Representative

Social Media Tips & Tools

Social media is a tool that anyone can use to help spread our message. Here are some tips to get you started. If you are already using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you’re ready to get started! If you are new to social media, it’s simple and free to sign up for accounts—all you need is an email address and to create a password.

Hashtags & Sample Social Media Posts

We’ll be using the hashtags #saveCCAP, #childcare4IL and #childcarekeepsILworking.

Please include one or all of these hashtags in all digital communication on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Here are some sample messages to share on Facebook or Twitter:

Parents can’t work if #childcare doesn’t work for them. #saveCCAP, #childcare4IL We need our elected leaders to make investments in #childcare4IL . #saveCCAP, When #childcare is more expensive than college, we have a problem. #saveCCAP,

#childcarekeepsILworking. President Obama and working parents agree #childcare should be a national priority. Our

elected leaders in IL can’t ignore the facts. #saveCCAP #childcarekeepsILworking We’re taking action because working families agree #childcare needs to be affordable.

#childcarekeepsILworking. Nearly 1/5 working moms of very young children work in a low wage job. For them, affordable

#childcare is critical! #saveCCAP #childcarekeepsILworking Greedy CEOs can do more now to invest in children and their hardworking employees.

#childcare4IL #saveCCAP Millions of families are struggling in this economy. Governer Rauner and the IL legislature need

to #saveCCAP now because #childcarekeepsILworking Quality early learning and #childcare is the glue for many working families. #saveCCAP,

#childcare4IL

Sample Posts for Day of an Event

Today is the day! We’re speaking up to #saveCCAP for children and families! #childcare4IL and #childcarekeepsILworking

Today we’re meeting with our elected officials to urge them to #saveCCAP! #childcarekeepsILworking

Sample Post for Day After an Event

Yesterday we spoke out for #childcare4IL. Our fight continues until we #saveCCAP for working parents and children in our state! #childcarekeepsILworking

“Why I Count on Child Care”

Show your support for the Child Care Assistance Program by printing out and personalizing the “Why I Count on Child Care” sign, taking a picture, and posting it to social media using the hashtags #saveCCAP, #childcare4IL and #childcarekeepsILworking. Together, we will flood social media with photos and messages from families across Illinois!

The sign is included as the last page in this toolkit.

Here are some ideas for how you can get others to participate:

Print out signs and ask parents to fill them out and take a photo with their children at pick-up time.

Invite children to draw or color on signs and ask children and parents to pose together. Organize a parent meeting at your child care or in your community and have families fill

out signs and pose for pictures on their way in. Take some signs to your next child care association meeting. Take photos of providers

filling out their signs together and then snap individual shots. Invite your church congregation, block club or community group to participate at their

next meeting or gathering. Share signs and our toolkit with other providers in your community.

How-To…

TAKE GREAT PHOTOS!

1. Tight portraits of attendees, speakers and other leaders. Chest up, fill the frame.

2. SELFIES!

3. Pictures of posters, flyers and stickers.

TAKE GREAT VIDEOS!

Picture and video ideas

Portraits of parents and providers wearing stickers or holding signs to Save CCAP. Photos and video of providers and parents on the doors talking to their neighbors about saving

CCAP. Photos and videos of providers and parents making calls to legislators, signing petitions, or

writing letters. Large group photo before a big event, rally or legislator meeting. Videos of parents, providers and kids singing chants. Photos of kids! (make sure to get signed release – attached)

Where to share your content

Use the hashtags #kidsfirst #raisingcommunities & #earlylearningvoter Email photos and videos to Catherine.Murrell@seiuhcil.org

Additional Resources for Advocacy and on the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program

Here are some additional resources to support your efforts to protect and strengthen the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program.

Be sure to check our website seiuhcilin.org, like SEIU Healthcare Illinois on Facebook and follow @seiuhciimk on Twitter for more updates, resources you can share and more.

Providers, parents and allies can text KIDS to 787753 to sign up for mobile updates from SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana on the CCAP crisis.

Illinois State Board of Elections District Searchhttp://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx

Search for your elected officials by address and find their contact information.

Voices for Illinois Children: A Stronger Illinois Report on Child Carehttp://www.voices4kids.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/A-Stronger-Illinois-Child-Care-Brief.pdf

Voices for Illinois Children recently released a brief report titled “We Are a Stronger Illinois When Families Can Afford Quality Child Care.” You can print the report from their website and share it with parents, providers and your elected officials.

Illinois Action for Children: Advocacyhttp://www.actforchildren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Advocacy

Community Profileshttp://www.actforchildren.org/site/PageNavigator/Advocacy_CommunityProfiles.html

Find information for your legislative district on families, children, and child care and early learning availability and costs in your district. Search for your State Representative or State Senator and use this information to prepare for a legislative meeting or to personalize letters and calls from parents and providers to your elected officials. You can also find a statewide overview of child care and early learning here.

Toolkit for Early Care & Education Advocateshttp://www.actforchildren.org/site/DocServer/IAFC_Advocacy_Toolkit_2014_ENG_FINAL.pdf?docID=7041

Find more helpful tips on contacting your elected officials by phone or letter, for holding a meeting with your legislator, and using social media for advocacy in Illinois Action for Children’s toolkit.