CHILD CARE & EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONIN MINNESOTA

CARE Fellowship Class 6

Child Care WORKS

Alicia Frosch

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SUMMARY OF CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN MINNESOTA

Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP): provides child care financial assistance to families with low-incomes

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE): is a program that provides parenting and early education opportunities for young children and their families in MN

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE): Provides free and appropriate public education to young children with identified educational disabilities in order to maximize their potential

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SUMMARY OF CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN MINNESOTA

School Readiness Program: a public school program for children age 3 to kindergarten designed to help preschoolers enter kindergarten prepared for learning success

Early Childhood Screening: a quick screening of 3 year olds to identify any possible health or learning concerns so that children can receive help with any concerns before they enter school

Early Head Start: federally funded community-based program for low-income families with infants and toddlers and pregnant women to enhance the development of very young children, and to promote healthy family functioning

Head Start: is a federally funded full-service program for preschool children and their families in low-income households with the goal of getting children ready for school

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WHAT DOES CHILD CARE DO FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES?

Work Support for ParentsHealthy Development for ChildrenEconomic & Social Investments for

Society

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WORK SUPPORT FOR PARENTS Close to 80% of MN mothers work More than 75% of children under 13 spend

part of their day in non-parental care Parents of young children report that child

care issues are the #1 reason driving them to seek assistance

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WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

Preschool(under age 6)

School-Age (6-17)

01020304050607080

1947

2008

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE:MINNESOTA AND NATIONALLY

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Minnesota USA

1960

1980

2000

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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MINNESOTA MOTHERS IN THE WORKFORCE

0102030405060708090

1970 1980 1990 2000

6-17 yrs.

Under 18 yrs.

Under 6 yrs.

Office on the Economic Status of Women; Minnesota Compared to Other States and the United States: Summary of the Status of Women Profile Reports; 2005

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HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT FOR CHILDREN

With 80-90% of the brain developed by age 5, the quality of care during these years matters

Research shows that children in quality settings improve their cognitive, social, reading and math skills leading to greater education success

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EARLY CARE & EDUCATION IS AN ECONOMIC INVESTMENT Successful children turn into successful

adults

Studies have shown significant cost-benefits from investing in early care and education such as decreased grade retention, less use of justice system and less dependence on public assistance.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota estimates a “return on public investment” of at least $12 for every $1 spent on quality early childhood (i.e. $1 spent on quality early childhood brings a return of $12 in money saved from special ed services, juvenile courts, welfare benefits ,etc.)

Rolnick, Art and Rob Grunewald, Early Education: Economic Development with a High Public Return, 2003

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Employment

Human Development

Community Developme

nt

Economics

Crime preventi

on

Child Care & Early

Education ARE Social

Issues

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THE CHILD CARE THREE-LEGGED STOOL

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Child

Care A

fford

abilit

y

Qu

ality

Acce

ssibilit

y

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1AFFORDABILITY

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11AFFORDABILITY:MN RANKS VERY LOW NATIONALLY MN is the least affordable state for infant

care (average annual cost is $11,796)

MN is the 2nd least affordable state for pre-school care (average annual cost is $8,832)

[National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. Breaking the Piggy Bank: Parents and the High Cost of Child Care, 2006.]

THE ANNUAL COST OF FULL-TIME CHILD CARE: FAMILY CHILD CARE HOMES

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Minneapolis Duluth Rochester

Infant

Toddler

Preschool

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THE ANNUAL COST OF FULL-TIME CHILD CARE: CHILD CARE CENTERS

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Minneapolis Duluth Rochester

Infant

Toddler

Preschool

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FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES

Child Care Assistance (CCAP) currently provides financial assistance to families who meet certain criteria: Low-income working families

Entrance eligibility = 47% State Medium Income ($32,944 for family of 3)

Exit eligibility = 67% State Medium Income ($46, 963 for family of 3)

Families receiving public assistance (MFIP/TANF) Families recently leaving public assistance

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11PERCENTAGE OF FAMILY BUDGET USED FOR CHILD CARE Child care is often the 2nd or 3rd highest

budget item for families – after housing and transportation

Families with lower incomes often pay 20-30% of their gross income for child care, while families with higher incomes typically pay about 7-10% of their gross income

Child care costs from 1997 to 2004 are 84% higher for two-worker families

ACCESSIBILITY

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ACCESSIBILITY In Minnesota, over 672,000 children need

child care for some portion of their day between ages 0 and 12 – 265,000 of them are under 6

Currently there are only about 205,000 licensed child care slots – less than one-third of that amount

Families use whatever care they can find and afford – lack of availability means lack of choices

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CURRENT ACCESSIBILITY BARRIERS: Long CCAP waiting lists, even for eligible

families (3,716 families as of July 2010)

Many two-parent working families are not eligible for CCAP

Providers refusing to care for children using CCAP

Difference in the rate paid by the State and the rates charged by providers

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CURRENT ACCESSIBILITY BARRIERS: Due to budget restraints programs like ECFE,

School readiness and Head Start have extensive waiting lists which means that many children and families will not have the opportunity to participate in these programs

An example: In Ramsey County there are currently 238 families on the waiting list for the Early Head Start & Head Start program.

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QUALITY

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LASTING EFFECTS OF QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

The first five years of a child’s life are critical for brain development – missed opportunities aren’t necessarily permanent, but are difficult and costly to correct.

Many studies show significant cost-benefits to society through better school success, less use of juvenile and adult justice systems, better socialization, etc.

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Child Care Works / CARE Fellowship Class 6 - 2011

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Birth K- 6th 6th-

12th

Higher

Ed

Brain Development

GovernmentSpending

Brain Development vs Government Spending

QUALITY IN CHILD CARE

Wages

Education & Training

Turnover

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CHILD CARE WAGES & TURNOVER

The middle half of all childcare workers made between $7.11 and $10.54 an hour in 2008. The lowest-paid 10 percent earned less than $6.21. The highest-paid 10 percent earned more than $13.01.

Family child care providers average $3.00 an hour. Benefits are not typical.

Turnover of child care staff is, on average, about 32% annually.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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2003 LEGISLATIVE SESSION:A DISASTER FOR CHILD CARE & EARLY EDUCATION

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BUDGET DEFICIT = $86 MILLION REDUCED FROM THE STATE’S CHILD CARE COMMITMENTS

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LEGISLATIVE CHANGES IN 2003 Lowered income eligibility for CCAP from

about $40,000 (family of 3) to $27,000 & dramatically increased parent co-payments

Eliminated financial incentives for accredited programs to care for low-income subsidized children

Increased license fees for child care providers Reduced state funds targeted for quality

improvements Funding cut dramatically for ECFE, School

Readiness, and Head Start

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IMPACTS RESULTING FROM 2003 CHANGES Many child care, parent education and

preschool programs closed Low-income children had less access to

quality programs Waiting lists grew tremendously, then

disappeared as fewer families were eligible for services and able to pay the parent co-pay

Today, current waiting lists still exist for many ECFE, School Readiness and Head Start Programs

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CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION LEGISLATIVE AGENDAS

Fast Forward from 2003

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IN 2007 CHILD CARE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

Child Care Assistance Reform bill

Restore eligibility to 75% of the State Median Income Provide sliding fee assistance to ALL eligible families Lower parent co-pays to no more than 10% of the

family’s gross income and provide lower parent co-pays for those families choosing high quality child care

Lift reimbursement rate freeze Absent Day and Half-day rate changes

Over 75 organizations signed on to support this bill!

Note: The Fiscal note on this bill was over $1 billion!!

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WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

CCAP- Co-payments reduced to no more than 14% of family’s gross income, absent day changes, income eligibility switched from FPG to SMI.

Afterschool- $5 million one-time GF 2008-09.

Licensing/Quality- Studies to determine how annual visits can be paid for through GF & how to visit FFN sites.

Professional Development- $500,000 one-time GF 2008-09 for new DHS ECPD system; $500,000 ongoing funds for TEACH; $500,000 one-time GF 2008-09 for Child Care Service grants.

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2008 SESSION THE BONDING YEAR$935 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT

The Good… Increased funding for early childhood screening

($936,000) Established State Advisory Council on Early

Education and Care Established Child Care Advisory Task Force

The Bad… Cuts to Basic Sliding Fee Child Care ($9.2 million) Cuts to Pre-K Allowances ($250,000) Cuts to Child Care Development Grants

($110,000) Vetoed Early Childhood Facilities bonding

proposal ($2 million

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2009 & 2010 SESSION “THE UGLY” DEFICIT$6.2 BILLION BUDGET DEFICIT

Investment in early education and child care was a clear priority for policymakers this session

Support an expanded voluntary Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)

Funding to continue FFN grants

$8 million additional appropriation from the Federal Stimulus dollars to decrease the waiting list

Continue funding for quality early learning pilot program (School Readiness Connections) for low income families

BSF one-time reduction of $7.5 Million

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NOW…2011 SESSION

(POST SHUT DOWN)

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LOOKING AHEAD TO 2012 SESSION 2012 Elections! VOTE!

Will work hard to keep the funding we DO have now for current Child Care program and funding

Continue to push for restored funding for child care

Facing a deficit in 2012 (HUGE Numbers ???)

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