The gist
About $4 billion in Child Care Relief Funding—issued through the American Rescue Plan Act—was distributed to nearly 11,000 child care providers by the Texas Workforce Commission between 2021-22. By Nov. 30, providers must spend the funds they received, a majority of which were used to help pay staff.
While this short-term solution allowed child care centers to stay afloat during the height of the pandemic, the lack of long-term financial support has raised concerns for local centers.
Early childhood care providers, such as Amazin Kidz in Leander and Sunshine Place Learning Center in Liberty Hill, were eligible for and applied for these funds.
“I knew that it would be beneficial for me to receive those funds to remain open,” said Barbara Campbell, owner of Sunshine Place Learning Center.
A closer look
In a survey of over 1,800 child care administrators throughout the state conducted by the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children, 26% reported they are likely to close when funding runs out, while 31% are likely to remain open, and 43% are unsure of their fate.
In response to the TAEYC survey, 25% of Williamson County child care administrators said their programs are likely or very likely to close without additional funding while almost 53% are “unsure.”
“I think we are still seeing effects of the pandemic,” said Cathy McHorse, vice president of Success By 6 for United Way for Greater Austin. “We see costs are increasing, and now [early child care providers are] losing any kind of pandemic support that they had.”
The big picture
Priscilla Jones, owner and director of Amazin Kidz, said the Child Care Relief Fund allowed her to give bonuses to her staff and afford more supplies. Losing the federal funding has led her to cut her own pay to keep up those costs.
“I was able to do a lot of things that I can't do now that it's stopped,” Jones said. “I still have made all these commitments about higher pay and bonus structures, so I'm still doing those, but because we don't have that additional cushion it is a lot harder."
When the pandemic hit, Campbell decided to provide child care services out of her home instead of at a center. The Child Care Relief Fund kept her in-home center afloat by paying for part of her mortgage, utilities and supplies, she said.
“I feel like I could still benefit from additional funding because of inflation,” Campbell said. “Yes, I have raised the fees for the tuition, but I feel like I can only do that so much each year. I think the cost of everything has jumped more than what I have raised my rate by.”
In a survey of 36 Williamson County-area child care providers conducted by the TAEYC, 80% said they have already raised or will raise tuition as a result of Child Care Relief funds ending. That’s a concern for Georgetown-area parent Jessica Ritcherson who spends over $1,000 a month to send her son to day care in Liberty Hill.
“It would definitely make us struggle more than we’re already struggling,” Ritcherson said. “We already struggle to put the money aside every month. We make sure to do it, but we suffer in other ways, like groceries.”Moving forward
Child care providers in the area said they hope to receive more government funding in the future. Such funding shouldn’t be an exception during times of crisis but the standard, Ritcherson said.
“It’s our children,” Ritcherson said. “It would be nice if they could give them funds because they need it, not because COVID[-19] is happening or inflation is happening. It should be something that’s already provided.”
While the effects of the funding loss may not be immediate, they will be impactful, McHorse said.
“We're not going to see a dramatic closure like everything goes dark in November, but we're going to have this insidious decline that is easy to overlook,” McHorse said. “And if we don't pay attention, we're going to find ourselves in a year or two from now thinking there is no more child care.”
