High Quality Affordable Child Care Helps Floridians “Get to Work”

Posted on 08/17/2011 @ 07:33 PM

Tags: West

Guest Blog by Beth Lobdell, Executive Director, Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc.

I am a strong advocate for high quality child care. All of our (Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc.) child care centers are accredited.  We strive, on a daily basis, to improve and increase the quality of care we provide.  The majority of the children and families we serve are low-income.  I strongly believe in the power of high quality early childhood education and the benefits to low-income children with regard to their future success in school.

However, in this current political climate, I think our best bet to advocate for funding is from the workforce angle.  Many of the decision makers in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. were elected on a platform of putting Floridians and Americans back to work.

In the State of Florida, School Readiness funding enables low income parents to work while trying to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The average cost of child care in Lee County is $150 per week.  Families that qualify for School Readiness assistance on average make $8.00 - $15.00 an hour.  The cost of child care for a low-income family is at least 50% of the family income – not leaving much for other household expenses.  Without School Readiness assistance, it is not worth working if you add in the cost of appropriate work attire, gas to get to and from work and the cost of child care.  Investing in School Readiness by increasing or restoring funding is less expensive in the long run than providing complete welfare assistance to the families who have been on the waitlist or dis-enrolled. These families can no longer afford child care and are now unemployed.

As a side benefit, Child Care of Southwest Florida is able to offer high quality early learning experiences that would otherwise not be afforded to these children without the help of School Readiness Funding.  Parents whose children attend our child care programs are able to continue working, feel less stress, have lower work absenteeism, and have greater confidence that they are meeting the needs of their children.

Cuts to the School Readiness Program result in the disenrollment of children and have a direct economic impact on the State as a whole.  At a time when all decision makers are talking about and working toward getting Florida working, these cuts dramatically hinder low income families’ ability to stay employed.   The child care industry is the economic development so many of our state leaders are working toward.  Child care provides the ability for families to work.  The industry itself employs thousands of staff and contributes to the economic recovery of this great state.

As I stated earlier I am a strong advocate for high quality early education programs. but I am afraid right now that message will fall on deaf ears in Tallahassee.  Sending the message that the child care industry is a big part of the economic development Florida is looking for may get us much further along in the conversation.