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wisconsin@familyfriendlyeconomy.org
Stories from eight providers across Wisconsin demonstrate that affordable, quality child care will become even more difficult to find as federal relief funding expires.
MADISON, Wis. – The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy (CFFE) released a storybook today, featuring eight child care providers from across the Badger State as well as parents and providers across the country, to highlight the anticipated and devastating impact of the upcoming federal child care funding cliff.
The powerful testimonials align with data released today by The Century Foundation (TCF) which projects the magnitude of this crisis. Across Wisconsin, 2,110 child care programs are projected to close entirely and 87,425 children are projected to lose their child care. As a result, parents are projected to lose $232 million annually because of a need to cut their hours or leave the workforce entirely.
As the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the weaknesses in our child care system, the federal government made historic investments – most notably through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to keep child care providers afloat and enable families to access affordable, reliable child care. Unfortunately, the child care funding from ARPA is set to expire at the end of the year, leaving many providers and families uncertain about the future of their business, and the care for their children.
“What the testimonials in this storybook tell us, and what The Century Foundation’s data reaffirms, is that the federal relief funding that was provided during the pandemic allowed for the industry to stay afloat,” said Brita Olsen, state director of Family Friendly Wisconsin. “Without continued funding and support, our child care system will sink as providers will have to either close or raise rates, making already limited options for affordable, quality child care even more scarce.”
The story from Brooke Skimore, a child care provider from New Glarus who was featured in a story in The New York Times today, reflects the dire circumstances many providers fear.
For the 10 years that Brooke Skidmore has co-owned The Growing Tree, a group center in New Glarus, Wisconsin, attracting and retaining teachers has always been difficult, but this issue was exacerbated by the pandemic.
Today, The Growing Tree is still hovering at around 50 percent of the enrollment they had before the pandemic, and they have four rooms that they are unable to fill with students because of a lack of teachers available – three more empty rooms compared to pre-pandemic staffing. The struggle to attract and retain teachers was made worse by the pandemic, and like so many other providers, Brooke is stuck in the middle of an impossible position of needing to raise wages while also keeping care costs affordable for families.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) has allowed for Brooke to keep her center’s doors open because of expenses like the mortgage, insurance, utilities and property taxes that need to be paid regardless of capacity. This funding is set to run out at the end of the year, and Brooke says that if funding does not continue, she will either have to close immediately or in the near future due to her need to raise the cost of care, limiting who is able to afford child care at her center.
Tomorrow, exactly 100 days before federal child care funding will begin to sunset, TCF will host a briefing on this research.
