Child Care Recommendations for Congress

May 7, 2020

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Chuck Schumer
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Majority Leader McConnell, and Minority Leader Schumer,

Our nation’s long-term well-being depends on a child care infrastructure that works for every family. An abundance of quality, affordable, child care is critical to both our economic recovery from the pandemic and our social welfare. However, a sizable portion of the American labor force will not be able to return to work if the nation’s child care supply has disappeared as a result of this crippling economic crisis. As national early learning and care organizations, we write to respectfully request that the next congressional relief package provide substantial, specific relief to address child care.

We thank Congress for your efforts in passing both the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. Our shared goals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been for Congress to:

First, ensure child care providers who are closed have access to federal funding, including but not limited to direct grants, that will allow them to pay staff, cover fixed costs, and reopen as families return to work over an extended period of time. The child care industry is unique, and while child care providers vary widely in their structures and funding, providers of all sizes and in every community have been negatively affected by this pandemic and need support. It is essential that Congress invest in stabilization measures specific to the needs of our nation’s child care industry that are flexible and accessible to the broad range of child care providers.
Second, guarantee providers who stayed open while serving fewer children and families during this crisis have the supports needed to provide safe and quality early care and education (including financial support to compensate for revenue loss, protective equipment, sanitation supplies, and premium pay) for the children attending their programs – particularly children of first responders, health care workers, and other essential personnel.
Third, build safeguards that account for the ongoing challenges that stem from a climate of uncertainty and instability in the child care market, as well as the economy at large, and the future COVID-19 infection trajectory.

Given the scope of the pandemic and its devastating financial effects on the child care sector, we would like to provide recommendations specific to current discussions focused on additional targeted relief for child care providers. Thousands of providers across the country have shut their doors, some permanently. Prolonged closures due to coronavirus could reduce licensed child care capacity in the U.S. by half. Congress must provide direct relief to ensure child care exists and is available to parents as they return to work over an extended time period. Therefore, at this time, we are respectfully asking that Congress consider the following recommendations:

1. Establish a child care stabilization fund

Child care providers were already operating on very small margins before this pandemic; extended closures over the next several weeks or months could put a substantial percentage of providers out of business permanently, exacerbating the lack of child care options families faced long before this crisis. As providers begin to reopen, we know it will be a slow, phased-in process, much like the broader economy, and it will take time before they are operating near their pre-pandemic capacity, causing them to operate at significant financial loss for several months. Unfortunately, neither the Paycheck Protection Program nor Title IV of the CARES Act was sufficient to meet the unique needs of the child care industry, particularly in family-based child care, which serves a significant percentage of our nation’s infants and toddlers. Due to these realities, many providers will not be able to reopen or remain open without substantial, dedicated funding. This stabilization fund is not intended to supplant state child care spending in efforts to balance their budgets. It is also not intended that this funding undermine the health and safety standards established and regulated by state child care licensing. A child care stabilization fund, potentially administered through an existing grant program, would ensure:

The child care market – centers and family child care homes – survives this period of closure and slow economic recovery by shoring up programs and providers. Grants to child care providers based on capacity and covering fixed costs will be critical to preventing permanent closure. Without intervention, massive child care closures would compromise parents’ ability to re-enter the workforce and lead to a significantly slower recovery for the U.S. economy that would leave out many workers.
Child care providers have the financial resources to reopen including the ability to cover fixed costs; provide professional development and compensation for early childhood educators prior to reopening and during the transitional phase as the economy and operations return to normal; provide deep cleanings; restock food and supplies; and purchase additional inventories of resources (e.g., thermometers, smocks, alcohol wipes).
Programs can afford to maintain enhanced health, safety, and quality standards while providing high-quality early childhood education. These standards include, but are not limited to, enhanced safety and social distancing requirements, which will result in the need for additional, qualified staff and will limit enrollment to 50-75 percent of previous capacity; as well as mental health services for children who have been negatively impacted by the crisis.
Providers can remain open during a phased-in process of relaxing stay-at-home orders during which they will need continued support as temporarily reduced enrollments and some continued enhanced health and safety protocols will temporarily reduce operating capacity.
Funds are equitably distributed to ensure that providers who serve families struggling with job security, income loss, and unemployment are prioritized.

2. Ongoing support for child care for essential workers and providers that remain open

Many child care facilities and homes have remained open to provide care in this time of incredible need and uncertainty. Funding provided through the CARES Act for this purpose has been invaluable; however, the CARES Act funding will not be sufficient to meet these unique ongoing needs for a prolonged period of time. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) recently released guidance directing states to adopt subsidy policies that promote continuity of child care services to impacted children and families, and maintain support for child care businesses during closures or other disruptors. Any additional funding directed through CCDBG should support the authorized flexibility included in these guidelines, specifically as it pertains to:

Providing subsidy care to all families who need it as a result of their role as essential workers.
Increased compensation and other costs associated with maintaining quality child care services for essential workers, including implementing social distancing guidelines and procedures, providing primary protective equipment, and resources for the sanitation of facilities in order to maintain a healthy and safe learning environment.
Operating costs for child care providers that are open but are experiencing a reduction in revenue.
Continuing to pay child care subsidies to providers, based on enrollment or capacity, and not attendance, regardless of their closure status.

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated many of the problems already facing the child care industry. Families have long struggled to access affordable high-quality options, and providers have faced slim margins and precarious financial situations. However, the pandemic has also highlighted the critical role child care plays in ensuring the success of our economy. In order to help American families, stimulate future consumer spending, support small businesses, sustain industries, and buttress the herculean efforts of medical professionals, lawmakers must recognize the through line in all of this is child care. If we do not invest in child care now, the immediate economic recovery will be slowed as parents are unable to return to work, and the long-term economic impact on businesses and our economy will be similarly severe. This package must include substantially increased funding to provide child care to families on the frontlines alongside a child care stabilization fund to make sure child care is there as parents go back to work needing safe, quality early childhood education for their children.

We look forward to working with Congress as the child care industry is reimagined in a post COVID-19 world to best support our country in the future.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Early Success (The Alliance)
Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)
Center for American Progress (CAP)
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Committee for Economic Development (CED)
Council for a Strong America (CSA)
Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC)
Educare Learning Network (ELN)
First Five Years Fund (FFYF)
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
National Head Start Association (NHSA)
National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)
Ounce of Prevention Fund (The Ounce)
Save the Children Action Network (SCAN)
ZERO TO THREE (ZTT)

NAEYC Survey: The Ongoing Effect of the Pandemic on Child Care

The following is from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The original resource is available on their website here.

An initial survey from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), conducted March 12–16, found that nearly half of child care programs anticipated that they would not survive a closure of more than two weeks without support. Now, one month later, following the passage of the CARES Act, significant state action, and a growing understanding of the scope and scale of the crisis, NAEYC is releasing new survey data that begins to explore the ongoing impact of the pandemic and the solutions that have been put forth so far.

From April 2–10, more than 5,000 providers responded to the survey, from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 54% of respondents work in center-based child care, and another 31% work in family child care homes; together, these survey respondents alone serve upwards of 215,000 children.

Nearly half of respondents report that their center is completely closed
17% are closed to everyone except children of essential personnel
Of the remaining programs, only 3% are operating without modified rule

There are geographical differences: where 51% of programs in cities and suburbs report that they are completely closed, 40% of programs in small towns or rural areas say the same.

There are also meaningful differences across settings: 50% of child care centers report they are completely closed, compared to 27% of family child care homes.

These data points, along with information from states on the implications of state-mandated closures, translate into more than 100,000 provider closures across the country, plus many more that are operating with significantly reduced enrollment.

Of programs that remained open in some way, 85% of respondents reported that they were operating at less than 50% of their enrollment capacity, and the majority of those—65%—were operating at less than 25% of capacity. Further, most programs, whether open or closed, are unable to recoup their normal revenue from families who pay for child care without assistance. 52% of child care centers and 43% of family child care homes are not currently charging parents; another 22% of both groups are offering reduced tuition rates. Regardless of what actions programs are taking, however, the majority of respondents have found that fewer than 25% of families are continuing to pay tuition. This translates into sustained and substantial losses for providers and places educators and families into an untenable situation. This updated data reinforces that the financial solution in the midst of a pandemic cannot be based on supply and demand, nor be dependent on having more children come back to child care before it is safe to do so.

Financial Fears

Even before the pandemic, child care programs were operating on razor-thin margins, and early childhood educators were earning such low wages that nearly half of them were eligible for public assistance.

Now, 37% of survey respondents reported that they either have had to lay off or furlough workers, or that they themselves have been laid off or furloughed.
As a percentage of the total early childhood education workforce of approximately 2 million paid individuals working with children birth through age 5, this represents 740,000 early childhood educators.
Further, they indicated things are likely to get worse: an additional 41% said they anticipate furloughs and/or lay offs in the next 1-4 weeks.

Financial fears loom large for individuals in all roles: 59% of individuals working in child care centers and 43% of those working in family child care homes cited paying staff or themselves as sole providers as the thing they are most worried about (another third of those in family child care homes cited the ability to make mortgage payments as their top concern). At the same time, their options to address these worries are limited. When asked how they or their staff are being financially supported, nearly a quarter said they are encouraging staff to file for unemployment benefits, while one in five of those surveyed reported no financial support at all (i.e., paid leave, salaries, health benefits, etc.)

Paycheck Protection Program

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is one of the programs offered by the federal government, through lenders, which will provide some of the financial support that is needed; of survey respondents, 53% of child care centers and 25% of family child care homes have applied for the PPP loan.

As the field awaits additional data about the extent to which these applications have been successful, child care programs have raised significant concerns about the program and process. The survey captured more than 4,000 comments, which reflect significant variation of 4,000 comments, which reflect significant variation of experiences. Many child care directors and owners of family child care programs are deeply concerned about the risks related to loans, wary about taking on debt, and skeptical about the potential for forgiveness.

The survey illustrates that 69% of respondents either do not want loans or are worried about having to pay loans back.

Additional qualitative data drawn from the survey and other mechanisms includes reports of challenges such as banks that are not accepting new clients or have closed their processes already. Of those who responded to a question about challenges they have encountered in the context of these loans, 23% identified logistical challenges related to paperwork and banks.

NAEYC looks forward to sharing additional results from the survey in English and Spanish as more providers respond in the coming weeks.

COVID-19 Child Care News Update – May 5

Child care providers across the country, many of whom were already struggling to stay open before this crisis, are facing even greater challenges as enrollment declines exponentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while essential workers, including medical professionals and first responders, are finding that the child care supply is limited and under-resourced – verging on total collapse. Even the providers trying to remain open to care for the children of essential workers are struggling. If this industry collapses, our economic recovery will be more difficult and may never recover. America’s child care providers need more relief if they want to survive this crisis.

The situation varies from state to state, and even from community to community. Here’s a look at recent news coverage of the nation’s child care crisis.

Reporting from Business Insider has found that as many as 30 percent of child care providers will permanently close due to this pandemic if Congress fails to provide meaningful relief, and that it will be devastating for the careers of American women. According to the story, the United States has about 73 million children. Of those, 19 million live with single parents, and about 70% of single parents are single mothers. Access to child care is essential for them – and two-parent households with both parents working – to be able to go to work.

Across the country, millions of children are home with their parents, who are not going into work like they normally would. HuffPost is covering the personal stories and challenges parents are facing, including struggling to find child care during the crisis and the possibility of quitting their job completely to provide care to their children.

Reporting by CNN details the delays and disruptions to America’s economic recovery if we allow this crisis to further deplete the nation’s supply of child care options. As parents struggle to find child care and ultimately leave the labor force to care for their children there will be fewer workers returning to their jobs once this crisis ends. Child care is the backbone of our economy, and if we allow the industry to collapse and leave parents holding the ball, the economic recovery after this crisis will be slow and incomplete.

The Business Roundtable, a group of the chief executives of the nation’s largest businesses, highlighted the vital importance of child care to the American economy in a letter to the Trump Administration and state leaders. Without access to school programs or child care due to the health and safety concerns caused by the COVID-19 crisis, parents will struggle to return to work, further hurting our already struggling economy. Read their letter here.

This week, the New York Times took a look at the disparate patchwork of policies that are impacting access to child care across the country. As parents plan to return to work, the question of whether or not child care will be available is becoming increasingly important. The answer depends on the state and everyone’s levels of acceptable risk. Read more here.

Like in Texas, child care advocates across the country are urging their elected officials to consider the child care industry as they begin reopening their respective states. As Early Matters Greater Austin writes, child care plays a critical role in ensuring parents can return to work knowing their children are safe and healthy throughout the day. Without this safe care, the workforce cannot come back and the economy will suffer.

BPC/Morning Consult Parent Survey: Child Care in the Time of Coronavirus

Download BPC Parents Survey

A new survey conducted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Morning Consult finds that child care in the United States is still necessary for parents to work, even amidst changing work environments. But child care is difficult to find and in many circumstances, closed indefinitely. This leaves parents who are working at home on their own to juggle their work and caregiving responsibilities. At the same time, frontline or essential workers who need formal child care face widespread program closures which can prevent them from finding the care they need.

Work and the Need for Care. Child care is essential for parents of young children if they are to work. Of parents surveyed, 56% said they or someone in their household is now working either remotely or at home. Only 14% represented a household where nobody has yet experienced a change in their work situation. About half (49%) of parents said they or someone in their household can care for their children during this time. The widespread change in work environments does not change the fact that many parents of young children need child care:

43% of those working remotely said they currently need child care.
49% of those working in-person need formal child care amidst COVID-19,
only 8% saw no change in their previous child care provider’s availability.
Of parents currently working in-person, just 32% had someone in their household able to care for their child(ren).

Parents’ Caregiving Activities. Parents who are able to care for their children at home use different approaches to balance their work and caregiving responsibilities and deal with widespread child care program closures (more on this below).

One-third (34%) of parents who are working remotely are alternating work hours with someone else in their household to care for their children.
Additionally, 21% of parents still working in-person are reducing their hours in order to care for their children.
Some parents are working outside of normal business hours (10%) to care for their children.
Additionally, parents are taking paid (8%) and unpaid leave (11%) to provide child care for their children amidst COVID-19.

Search for Care. As noted, about half (49%) of parents say they or someone in their household is able to care for their children in absence of a formal child care arrangement. For the parents who still sought a formal care arrangement, options are hard to find.

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of parents had difficulty finding child care, including 33% who found it very difficult.
The percentage of parents who found it very difficult to find care nearly doubled from our previous survey, less than 6 months ago, when 18% found it very difficult to find care.
Additionally, about half (47%) of parents are concerned they won’t be able to afford child care when they can return to the workforce.

Provider Closures. This survey highlights one of the main reasons child care might be hard to find right now – widespread program closures.

Just 22% of essential workers said they have been able to continue using their previous care arrangement during this time.
Across all provider types, 60% of programs are fully closed and not providing care to any children at the moment.
The most likely providers to remain open are family child care homes, 28% of which remain open for parents without any scheduling changes.
Just 10% of larger centers and 16% of smaller centers remain open without scheduling changes. 
For parents whose program had closed, 42% of parents were still paying their provider either in full or partially. Of those who are still paying their provider, 21% continue to pay to ensure their spot remains upon reopening.

Child Care as an Essential Service. There is a lot of confusion around the country about if—and how—child care programs should remain open to support the economy, particularly for workers who are on the frontlines of this pandemic.

When asked if child care is an essential service that should remain open, the majority (42%) responded in the affirmative, while about 35% do not see child care as essential, and still about a quarter are unsure. 
About a quarter of parents said they were not aware of any plan in their state for child care operations, but the good news is that of those who did know the plan, the vast majority (82%) were supportive of their state’s decisions.

When it comes to providing financial support to keep the child care market stable, parents believe federal and state governments have the highest level of responsibility (57% combined). Parents also believe federal and state governments have the greatest responsibility when it comes to providing child care assistance for essential workers, followed by the belief that it is each parent’s responsibility (25%).

 Returning to Child Care. When thinking about the ability to go back to work and place child(ren) back in child care, the survey illuminates what providers could be doing to address concerns parents have about re-opening. Specifically, three quarters of parents are concerned about their child’s potential exposure to COVID-19 when they go back to child care. Further, providers might consider sharing more information about their continuing operations, as around half of parents (46%) are concerned that their current or previous provider would no longer be open and 37% are concerned that their child’s teacher won’t be the same.

Both the child care market and parents with young children are struggling to cope with the changes to society intended to stop the spread of the virus including working from home and the closure of child care programs. The findings in this survey illuminate how parents are dealing with child care in the time of the coronavirus and offer lessons for the market when it is able to re-open.

The survey was conducted from March 31 – April 4, 2020, among a national sample of 800 parents of children under the age of 5 who were employed and paid for child care within the last three months, but whose situations may have changed recently as direct result of COVID-19. The interviews were conducted online. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Read more from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s survey, conducted with Morning Consult, on their website here.

Download BPC Parents Survey

National Survey Findings on Child Care in the Age of Coronavirus

Download Survey Findings Here

National poll from Save the Children Action Network and Child Care Aware® of America shows 87 percent of Americans support federal funding to help child care centers pay staff and rent

Today, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) and Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) announced the results of a national survey that identified registered voters’ overwhelming support for federal funding to address the worsening child care crisis as a result of COVID-19. This groundbreaking poll, commissioned by SCAN and CCAoA, highlights the child care industry’s vital importance to American families and the American economy.

“In these unprecedented times, we must listen to voters to better understand what American families – the backbone of our country – need. These poll results illustrate that voters across party lines agree that the child care industry should be prioritized in coronavirus relief efforts. With nearly nine in ten voters supporting specific targeted assistance for the child care industry to ensure it survives this pandemic, it’s clear voters understand that child care and the economy are co-dependent,” said Mark Shriver, President of SCAN. “The child care industry will be an essential component of the economic recovery when it comes to getting workers back to their offices once this pandemic ends. That’s why SCAN and our 350,000 grassroots advocates nationwide are working with policymakers to invest in kids and ensure the child care industry isn’t forgotten. American voters must be heard.”

“We are hearing from child care providers across the country who are laying off staff and don’t know how they will pay their rent and utility bills because their programs are only supported by monthly tuition payments,” said Lynette Fraga, Executive Director of CCAoA. “It’s heartening that the vast majority of Americans support providing financial assistance to the child care heroes who enable our frontline heroes to do their jobs. CCAoA is working closely with Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and other partners to ensure that the child care industry recovers, that federal and state policy efforts reflect the needs of providers and families, and that the system returns stronger than it was before.”

“Across party lines and ideological persuasions, voters are sending a clear signal to Congress that ensuring access to quality child care must be part of any first steps to reopening the American economy,” said Michael Meyers, President of TargetPoint Consulting. “They recognize the threat to child care is real and strongly support specific targeted assistance to the child care industry. Support for bold policies is overwhelming, bipartisan and crosses generations and economic classes.”

Key Poll Takeaways

87% support providing enough federal assistance during the crisis to ensure current child care providers are able to make payroll and pay other expenses, such as rent and utilities
- A 59% majority strongly support such funding
- Support crosses partisan lines with support from 82% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats
Four in five support the child care industry receiving targeted financial assistance from the federal government to address the impact of COVID-19
- 50% strongly support such targeted assistance
84% of lower and middle-income voters – those hit hardest by the economic upheaval – support this assistance
- Support crosses partisan lines with seven in ten Republicans, nine in ten Democrats and three in four Independents in support
79% support the expansion of the child care industry to serve areas where child care resources are limited or non-existent
- 50% strongly support such an expansion
78% support the federal government reimbursing essential workers for child care costs paid during the coronavirus pandemic
- A 53% majority strongly support such reimbursements
78% support federal assistance to increase pay for child care workers who continue to offer services for children of front line workers, despite increased risks and strains on the system
- 50% strongly support such increased pay
77% support emergency funding to provide child care in the event of a national economic crisis – like the coronavirus
- 50% strongly support such emergency funding

Poll Methodology

This survey was jointly commissioned by SCAN and CCAoA and generously funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Conducted April 11th to 15th, 2020 by TargetPoint Consulting and GQR, the survey encompassed 1,200 interviews conducted from a national sample of registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.8%. To read a full analysis and greater detail on the methodology, please see a joint memo from TargetPoint Consulting and GQR.

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Save the Children Action Network was created in 2014 as the political advocacy arm of Save the Children, to be the political voice for kids. We work to ensure that the issues critical to children’s lives and futures are given top priority by our elected leaders, building bipartisan support to make sure every child has a strong start in life. In particular, we advocate for high-quality early learning and care for children in the U.S., and on issues impacting the world’s most vulnerable children.

Child Care Aware® of America is our nation’s leading voice for child care. CCAoA works with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. CCAoA leads projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, offers comprehensive training to child care professionals, undertakes research, and advocates for child care policies that improve the lives of children and families.

Read more from SCAN and CCAoA online here.

Download Survey Findings Here