Child care providers and advocates are asking for $145 million in recurring funding in the state budget to stabilize programs struggling to retain teachers and make ends meet. Legislators returned to Raleigh this week without having passed a budget earlier this year due to gridlock between Republican leadership in the House and Senate.
A letter sent to General Assembly members on Oct. 14, signed by more than 500 child care owners and directors, asks legislators to allocate funding to the child care subsidy program, which helps low-income working families pay for care. On Tuesday, providers showed up to the legislature to meet with policymakers in person.
“If we were to go another year without any significant, meaningful increase to child care, then we’re going to see more and more centers close,” said Chanelle Croxton, senior director of care organization at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “We’re going to see a lot more disruptions in care.”
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Advocates say funding a subsidy floor, or a minimum per-child rate for programs participating in the program, would help child care programs keep their doors open. Subsidy reimbursement rates vary widely by county and child care programs in rural communities often especially struggle to make ends meet.
“This one action would help stabilize and grow hundreds of quality licensed child care programs, especially in rural communities, and should be included in this year’s state budget,” the letter reads.
The House and Senate budget proposals, filed earlier this year but never passed by the General Assembly, each included some child care subsidy funding — around $80 million per year. But that funding would simply update the reimbursement rates to the latest market study, and would not create the floor rate, which advocates say would move those rates closer to the actual cost of care.
The stability of child care matters for the workforce and for children’s learning, the letter says.
“Every day, we support working families by allowing parents to stay in their jobs or return to work, and we support young children’s healthy brain development during their most critical years.”
The overall gap between the cost of high-quality early care and education and the rates parents can afford is disrupting families’ lives and careers, advocates say, and businesses’ bottom lines. The subsidy program is the largest source of public funding for child care, which is paid for with mostly federal funds. It is reaching about 13% of eligible children and families.
When families do access subsidy vouchers, the rates that providers receive per enrolled child vary by county, age, type of care, and quality rating. Though some differences based on cost of living would make sense, advocates say, the differences are much larger than geographic-based cost differences.
Several organizations and reports say a subsidy floor is needed, including Gov. Josh Stein’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education and a February 2025 report from the NC Chamber Foundation.
A floor would make it slightly easier to pay teachers competitive wages in counties with low rates, the letter reads.
“Providing quality child care to current and additional working families in our state depends on investing in child care subsidy rates so that we can recruit and retain the workforce that we need to make our services possible.”
Since March, programs have been especially struggling to fill gaps in their budgets as pandemic-era stabilization funding ran out.
For Sylvia McNeill, owner of THINK Child Care, a small center in Durham, the funding gap has led her to cut back on staffing, going from five to two teachers, and scale back her operating hours.
“I created a fluctuating schedule so that it covers the time, and I have to work a lot more hours myself,” McNeill said during Tuesday’s protest.
“An increase in funding would provide a better opportunity for me to be able to stay profitable and to continue to provide the quality care that I provide.”
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In Fayetteville, Tammy Cogdell, owner of It Takes a Village Child Care Center, said her program has eight teacher vacancies, and is down in enrollment from 100 to 30 children since the pandemic.
“They can go to McDonald’s and make the same thing as working in child care,” Cogdell said. “That’s why it’s such a struggle.”
At Just Growin’ Up Creative Learning Center, a family child care home in Durham, Darlene Mitchell is serving eight children but only getting paid for five. Mitchell said that’s because parents cannot afford co-pays or have lost their subsidy vouchers from working overtime and making too much to qualify but not enough to afford care.
“I always give people the benefit of the doubt,” Mitchell said. “I try to make sure it’s a positive environment for the child and for the parent. If there’s anything that I can do to help them, I always open my door. I’m always a listening ear.”
Mitchell said she does not set aside a salary for herself. Once the basics of the business are met, there is not much left.
“It’s really never enough,” she said, adding that her rent has gone up significantly in recent years.
Mitchell said she rarely takes time off. “It’s hard to take a break when families are in need,” she said.
On Tuesday, however, she closed her program to come to Raleigh and meet with policymakers. It was her first time at the state legislature, but she said it will not be her last. Mitchell took videos throughout the day to send to the families she serves. She said she told them: “I’m fighting for me, my livelihood, and I’m fighting for you all.”
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