How can we fix child care?

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Over the last two weeks, two reports offer a clear picture of child care in North Carolina — and ways to make positive change for children and families. I wrote about both: one on child care capacity by county and one on early childhood proposals with bipartisan momentum. Here’s what you need to know about the picture they paint:

• North Carolina child care providers have space for only about a quarter of the youngest children, ages 3 and under, whose parents are working.
• Caring for this age group is especially expensive because of how many people are needed — and especially important in terms of child development and parents’ workforce participation.
• Advocates are worried about the cliff approaching programs next summer that are keeping many providers afloat. Staffing shortages and low teacher compensation are the biggest concerns.

Ahead of the legislative session starting this week, here are some ways public dollars could make a difference, according to the reports:

• More funding to the child care subsidy program to help more parents afford care and increase the per-child rate programs receive to reflect the true cost of high-quality care.
• Grants and incentives for centers to open more infant/toddler spots.
• Higher compensation for the early childhood workforce, scholarships for teachers to return to school, and support to elevate the field from institutions of higher education.

There is tons of promising work already happening in North Carolina. Go to pages 39-41 for a list of initiatives underway to strengthen and expand infant/toddler care from a report released last week by the NC Early Education Coalition and researched by the Child Care Services Association.

And check out this (smaller) report from the Hunt-Lee Commission, a cross-sector, bipartisan group that didn’t set out to focus on early childhood. Instead, members wanted to find what education policy issues they could agree on. Support for early care and learning emerged as an area of consensus. The report includes practices that should be built upon, from NC Pre-K and child care subsidy to home visiting programs.

I’ll be covering the latest in the legislative session and spending more time in eastern North Carolina. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with your ideas and questions.