'An everybody responsibility'
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The state legislature convenes on Tuesday for the last time before state stabilization funding runs out at the end of the year. Advocates are asking legislators to allocate a one-time $100 million to avoid price increases for parents and potential program closures. Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, told EdNC in an email that’s unlikely to happen.
The upcoming cliff might seem like déjà vu. Child care has been facing the end of this funding since 2021, when Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act and sent an unprecedented amount of funding to states to keep child care programs open amid rising costs and pandemic difficulties that pushed an already fragile industry to the edge of collapse.
What North Carolina child care will look like on the other side of that funding is still unclear. Some states have replaced ARPA funding with state investments. Some have waited to see what role the federal government will play. In June, the state General Assembly sent a one-time $67.5 million to turn a steep cliff into a less-steep cliff, replacing 75% of the federal funds with one-time funding, set to last through December.
At the time, Lambeth said on the House floor that he expected lawmakers to come back and pass a budget with more child care funding before those funds ran out again. Fast forward five months, including budget disagreements that changed legislators’ approach to the session, the most devastating hurricane in state history, and a heated election season. It’s now unlikely, Lambeth said, that legislators will allocate new funding until next year.
“If we don’t fix it now, it’s going to be a bigger problem,” Rhonda Rivers said Wednesday night during a panel discussion after the premiere of “Take Care,” a short documentary from the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on the child care crisis. Rivers is an administrator at LeafSpring Schools in Charlotte and the vice chair of the state Child Care Commission.
The documentary explores how a lack of affordable child care forces families across the income spectrum into corners, hurts businesses, and ultimately limits the potential of future generations. I am featured as an independent voice on the child care landscape.
Take some time with the film and share it with your networks. I’m going into this week thinking of a quote from Susan Gale-Perry, a former DHHS employee and now CEO of Child Care Aware of America, from that same panel Wednesday:
“Child care is an everybody problem, and it’s an everybody responsibility, and it’s an everybody solution.”
Looking ahead, I’m unpacking what the election results mean for a long-term child care solution in North Carolina. Watch out for more on that. In the meantime, check out some first looks at local and state ballot wins for early childhood across the country, and what the state and national results mean for early childhood issues, under “News & Research” below.
More from EdNC on early childhood
General Assembly 'unlikely' to extend child care stabilization funding beyond December, legislator says
Legislators return next week for their last session before state child care stabilization funds run out at the end of...DHHS releases 'Take Care,' a short documentary on North Carolina's child care crisis
A new short documentary, “Take Care,” explores how a lack of affordable, sustainable child care hurts families, communities, and businesses....Here are some models of recovery for early care and learning after Helene
Unlike North Carolina’s K-12 schools or community colleges, child care programs aren’t consolidated under a public system. That makes it...The big picture for little kids
News & Research
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How child-focused ballot measures fared this election - From The Hechinger Report
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How the Nov. 5 election will shape health policy in the coming legislative session - From NC Health News
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Child Care Expenses Push an Estimated 134,000 Families Into Poverty Each Year - From The Center for American Progress
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What the Election Results Mean for Early Care and Education - From New America
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Travis County voters supported a tax rate increase to expand access to affordable child care. What happens now? - From Austin Monitor
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Election Night Survey - From National Women's Law Center
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Democrats Break the GOP Supermajority in the Legislature–But Barely - From The Assembly
Taking flight! Opportunities to spread your wings
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HBCC Emergency Fund - From Home Grown
From Home Grown, this fund is sending relief to home-based child care providers impacted by Hurricane Helene. From the fund’s website, it seeks to:
- Get immediate cash assistance to home-based child care providers and caregivers impacted by national disasters and severe weather events.
- Meet immediate health, safety and personal needs for child care providers.
- Ensure providers can address immediate threats to continued operations.
- Complement, not duplicate or confuse, existing relief efforts.
- Ensure funds support personal expenses and damage to homes and contents of homes (that will not be reimbursed by public assistance or insurance).
- Lift learning and insight to support short- and long-term policy efforts.
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QRIS Questions and Concerns - From The CandL Coalition
CandL, a coalition of early childhood advocacy organizations aimed at systems change, is seeking input from child care providers, advocates, and anyone else following changes to the state’s QRIS (Quality Rating and Improvement System).
The coalition is compiling questions and concerns at the link above until November 22, and will then present those to the state Child Care Commission and the Division of Child Development and Early Education. Go here for a look into some of the changes leaders are proposing.
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Helping Your Child Cope with a Disaster - From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The CDC provides useful information on how children cope with stress and the best ways to help them do so before and after disasters.
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Champions of Change: Nurturing the Afro-Genius in - From Black Child Development Institute
December 12-14
From the organizer: “This conference will emphasize celebrating and cultivating the inherent potential within every child, especially through the lens of Afrocentric perspectives and values. It will recognize the unique contributions of Black educators in fostering this brilliance and provide a platform for discussing methods and strategies to highlight and nurture the diverse strengths of all children using the framework of NBCDI’s Eight Essential Outcomes for Black Child Development.”
