With a House budget in the works, advocates push for wage supplements, subsidy changes

'We didn’t come here to take the day off of work'

As the legislative session extends through the summer, a group of early education advocates descended upon the legislative building last week, knocking on the office doors of every House member with early childhood budget requests.

Legislators passed the Senate budget proposal in June. Now that it’s the House’s turn to release its plan, the advocates, organized by the NC Early Education Coalition, are pushing for two main items:

• The statewide expansion of the Child Care WAGE$ program, which provides education-based wage supplements to low-paid teachers, center directors, and family child care providers.
• The subsidy proposal within House Bill 574, which would raise the rates child care providers receive to serve families through the subsidy program and ensure providers receive at least the statewide average rate.

“We need funding now,” said Cassandra Brooks, director of Little Believer’s Academy, a child care program with locations in Clayton and Garner. “We didn’t come here to take the day off of work, for nothing, and not keeping our children. We need money.”

To learn more about these issues, check out past Early Bird pieces on low early educator compensation and the uneven distribution of subsidy funds across the state.

Meanwhile, child tax credit payments started landing in families’ bank accounts last week. The monthly payments will last until December, and most families can receive $250 per month for each child 6-17 years old and $300 per month for each child under 6 years old. Families will receive the other half of the credit next spring.

If families did not file their taxes in 2019 or 2020, or receive stimulus payments in 2020, they must fill out this IRS tool to receive the credit. Go here for more details on eligibility and resources to help navigate the form.

“It will make a big difference,” said Marsha Basloe, president of the nonprofit Child Care Services Association. This year, experts predict the expanded credit will benefit. “But if we can continue it, the overall impact on child poverty will be just unbelievable.”

Below, don’t miss updates on a tool from the Center for American Progress that calculates the true monthly cost of child care by state, age, setting, and program qualities.

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