Can finding child care be easier?
The state can take steps to make it happen
Access to affordable child care changes lives – not just for children, but for parents and caregivers, too. A recent study from Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy found that families earn more money when they receive free, full-day child care. With the creation of Connecticut’s new child care endowment, our state is set up to take historic steps to reduce childcare costs for parents, with some families expecting to have access to free care. A less-known part of the state’s new commitment to child care, though, is Connecticut’s new effort to make it easier to find a provider.
It takes a lot of time to find an open child care slot. When we surveyed parents around the state, almost one-third spent three months or longer looking for child care, and families with lower incomes spent even longer.
Most families can’t afford to wait that long. It’s extremely difficult for parents to find child care seats that are available, close to home or work, open for the hours they need, meet their child’s needs, and affordable. And when parents are spending months trying to find child care, it can cause stress, lost wages, and missed learning opportunities for kids.
One of the reasons the search is so challenging is that our state does not have enough child care spaces available. According to the Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care Report, Connecticut needs approximately 17,000 more slots for infants and toddlers to meet the need.
But it’s also difficult to find child care because there isn’t one place to find all the information you need on child care programs. Right now, families have to rely on online searches, contacting programs directly, and using word-of-mouth to find child care programs and answer their questions. Parents sometimes have to take time off work to tour programs and meet with staff. After all the time and effort, families might end up applying to programs only to end up on a waitlist for months or years.
We need a system that makes it easy for parents and caregivers to find available care that works for their child, schedules, and budgets. There are several solutions Connecticut can consider to help families find care:
Invest in child care: The state recently made a historic commitment to families with young children through the creation of the Early Childhood Education Endowment. The endowment will increase the number of affordable child care slots over time. Eventually, families earning less than $100,000 a year will pay nothing for a space in a state-funded child care program.
The state has to continue investing in the endowment to increase the number of child care slots. However, this investment alone isn’t enough. Connecticut families also need to be able to find child care when it’s available.
Make a one-stop shop to find care: The state could create an easy tool for parents to 1) find child care that meets their needs and 2) connect with resources to help them pay for child care.
The state could create an online enrollment navigation portal to make it easier for parents to find available child care programs and figure out which might be a good fit. The portal could connect families directly to programs and include things like parent reviews, cost calculators, whether seats were available, and more.
It can be confusing and difficult for parents to figure out if they are eligible for programs to help pay for child care. The state could make a more streamlined application process for child care benefits to make it easier. And a child care benefits screener could help families learn which child care subsidies might be available to help them pay for care.
Child care is hard to find and afford. But by investing in making child care more affordable, and by putting together a system that makes it easier for parents to find care and subsidies, Connecticut could take some big steps forward.
Connecticut families should be able to find the type of care they want, when they need it, and at an affordable price.
