Our Children This Month, March 2022

Getting People Back to Work: Childcare

The Iowa Caucus process then proceeded to a second round of discussion, debate and voting with instructions from Mike to “refine your issue and talk about the issues popping up.” At the end of the second round, the issues had been narrowed down to four final categories.

The lack of services for babies is particularly troublesome. It is well-documented that the quality of experiences during the earliest months of life are key to brain development. It is a time of both great opportunity and great risk. Childcare workers ARE NOT just babysitters. The early years are the period of the most complex and formative learning. This is when the foundations for social, mental, and cognitive health are laid—or not—in the minute-to-minute interactions between infants and their caregivers. Yet, despite the significant value of what they provide, the average hourly wage of a childcare provider in Fresno is $15.53. A recent study done at UCLA Berkeley found that one-third of the families of childcare workers—most of whom are women of color or immigrants—are on one or more public assistance programs like Medi-Cal.

While most providers in Fresno County have at least partially reopened, the system remains challenged due to periodic closings on short notice. These ongoing challenges are leaving parents in the lurch and many providers not able to serve at capacity. In addition, there is high staff absenteeism and a shortage of substitutes. The cost to families is steep. Presently the average cost for preschool childcare is $774 per child (ages 3 to 5) per month and $1,101 per month for infant care (age 2 or younger). While the average rent in Fresno for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,419 per month.



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has set a benchmark for co-payments of no more than 7% of their income for families receiving childcare subsidies. The amount Fresno families are currently spending for child care far exceeds this benchmark goal. Rural and agricultural workers especially struggle both with high costs relative to low wages and the distances to and from work and any available care.

The Fresno Residents Council has Targeted Affordable Childcare as a Priority Issue

The bottom line is that in Fresno County there is a significant shortage of childcare centers and licensed homes that meet the budgets, schedules, and geographic needs of working families. In December 2021, the Fresno Residents Council, launched by TCM in mid-2021, identified “Childcare and Workers’ Rights for Economic Opportunities for Families” as one of four priority issues to initially address. They have formed an Issue Caucus around this topic and have gone to work. The Caucus has set a goal to “create equitable access to high quality and affordable childcare.” Top issues identified, in addition to cost, were: 

• Lack of access to quality care: Especially for farm workers and other rural residents, and for families with non-traditional work hours. 
• Lack of information on providers and resources: The Caucus strongly agreed that the various organizations and providers need to collaborate, share information and make it more readily available to parents.

A Proposal is Pending for the use of Additional CARES Dollars for Highest Needs Families

The Preconception to Age 5 Network, a collaborative effort of Fresno Cradle to Career (C2C) has submitted a proposal to the City of Fresno for the use of $3,000,000 Rescue Plan dollars to address some of Fresno’s most hard-pressed families. The proposal would serve 1,941 Fresno City’s highest needs families as they return to work. The proposal calls for:

• Family Child Care Vouchers: $2,800,000 for parents/guardians to help pay for 161 children in settings that meet the families’ unique needs: licensed center, licensed home providers, or family, friend or neighbor caregivers if the caregiver meets a Trustline background check.
• Development of Parent Portals for Subsidized Child Care: $200,000 (one time cost) for electronic software to help simplify a family’s enrollment in the voucher program and shorten the time between processing the paperwork and a family’s enrollment.

If funded, this proposal would be a good start but still falls far short of actual needs, especially in rural areas which are not included in the proposal. The sad fact is that for far too long parents have struggled with the costs and logistics of childcare while providers have been undervalued and underpaid. The system simply doesn’t work well for anyone. But we may in these tumultuous times have a once-in-a generation opportunity to do what is right by our children and help remove the burden of cost from parents and build a system of high-quality care for all. Given the value of what quality child care provides, we must acknowledge that it is a public good that directly contributes to the wellbeing of families and the economic development and prosperity of our county.