For Immediate Release
December 15, 2009 |
Contact:
Carlise King or Patty Siegel
415-882-0234 (office)
415-279-0234 (cell)
carlise@rrnetwork.org
patty@rrnetwork.org |
2009 California Child Care Portfolio
Fragile Licensed Child Care Supply Threatened
by Continued Economic Downturn
Parents continue to struggle accessing quality child care
San Francisco, Calif.– The need for affordable, quality child care continues to surpass the supply, according to the 2009 California Child Care Portfolio released today online by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network.
The 2009 Portfolio is the 7th in a biennial series of statewide and county-by-county reports documenting licensed child care supply and demand in California. The data was collected in 2008 from local child care resource and referral programs and prepared by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, a statewide organization. The 61 locally-based, state-funded child care resource and referral agencies (R&Rs) work to improve the quality, availability, and affordability of child care in their communities. The R&Rs talk with parents daily as they counsel them in their search for quality child care.
Reviewing the data, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, 14th District, Chair of Assembly Education Committee commented, "As California struggles to rebound from the economic downturn, and make education a top priority, the data in this report makes it clear that addressing access to quality, licensed child care is essential as a foundation for children's early learning experience, and for supporting working families."
The 2009 Portfolio report indicates that:
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The supply of child care falls far short of demand. Licensed care in California is available for only 27% of children with parents in the labor force. Child care availability varies by county, with licensed care available for 49% of children in San Francisco County with parents in the labor force but is available for only 18% of children in San Joaquin County.
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Over 600,000 children ages birth to 5 years old live in poverty. Statewide the number of children living in poverty has increased five percent between 2006 and 2008. This increase in poverty underscores the importance of maintaining child care subsidies to serve low-income families, including publicly funded centers which represent about a third of licensed center-based programs.
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Parents need full-time care. Eighty-eight percent of child care requests to R&Rs for children birth to five years old are for full-time care. Seventy-five percent of parents are requesting care because they are working.
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Parents lack care options during non-traditional hours. Statewide about nine percent of parents request care during the evening or on weekends, however only one to two percent of licensed centers offer this type of care. While family child care homes (27%) are more likely to offer care during non-traditional hours, they only represent about one-third of the overall licensed supply.
Conscious of the continuing downward spiral of California's economy, the Network took the initiative in 2009 to survey the local R&R programs to assess if and how child care supply and demand had been impacted in their county since 2008. Over half of R&Rs reported significant changes triggered primarily by foreclosure and unemployment. Patty Siegel, Executive Director of the Network, expressed concern about these reports, noting, "At a time when working families are struggling harder than ever to find and keep their jobs, everyone concerned about economic recovery should be paying close attention to what is happening to our licensed child care supply in California."
In response to the Network's survey, Donna Sneeringer, Public Affairs Manager at Child Action Inc. reported, "In Sacramento County, we have seen over a 20% drop in the supply of licensed child care since 2006. This drop is most apparent in communities which have been hard hit by home foreclosures. For now this is a hidden problem, as demand for child care has declined due to job losses. However as people return to employment, families will have fewer child care options which will complicate their return to the workforce. It is clear in our community that restoring the supply of child care must be included in steps to our economic recovery."
The experience of Gina Jackson, a single mother from Alameda County, illustrates how central affordable, reliable child care is for working families, and how the current economy has impacted already fragile child care providers and the families they serve. Gina reflected "Last year, I had a stable job with a wealth management firm in San Francisco, and I relied on a trusted, licensed family child care provider to care for my four year old son. First, my provider lost her home to foreclosure which forced her to close her family child care business. Soon after securing new child care, I lost my own job due to lay-offs. Within weeks, my landlord lost my rental home to foreclosure. One year later, I am still struggling to recover from this triple loss."
To access the full report and county-by-county data: www.rrnetwork.org.
The 29-year-old California Child Care Resource & Referral Network is a nonprofit association of 57 member agencies in counties across California. Resource and referral programs (R&Rs) are a unique hub in the world of child care, connecting parents, providers, and policymakers in each community. R&Rs help parents find child care by providing referrals to licensed programs and by offering important information on how to recognize and choose quality care. R&Rs help child care providers by offering training in child development, safety, and business skills, and they help policymakers by gathering standardized data, identifying key areas of local need, and participating in policy discussions.
