Pennsylvania Works to Increase Child Care Access
The United States is facing a child care crisis that’s affecting parents, children and the workforce.
While some parents are having to leave work early or take time off work to care for their children, others are having to leave their jobs all together, resulting in lost earnings. In fact, in early 2024, more than 45,000 Americans stayed home from work because of a child care issue, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In a lot of cases, child care centers lack the staff needed to care for more children due to low wages, plus many families cannot afford to pay the required fees. On average, U.S. families spend 27% of their household income on child care expenses, according to Care.com’s 2023 Cost of Care Report.
While these issues are present nationwide, the Keystone State is seeing glimmers of hope. To support families, invest in the next generation and strengthen the economy, Pennsylvania is working to increase child care access, quality and affordability.
In This Article
Improving Child Care Access in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania families rely on a combination of child care arrangements, from formal center-based care and formal home-based care to informal care, according to a recent report by the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission, a partnership of business leaders that prioritizes the success of every child in Pennsylvania, and ReadyNation. And when digging into the numbers, they found that the state is home to nearly 796,000 working parents with children ages birth to 5.
“Because facilities don’t have the number of staff that they need, they end up closing classrooms,” says Carolyn Green, chief of staff for the Departments of Education and Human Services’ Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). “They might be licensed to have two toddler rooms, but they don’t have enough teachers, so they only have one.”
Access is further limited for parents who work evening and night shifts. To help address this issue, the OCDEL offers higher reimbursement rates for centers that offer nontraditional child care hours.
Additionally, the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission works with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration to advance public-private investments in quality child care and early learning.
Andrea Heberlein, executive director of the commission, says a large part of the commission’s role is statewide public outreach and awareness, but the commissioners also work to create concrete solutions to child care challenges in their own businesses and communities.
Increasing Quality Child Care in Pennsylvania
“Child care is historically an underfunded and undervalued field despite being critically important to a child’s early learning skills, including social-emotional development, and for parents’ ability to successfully participate in the workforce,” Heberlein says.
In December 2023, OCDEL issued a quality grant opportunity to support and invest in activities that promote quality of care and professional development.
OCDEL oversees 19 Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs) across the state, with each ELRC assisting a few counties. ELRC quality coaches support providers in their regions with continuous quality improvement and are available to help identify a program’s strengths and opportunities for growth. ELRCs also help families with questions about child care availability, affordability and quality.
Reducing Child Care Costs in Pennsylvania
Speaking of affordability, Pennsylvania is also working to bring down the cost of child care.
The Child Care Works (CCW) program, funded by federal and state governments and managed by the ELRCs, subsidizes child care fees for low-income families. Plus, the OCDEL works to increase subsidy base rates through the CCW and provide reimbursement for registration fees.
The state also recently announced a substantial expansion of child and dependent care tax credits. And, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, provides free half-day or full-day pre-kindergarten for at-risk children throughout the state.
Working With Pennsylvania Employers
In 2021, the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission partnered with the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry on a statewide survey that looked at the impact of child care on businesses and the workforce. It found that the majority of businesses wanted to do a better job of meeting their employees’ child care needs, but they were unsure of their options.
In response, the commission created an online toolkit, which contains information on investing in child care and the actions employers can take to support their employees.
“When the business community understands the short- and long-term impact that child care has on Pennsylvania’s economy and on their own bottom line, they are more likely to be vested and engaged in system-change solutions and to implement new benefits, strategies and services within their own companies,” Heberlein says. “It is also important to note that employers who offer child care support have distinct hiring and retention advantages over their competitors.”
This article was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
