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Anthony Williams for Mayor
1634 I Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
Ph: 393-TONY
Fax: 393-3598
Fax: 393- 3567

8/5/98

Establish a Drop-in Child Care Center as Cornerstone of System

Access to affordable and quality child care is the most critical barrier to be addressed if Welfare to Work initiatives are to succeed in the District. In Fiscal Year (FY) 1997, some 6,200 children per day were in subsidized child care spaces, down from 7,900 in FY 1996. Of these 6,200, there were 4,131 children of working poor parents. It is expected that the number of children requiring subsidized spaces will increase in FY 1998 and 1999 as more welfare recipients move to work activities while on TANF and as recipients leave TANF to enter the workforce. In order to accommodate the increased need for child care and help our citizens find jobs to improve the quality of their lives, the District needs to take strong action to establish a quality child care system. This would include at its core an initial drop in child care center. Additionally, we will

  • Establish a Drop-in-Care Center at an appropriate Department of Human Services welfare site;
  • Center would provide welfare recipients a safe place to care for their child;
  • Enact state of the art child care licensing and regulatory procedures;
  • Consolidate the licensing function under the Office of Early Childhood Development;
  • Pay market rate so that the providers can hire qualified, licensed care givers;

The center would provide high quality child care in a safe and caring environment. The facility would be a convenient place for welfare recipients to leave their children while either searching for a job or going on a job interview. This drop-in center will help job searchers and will ultimately help move people from welfare to work.

In addition, the government needs to take positive action to increase the availability of family child care homes (in the last five years the number of licensed family homes decreased by approximately 30%); e.g. expanding training programs for both potential and existing providers, simplifying licensing procedures, strengthening family child care networks as well as ensure full maximization of the Child Care Food Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A comprehensive approach to child care must also address the needs of school age children; e.g. coordinating with the public schools, the Department of Recreation, community based programs and churches to ensure the availability of school age programs in every elementary school.

Strengthening the Financial Stability of the Child Care Infrastructure:
Subsidized rates need to be competitive to ensure quality care. A number of licensed child care programs in the city refuse to accept DHS subsidized children because the rate of reimbursement is below the market rate. For example, the cost of infant care is approximately $45.00 a day yet the city is only paying $31.00 per day per infant. Low income children are being shortchanged financially and developmentally. Without the necessary funds it is impossible to attract and maintain a quality early childhood workforce. Under federal law the city can spend 30% of its TANF monies for child care (that would equal approximately $28 million) vet to date the city is spending only $10 million of TANF funds on child care. The Williams Administration will utilize the TANF monies to the fullest extent possible to ensure that all children receive quality child care. Local and federal monies need to be maximized to ensure that services for welfare and low income families is available. Financial incentives will be developed to promote quality; e.g. bonuses given to child care facilities that meet nationally recognized accreditation standards and provide increases in salaries for teachers and family home providers who obtain a college degree and/or Child Development Associate Credential.

Expanding Public/Private Partnerships to Promote Quality Child Care: The amount of corporate support the District’s child care community as a whole receives is minimal. The private sector in other states and cities such as Hawaii, San Francisco and Atlanta have been extremely supportive. The Williams Administration will rally the diverse talents we have in this city to help young children and their families; e.g. encouraging the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trade, the World Bank, national institutions such as the National Academy of Sciences and Brookings Institution, local foundations universities and hospitals to donate their expertise and resources to promote quality child care services through direct financial support, training and/or technical assistance. The Williams Administration will sponsor a Child Care Roundtable of Corporate Champions and representatives from the child care community to develop linkages and incentives to support public/private partnerships.

Recognizing the District of Columbia to be a Showcase for Model Early Childhood Development and Child Care: The federal government is the cities largest employer and as such, should set a positive example by promoting effective work/farnily policies including support of quality child care services. The Williams Administration will work with the White House to maximize existing federal resources; e.g. utilizing experts within the Department of Health and Human Services as well as Early Childhood Specialists operating Military Child Care programs to help improve the quality of child care services. Together we can highlight the needs of young children living in the shadow of the Capitol and harness national support in the private sector; e.g. rallying national foundations to assist child care programs in the city and encouraging a larger financial commitment from the American Business Child Care Collaborative to promote model child care services in our nation’s capital.

Funding facts
Several options exist to fund the Drop-in center operating costs:

  1. Use private fund contributed by corporations and foundations
  2. Use combination of federal money and private sector funds
  3. Use District, Federal and private sector money .

Detailed cost analysis

  1. The center will be equipped to handle 60 kids,
  2. The cost of the center will be $500,000 in operating funds
  3. Start-up and renovation: $150,000

Cost Analysis for Williams Child Care Initiative

Fiscal Impact of Child Care Proposal

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Children in Program 6200 6820 7502 8252 9077
Daily Rate Per Child* $21.00 $31.00 $31.93 $32.89 $33.87
Days of Care Per Year 260 260 260 260 260
Total Cost of Program** $33,852,000 $54,969,200 $62,280,104 $70,563,357 $79,948,284

 

GROWTH RATES
Inflation 3%
Children in Program 10%

Current FY99 Budget for Child Care: $32.7 million

*Daily rate for child is an estimate taking into account the cost for family child care homes, and child care centers including infant, preschool and school age.
**Funding for budget increases come from federal TANF funds that have not been spent by the District.
***Additional funds will come from leveraging federal Head Start and federal Child Care Development Bock Grant.


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