鈥淲hat we want is that, if and when families need it, there鈥檚 childcare that鈥檚 available, that works for their needs, that鈥檚 affordable and high quality,鈥� said Anne Hedgepeth, senior vice president of policy and research at Child Care Aware of America. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a lot of gaps in that promise right now.鈥�

To get federal childcare funding, states have to put a minimum amount of their own money into the system as well. But of state funding for childcare and preschool in fiscal year 2026, conducted by Child Care Aware of America, found that seven states 鈥� Arkansas, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wyoming 鈥� don鈥檛 spend any money above that bare minimum. And a handful of states don鈥檛 spend more of their own money on preschool than what is strictly required: Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Idaho and Wyoming find themselves on both lists, putting nothing extra into either system. 

The lack of additional investment has a lot of root causes, from political hesitance to the realities of state budgets, which must be balanced every year, Hedgepeth said. In part, she said, the problem stems from the end of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, which infused billions of dollars into the system and allowed states to make but has since disappeared. Other constraints include a reduction in tax revenues and cuts to federal programs stemming from the Republicans鈥� One Big Beautiful Bill package that passed last year. 

No matter its source, the lack of funding creates 鈥渁 frustration for parents and families and childcare providers on the ground,鈥� Hedgepeth said. Without more state investment, legislatures are unable to improve the system by, for example, expanding their subsidy programs to reach more families 鈥� or even to serve all eligible ones 鈥� or reimbursing providers the amount it actually costs to care for children instead of at lower rates. That has led to over a dozen states recently instituting or expanding waiting lists for childcare subsidies, leaving parents to try to pay for care out of pocket. The waitlists hurt providers, too, if they can鈥檛 enroll new families, which can lead to closures of classrooms and even entire programs. 鈥淭he whole system suffers,鈥� Hedgepeth said. 

State spending disparities have also created an uneven national system that leaves parents better or worse off depending on where they live. The study analyzed total investments for each child under age 5 for 37 states and found that spending ranged from less than $500 per child under age 5 to more than $5,000 per child. Eleven states spend between $1,500 and $9,900 per child, with Washington, D.C. spending the most. 

鈥淲e do have really different experiences state-to-state, based in part, on what states are putting into their childcare and early learning systems,鈥� Hedgepeth said. That creates frustration for families, especially those who move between states and have to navigate such different systems. But it hurts everyone. 鈥淚t also really presents a challenge when we think about having an overarching goal when it comes to child development and support of our earliest learners,鈥� she said. Children arrive at kindergarten with a variety of readiness levels depending on what was available to their families before then, she pointed out. That necessitates instituting 鈥渁 more robust floor鈥� so that there is a baseline across the whole country.

Hedgepeth sees a silver lining: In the states that are failing to spend more of their own funding, 鈥渢here is room for these states to do more and maybe even an appetite.鈥� Some of them signaled in their recent legislative sessions that they want to invest more, she said. of governors talked about childcare and early childhood education in their state of the state addresses this year. She also noted that, since the pandemic, all states are at least fully meeting the federal match requirement for childcare funding, even if many aren鈥檛 going above and beyond. There were some years before 2020, mostly in 鈥渆xtraordinary circumstances,鈥� such as a recession or budgetary challenge, when some states did not even spend that much, she said.

Even so, some states are moving in the wrong direction. Child Care Aware of America found that six states 鈥� Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Rhode Island 鈥� decreased how much of their own money they spent on childcare and preschool in fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal year 2025. West Virginia invested in childcare in fiscal year 2025 but then failed to do so in fiscal year 2026. 

According to from Child Care Aware of America, this lack of state spending has led to the first decline in the number of licensed childcare centers in several years. In the years directly after the height of the pandemic, between 2021 and 2023, childcare supply experienced 鈥渞obust growth,鈥� Hedgepeth said, after states made investments that 鈥減aid off in terms of making it possible for childcare programs to open.鈥� But between 2024 and 2025, the number of licensed centers declined by 1%. 

Hedgepeth cautioned that the data is messy and the drop is 鈥渧ery, very small.鈥� Still, she said, 鈥淚t is very clear to us that we are not moving in the direction we need to be moving.鈥� of American children already live in childcare deserts, according to a report from the Center for America Progress. In states that aren鈥檛 spending enough for providers to be able to open and operate with some semblance of financial stability, 鈥渢he supply trend is going to continue in the wrong direction,鈥� she said. 

This is especially concerning given that state budgets are about to enter a particularly rough patch. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted the to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid in history, cuts that state budgets have to absorb. The possibility that states will feel forced to further pull back from childcare and early childhood education funding in order to cover for some of those reductions is 鈥渧ery much on the horizon,鈥� Hedgepeth said. While some states started to worry about the problem in their most recent sessions, next year鈥檚 legislative sessions are where the cuts are likely to really hit home, she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at a tough several years.鈥� 

Congress can act by increasing funding for childcare programs, something it has with . 鈥淚t鈥檚 very clear that the gap is there and it needs to be closed,鈥� Hedgepeth said. 鈥淲e have a very direct call to action here, which is, 鈥楲et鈥檚 make investments to make sure we grow the supply for childcare.鈥� 鈥�

Tucked in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani鈥檚 sprawling universal childcare plan is a little-talked-about milestone: In September, the city will open what appears to be the first free daycare for municipal workers in the country. 

The center, called , is a pilot program that could prove to be a model for cities across the country that are childcare curious, but not ready to take the big universal swing. 

Housed in a renovated space on the first floor of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in Manhattan, home base for more than 2,000 city workers, the Little Apple will offer free care to the kids of full-time staff. All workers in the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), a city government support agency, can also take advantage of it regardless of their work location.

The center will be small 鈥� just 40 seats for children ages six weeks to 3 years old. To pay for it, the city budgeted about $1.5 million, or $35,000 per child.

鈥淭his is what Wall Street could call a good investment,鈥� Mamdani . 鈥淲e know that after housing, the cost of childcare is what is pushing working families out of this city.鈥� 

DCAS Commissioner Yume Kitasei told The 19th said the solution came about as a retention strategy, responding to the needs workers shared. In surveys, workers enthusiastically embraced the idea. One worker described access to free childcare as 鈥渓ife-changing.鈥�

That鈥檚 probably not hyperbole. Childcare affordability is a national problem that has only grown more acute. Childcare costs an average of nationwide; in New York for an infant at a center it鈥檚 closer to on average. Paying for a daycare now vies with housing costs as , so much so that some parents have had to move or . 

Cities, meanwhile, have been since the pandemic. Benefits like childcare, which some cities and private companies have dabbled with, can help address the quality-of-life issues that are pushing workers out of jobs. 

鈥淭his is a great time for us to sort of be thinking about: How can we make our jobs even more attractive to people and also retain the city workers that we have?鈥� Kitasei said. 鈥淭his is one piece of that puzzle.鈥� 

Kitasei added that a 鈥渉ealthy鈥� number of staffers applied for The Little Apple and the department expects to fill its 40 childcare seats. Anyone who doesn鈥檛 get a spot will be put on a waitlist.

There is an appetite across the country for childcare solutions that could help bring down costs for certain workers, and cities are already taking on creative fixes. 

Several already have childcare centers in municipal buildings or for city employees, including , , and , Colorado, though none of them are free like New York鈥檚. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, the county school district and a local childcare center known nationally have partnered to provide childcare for the children of teachers inside unused classrooms in schools. Boone County, Missouri, is . 

In the private sector, and closed longstanding childcare centers they operated on their campuses in recent years, but efforts continue elsewhere. Patagonia has operated at its California headquarters since the 1980s, a move it argues has lowered turnover from employees who use the site by 25%. Overstock.com also has an at its Utah headquarters. Both are subsidized, not free.听

鈥淎s cities in every region of the country compete with the private sector and other municipalities to attract and retain workers and elected officials, ensuring access to childcare offers an opportunity for local governments to build a representative workforce and invest in the future of their communities,鈥� said Quincy Midthun, an outreach specialist with the Mayors Innovation Project at the High Road Strategy Center, a think tank focused on solutions to social problems.

The Little Apple, and New York City broadly, reflect a when it comes to childcare. 

The announcements of universal childcare in New York City and in the last year received an enormous amount of attention across the country. Both places took an idea that for many years was floated as a pipe dream 鈥� treating childcare similarly to public education 鈥� and turned it into reality. In New York, it鈥檚 one of the few issues that Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, and Gov. Kathy Hochul, a centrist Democrat, . 

Voters are also hungry for more solutions: In poll after poll, they assert that spending money on childcare is a . 

Emmy Liss, who heads Mamdani鈥檚 childcare office, said childcare is at a 鈥減olitical tipping point.鈥� 

鈥淲e’re in this moment where folks across all political, socioeconomic, demographic spectrums recognize that childcare is essential, that childcare is something families are struggling to access, and know that the market economics of childcare don’t work without public investment,鈥� Liss said. 鈥淲e see recognition of that.鈥�

With Little Apple, New York is testing what it looks like to commit to its promises of free care for all, but doing it first for its own employees. 

鈥淚f we are asking folks to report to work in person in parts of the city where childcare is expensive, as it is all over the city, I think that we have to recognize that childcare is an important part of how we keep people in the workforce,鈥� Liss said. 

Mamdani and Hochul have been working to make childcare universally available to children in the city through a phased rollout set to conclude in four years. For 2-year olds, the mayor announced that will be available in the fall in four largely low-income areas of the city. Another 12,000 are planned for 2027. For 3-year-olds, about 2,000 new seats will be added in the fall, as well. The city has an existing universal childcare program for 4-year-olds. 

Universal childcare as Mamdani envisions it will cover kids ages 6 weeks to 5 years with a price tag of about $6 billion annually, making it the most expensive pillar of his affordability agenda. Mamdani is expected to push to fund the program with a tax increase on the wealthy, a strategy Hochul for, though the state is . Mamdani has not yet unveiled what his universal childcare program would look like for infants and young toddlers.

How New York City鈥檚 program rolls out and its sustainability are being closely watched by proponents of universal care, who argue it’s also an anti-poverty measure.

鈥淲e know that other places are watching as we try different things out, including the work at the Little Apple,鈥� Liss said.

In New York City, 21% of working parents experienced some kind of childcare hardship in 2024 that forced them to forgo care or use inadequate care, particularly families living in poverty, single mothers and Black parents, from Robin Hood, an anti-poverty organization, and Columbia University鈥檚 Center on Poverty and Social Policy.听

An average of 3,400 2- and 3-year-olds were pushed into poverty between 2022 and 2024 specifically due to the cost of childcare, a from the same organizations found. An estimated 4,100 2- and 3-year-olds would be lifted out of poverty each year if they had access to universal 2-K and 3-K education. That would reduce poverty for this age group .听

Rebecca Bailin, the executive director of the parent organizing group New Yorkers United for Child Care, said the problem has reached such a fever pitch that thousands of parents started to organize around the issue in 2023 and helped push the agenda that was central to Mamdani鈥檚 election. 

Bailin, who has a 1-year-old, said she can now depend on a 3-K program when her child turns 3 and likely a 2-K program, as well 鈥� a savings of about $100,000. The 2-K program Mamdani is rolling out will also be full-day care rather than partial-day care that wraps up around 2 p.m. like the existing 3-K program, addressing a top ask from parents.

鈥淧eople are stoked,鈥� Bailin said. 鈥淧eople feel like they can stay in the city.鈥� 

The Little Apple is a small part of the larger effort, but, 鈥渋f we want to retain people, we have to do this,鈥� Bailin said. 

鈥淭his is something we want to see scaled. If city workers can’t afford to live here, that鈥檚 a real problem,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭his is really critical and we need this for everybody.鈥� 

was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of .

The law鈥檚 passage followed nearly two decades of groundwork and an eight-year advocacy campaign led by Let鈥檚 Grow Kids, a local organization focused on building broad public and political support for childcare reform. The mission? To achieve high-quality, affordable childcare for the whole state. 

A from New America chronicles the years of advocacy and organizing that paved the way for Vermont to pass Act 76, including the incremental legislative strategy that developed bipartisan support; efforts to build a coalition of stakeholders; and the strategic pivots and political organizing that were instrumental in passing the law. By recounting Vermont鈥檚 roadmap, the report鈥檚 author, Rebecca Gale, who has been covering childcare in the state for years, shares lessons learned to highlight what鈥檚 possible when it comes to state-led childcare reform. 

Here鈥檚 a look back at Gale鈥檚 reporting on some of the key actions and policy changes that have led to progress in Vermont.

While childcare has gained visibility in political campaigns, it鈥檚 more often a secondary issue, rather than a key priority for candidates. That may be starting to change. In April, Aly Richards, who led Let鈥檚 Grow Kids for nearly a decade, announced her bid for governor. In an interview with Gale, Richards discussed why the governor鈥檚 office might be the best next step for someone who knows how central quality childcare is for families 鈥� and states 鈥� to thrive.

Let鈥檚 Grow Kids, a nonprofit organization formed in 2015 to improve Vermont鈥檚 childcare infrastructure, sunset its operations in October 2025. According to its CEO, it was always intended to be dismantled after a decade, and the sunset strategy was critical to its success in spurring change. Here鈥檚 an inside look at how the organization鈥檚 efforts drove progress that led the state to make childcare more accessible and affordable, and why the time-sensitive nature of Let鈥檚 Grow Kids was key to its success.

Act 76, a law which passed in Vermont in 2023, has been a game changer for many of the state鈥檚 childcare providers, offering a notable financial boost. For some, it鈥檚 doubled their income. The law, which was designed to increase access to high-quality childcare for families and to support the state鈥檚 early care and education workforce, has had a number of successes in its first year of implementation. Here鈥檚 a look at how family childcare providers in the state have been impacted.

In June 2023, Vermont鈥檚 legislature overrode Republican Gov. Phil Scott鈥檚 veto to approve a number of state-wide priorities, including $125 million to shore up its childcare infrastructure. The state鈥檚 successful effort followed more than a decade of advocacy and grassroots organizing focused on strengthening its childcare system. The law, , expanded childcare subsidies to reach more families and increased wages for providers. Supporters view Vermont鈥檚 approach as a national model for expanding affordable, accessible child care and strengthening the workforce.

In June 2023, Vermont鈥檚 Republican Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill to strengthen the state鈥檚 childcare system, but even after the governor鈥檚 veto, the state legislature had sufficient support to consider an override. Richards, CEO of Let鈥檚 Grow Kids, said the decision to veto could be traced back to a campaign promise not to raise taxes. Without the payroll tax increase, the program could not afford to pay providers more. 鈥淭he Governor agrees childcare is essential but won鈥檛 raise taxes. Those two things cannot live together. The solution is public investment. We know this is hard work. That is why we have a bipartisan movement. We are making hard choices together, but we are doing so responsibly,鈥� Richard said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the globe, many states across the U.S. were navigating childcare setbacks. But in May 2021, after years of advocacy and organizing around strengthening childcare, Vermont passed , key legislation to reform childcare in the state. Despite the groundswell of political will for the program, Vermont still faces major funding hurdles. Gale offers a look into the state鈥檚 progress and challenges.

On Friday, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law, which allows retirees taking care of children to access the state鈥檚 childcare assistance program.

For eligible families, the NH Child Care Scholarship Program provides funds for childcare through direct payments to daycare and out鈥搊f鈥搒chool time providers for children up to 13 years old, and through 17 for a child with disabilities.

SB 608 requirement for kinship caregivers who are retired and at federal retirement age. Previously, parents and guardians were required to be working, looking for work, in a training program, or in school. Families still have to meet state income eligibility requirements, which require them to make 85% or less of the state median income to qualify.

The law also requires the state to ask the federal government if family care support services are 鈥渁n allowable service鈥� under the Acquired Brain Disorder, Choices for Independence, and Community-Based Service waiver programs.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Hampshire Bulletin maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Dana Wormald for questions: info@newhampshirebulletin.com.

California is doing something about diaper insecurity for its residents. Gov. Gavin Newsom that the state will provide 400 free diapers to families with newborn babies, beginning with hospitals that predominantly serve low-income households, before expanding more broadly.

Diaper need is a serious challenge for many families. of U.S. households with children under age 4 in diapers report diaper insecurity, according to a nationally representative study from the nonprofit National Diaper Bank Network. An infant typically goes through diapers in a day. At , the annual diaper cost for one baby can run roughly $1,000 during the first year. These costs hit during a period when families are often due to the combination of baby-related costs and employment challenges driven in part by America鈥檚 .听

The consequences can be harmful: When parents can鈥檛 afford enough diapers, they may turn to alternatives like using plastic bags or towels to make their own diapers, or reusing wet or soiled diapers. These practices can lead to severe diaper rash and urinary tract infections. In my work, I have spoken to childcare providers who describe the phenomenon of 鈥淢onday morning rash,鈥� when babies arrive after having diapers stretched over the weekend.

Cloth diapers present an alternative that can save parents a lot of money, but they for many families because they require up front costs, need frequent laundering 鈥� which can increase utility bills 鈥� and importantly, because many center-based childcare programs won鈥檛 allow them.  

In fact, many childcare providers require parents to provide disposable diapers, and if they鈥檙e unable to do so, they may not be allowed to drop their children off. In of Connecticut diaper bank users, more than half of parent participants who relied on childcare programs reported missing work due to a lack of diapers, with an average of four missed days per month.

While the long-term solution to diaper need likely lies in ensuring all families have access to reliable and well-paying jobs, a statewide program like California鈥檚 Golden Gate Start can provide a strong preventative intervention that can set families off on the right foot, helping them leave the hospital with one less worry while they try to figure out how to care for the beloved, squalling creature that鈥檚 coming home without an instruction manual. In practice, the 400 diapers, which come in varying sizes, should cover about a month鈥檚 supply.

California is not the first state to try to tackle diaper insecurity. Illinois has, since 2023, been utilizing Diaper Dollars, a statewide initiative that sends out a monthly $40 e-card to eligible families that can be used to purchase diapers at various stores, and the idea has since spread to Ohio. In 2024, Tennessee to families enrolled in the state鈥檚 Medicaid system, although the program is being as the state legislature tries to shore up healthcare budget holes. 

California鈥檚 model, though, may have the most straightforward delivery system. Diaper Dollars has faced challenges because the stipends can only be used at participating stores and some major retailers don鈥檛 currently accept that form of payment, while Tennessee struggled with coverage because it delivered the benefit via pharmacies, and left many families lacking options. California鈥檚 use of hospitals is innovative, though it does mean only a one-time infusion of diapers versus an ongoing supply.

Despite the fact that California鈥檚 program seems like a clear win, it has . While plausibly driven by animus toward Newsom, a , commentators have focused on the fact that a nonprofit with connections to Newsom鈥檚 wife, Baby2Baby, is involved in the administration of the free diapers. Some see Newsom鈥檚 free diaper program as politically flashy but economically tokenistic, that giving new parents 400 diapers does little to solve the real reason California feels unaffordable 鈥� especially the state鈥檚 severe housing shortage and high cost of living. Others suggest routing diapers through a nonprofit and hospitals may cost taxpayers more than simply handing families cash directly.

This argument almost entirely misses the point. While it鈥檚 always worth watching the implementation of a benefit to make sure the government is working efficiently, the question on the table is whether there is a public interest in helping all parents and babies get off to a strong and healthy start. As conservative analyst Patrick T. Brown in his Family Matters Substack, 鈥渆ven if the program design could theoretically stand to be improved, it hardly deserves the scorn being directed at it. … Sometimes a program can be good without being perfect; and sometimes we should do a better job resisting the temptation to hold our political opponents鈥� ideas to a higher standard than our own side鈥檚.鈥�

Indeed, American families would surely welcome a race among states to figure out how to most effectively support them in securing an adequate diaper supply. Babies need diapers, but especially as the cost of living continues to rise, not every American family is in a position to provide them. California is taking action: That in itself is worthy of praise 鈥� and one way or another, there will be important lessons to learn.

This mismatch between families鈥� current realities and ideal scenarios begins early 鈥� as soon as their children are born, when the parental leave they are able to take is often less time than they want. 

It may not be altogether surprising that parents in the United States are not satisfied with their leave, care and work options. After all, it is one of the only developed nations that a national paid-leave program for new parents, and in this country is unaffordable and inaccessible to many families. 

Still, these findings add an important dimension to the conversation about raising children in America: The survey is nationally representative and the largest-of-its-kind, reaching about 5,500 parents and primary caregivers with children from birth to age 5, including nearly 3,000 parents with household income below 200% of the federal poverty level or about $66,000 or less for a family of four. 

But it鈥檚 more than that, said Alyson Silkowski, senior policy adviser at the New Practice Lab, a team focused on improving economic outcomes for American families with young children, and one of the authors of the report. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot we know about what鈥檚 not working,鈥� Silkowski said of earlier data and surveys on families. 鈥淲e were keen to add to this conversation about parenthood in America 鈥� what it is parents actually want as they think about these early years.鈥�

The simplest answer to what parents want, they found, is more time and more money. 

Nearly three in four parents said they want more quality time with their children, such as playing, being outside and traveling. Instead, they feel much of their 鈥渇ree鈥� time is spent doing housework such as cooking and cleaning. These findings hold across income levels, geography, race and ethnicity.

More than half of parents 鈥� 55% 鈥� said they wanted more time off with their child after they were born, and that鈥檚 true for both moms and dads. 

鈥淣either are getting what they want,鈥� Silkowski noted. 

Priscilla Welsh, a mom of two living in a suburb of Denver, lost her job while pregnant with her first child a few years ago after the company that employed her went out of business. When their son was born, Welsh was not working, and her husband, who is self-employed, 鈥渢ook a pause鈥� from work to be at home with his family, she shared. 

鈥淚t was a rougher period of very tight finances with our firstborn,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou want to snuggle your newborn and feel relaxed, but it was top of mind for me 鈥� how little money we had.鈥�

When Welsh had their second child, in 2025, her husband was able to take advantage of Colorado鈥檚 state paid parental leave program, which was approved by voters in 2020 and became available to families in early 2024. He was able to take 12 weeks of paid leave to be at home with his wife, toddler and newborn son, which Welsh described as 鈥渁mazing.鈥� 

As for money, the New Practice Lab found that financial concerns seem to be leading families to choose work and childcare arrangements that do not reflect their preferences. 

Nearly nine in 10 parents said they want to work some amount, including 91% of dads and 85% of moms, but 75% said their current work arrangement is not one they want. 

Welsh has not returned to the workforce since she lost her job during her first pregnancy, but she would like to if she can find the right position, she said. Ideally, she鈥檇 work one day a week in an event-planning role. She loves the challenge-and-reward cycle of paid work, and she also thinks it would be good for her as a parent. 

鈥淚 want to miss them,鈥� she said of her sons, who are 2.5 years and 10 months old. 鈥淸Working] would help me miss them and be a better mom when I鈥檓 around them.鈥�

She added: 鈥溾�淏eing a mom is just one challenge after another after another. But there鈥檚 no big reward. It鈥檚 like, 鈥楶otty training is over!鈥� But no, potty training is never over.鈥� 

In her paid jobs of the past, Welsh would work really hard to complete a task or a project, then get appreciation and acknowledgement for it, she said 鈥� 鈥渞ather than being a parent, where you鈥檙e never finished.鈥� She thinks that returning to the labor force would 鈥渟tretch鈥� her in a good way.

The main reason she isn鈥檛 working now is because she isn鈥檛 looking 鈥� because she doesn鈥檛 think that what she is seeking is even out there. 

鈥淧art of me just doesn鈥檛 believe it exists, or that I鈥檇 be paid high enough that it would be worth my time,鈥� she said. 

Many moms 鈥� and some dads 鈥� with young children seem to share Welsh鈥檚 desire for more flexible, part-time work. 

Of the parents who said they prefer to work, 30% of moms and 64% of dads said they want to work full-time, compared to 28% of moms and 15% of dads who want flexible work and 25% of moms and 12% of dads who want part-time work.听

About a third of respondents said they preferred to care for their children themselves in their ideal scenario, while 19% wanted a combination of care, 18% wanted another parent to do the caregiving, 15% wanted formal settings, 11% wanted a relative or friend, and 5% wanted a nanny or sitter.听

鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a single solution that crossed the 50% threshold,鈥� noted Amira Choueiki Boland, chief of staff at the New Practice Lab and an author of the report.

Boland also acknowledged that many families seem to have modest expectations for what can change about their circumstances 鈥� whether it鈥檚 more parental leave or more satisfying work and childcare arrangements. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e conditioned to what we think is possible,鈥� Boland said, recalling how 鈥渁stounded鈥� she was to observe the system of support in place for colleagues who took parental leave when she worked in Canada. 鈥淸We should be] opening up our aperture to what other societies have figured out to make this work better.鈥�

Mary Moody bought Silver Bluff Kids Early Learning Center in 2023, one of in western North Carolina at the time. The owners cited insufficient childcare subsidy funding.

Today, the Canton center, where around 75% of children rely on child care subsidy funding, is facing the same challenge, Moody said.

鈥淭he price of groceries, the price of supplies and materials, our insurance costs, like everything has increased 鈥� except our subsidy reimbursement rates,鈥� she said.

Childcare programs need more subsidy funding, advocates say, to make ends meet and serve low-income working and student parents. Advocates are asking for $101 million this short legislative session to increase the rates facilities receive through , which helps afford care.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about stabilizing the childcare sector right now, because before we can even think about expanding childcare programs, we have to sustain what we have,鈥� said Leanna Martin, director of early childhood policy and research at nonprofit .

Since the state legislature passed a full budget in 2023, the state has experienced a net loss of 262 licensed programs, according to from the Gov. Josh Stein鈥檚 office.

In March, Stein鈥檚 鈥渃ritical needs budget鈥� for the rest of the fiscal year.

Legislators went home last fiscal year without passing a full budget. Both the and proposals included around $80 million per year in subsidy funding to update rates.

Without increased subsidy funding, childcare will continue to become less accessible and more expensive, said Dan Rockaway, president of the and CEO of Sounds and Colors, which has four childcare centers in Wake and Orange counties.

鈥淚t鈥檚 what keeps parents in the workforce and classrooms open,鈥� Rockaway said. 鈥淏ut to truly work, subsidy rates also need to be better aligned with the actual cost of providing high-quality care, otherwise the gap continues to grow and access remains out of reach for too many families.鈥�

鈥業n free fall鈥�

Many childcare programs have had to make up for the loss of pandemic relief funding, which ran out in March 2025. The state encouraged programs to use that funding to increase teachers鈥� wages. When the money ran out, providers have had to find other ways to fill the gap and retain staff.

In Moody鈥檚 case, she has chosen not to hire an extra 鈥渇loater鈥� in order to maintain her staff鈥檚 wages. Instead, her and her assistant director fill in to maintain required child-to-staff ratios when a teacher is out.

鈥淭hat makes things really challenging now, really tight, and it has been since March of last year,鈥� she said.

Moody said she could raise tuition rates, but she knows parents cannot afford to pay more. Since her program is operating a waitlist, she has considered opening another center in the area to meet the demand.

鈥淏ut again, that鈥檚 the problem, is the funding,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 mean, the funding just isn鈥檛 there.鈥�

, which Stein established last year, has been studying funding and policy solutions to high costs and low access.

The group in January 2026, including creating a statewide subsidy floor, providing childcare for childcare employees, and offering childcare to public sector workers. The group has also discussed creating an endowment that multiple entities may contribute to.

Incremental changes will not be enough to recruit and retain teachers, said Henrietta Zalkind, director of the Down East Partnership for Children, a local Smart Start partnership serving young children and families in Nash and Edgecombe counties.

鈥淭he system is in free fall,鈥� said Zalkind, a long-time early childhood advocate. 鈥淎nd we need to acknowledge where we are.鈥�

She said direct funding to increase teachers鈥� wages would make the largest difference in the short-term, pointing to of education-based wage supplements from the from nonprofit Early Years. Child care teachers in North Carolina made an average of $14.20 an hour in 2024, .

What difference would higher subsidy rates make?

Right now, the rates programs receive cover less than half of the actual cost of care, according to from Candace Witherspoon, director of (DCDEE).

Higher subsidy rates would help child care programs relying heavily on the program keep their lights on, Martin said.

鈥淚t brings consistency into the system 鈥� and reduces that market volatility to ensure providers receive a reliable baseline that more closely reflects the cost of care,鈥� she said.

The $101 million ask would establish a floor rate for infants and toddlers based on a and increase rates for 3- to 12-year-olds based on . The floor rate would mean all facilities serving infants, 1-year-olds, and 2-year-olds would receive, at minimum, the average statewide rate based on age and quality level.

The based on location, quality rating, and age. Martin pointed to Randolph County, which receives $867 per infant in a five-star setting. In neighboring Davidson, programs receive $1,236 for serving the same age child at the same quality level. A floor rate would increase rates in Randolph County by $600 per child per month, Martin said.

Advocates in called for a floor for all ages. This session鈥檚 ask prioritizes care for infants and toddlers because it is the most expensive and hardest to access across the state. Establishing a floor would nearly double the amount many rural providers receive to care for the youngest children, Martin said, and send about $27 million to programs in rural communities.

鈥�(The request) is a practical, feasible approach that鈥檚 going to have the greatest impact on our childcare providers,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he increased reimbursement will allow them to reinvest into their staff, into their operations.鈥�

Increasing rates will also make it more likely that programs will participate in the program, which is voluntary, said Rockaway, president of the NC Licensed Child Care Association and CEO of Sounds and Colors.

鈥淚f subsidy doesn鈥檛 go up, then childcare centers are either forced to close if they鈥檙e heavily subsidized 鈥� or child care centers that are on a mix of subsidy and private parents can increase their rates, but then will take fewer subsidy children,鈥� he said.

What about waitlists?

Meanwhile, thousands of families are waiting for subsidies to afford care. , 55,166 children were receiving subsidies and 8,319 children were on waitlists.

Enrollment is slightly up and waitlists are slightly down , when 54,676 children were served and 10,892 children were on waitlists.

Local agencies administering subsidy funds had to start waitlisting families in fall 2024 when federal pandemic relief funding ran out, according to DCDEE in an emailed statement to EdNC:

During the pandemic, states received American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. This extra funding helped North Carolina pay for childcare subsidies and keep waitlists lower. This federal funding ended in September 2024. In order to comply with federal requirements, which do not allow the removal of vouchers from children already participating in subsidized programs, North Carolina instead had to slow enrollment into the programs which led to an increase in the waitlists for potentially eligible children.

Overall, the total available funding decreased significantly from June 2024 to September 2024鈥攆rom $617,789,488 to $557,023,832. This decrease in funding has reduced the number of children served through the subsidized child care program.

In order to tackle those waitlists, it has to make financial sense for facilities to participate in the program, Martin said. NC Child has done research on steps the state could take to eventually reimburse providers at the actual cost of care. This year鈥檚 ask is the first of four steps, eventually totaling $380 million per year.

鈥淚nvesting in the subsidy not only sustains the programs now, but it鈥檚 really sustaining our future, and it鈥檚 an economic imperative and an economic investment,鈥� Martin said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has no regrets about universal childcare.

As she approaches the end of her second term in New Mexico鈥檚 top office, she acknowledges there are some things she would have done differently. In a recent interview, she called 20/20 hindsight a 鈥渧ery powerful tool鈥� that not enough politicians put to good use.

Moving the state toward a free childcare system 鈥� open to all New Mexico families regardless of income 鈥� isn鈥檛 on that list, however. The issue has turned into one of the defining public policy issues of Lujan Grisham鈥檚 tenure 鈥� which will come to an end later this year. The state鈥檚 heavily Democratic Legislature, initially wary of the program, has since voiced support and created a funding stream to continue the initiative for the next five years.

Still, the future of New Mexico鈥檚 free, universal childcare system is uncertain: Democratic candidates seeking the governor鈥檚 office have promised to double down on the initiative, while the Republicans question its fairness and financial feasibility 鈥� with one going so far as to file a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the rules underpinning the expansion.

Lujan Grisham defended her focus on childcare, asserting the state鈥檚 free, universal system will be a 鈥済ame changer鈥� for healthy child development and economic growth.

鈥淚n childcare, I really think we have done it as right as you can,鈥� she said.

鈥榊ou have to start there鈥�

Less than 20 years ago, most New Mexico lawmakers would have dismissed the idea of a universal childcare system in the state as more punchline than policy, said House Speaker Javier Mart铆nez.

鈥淧eople would have laughed at us if we talked about universal childcare back then,鈥� the Albuquerque Democrat said.

In 2011, Mart铆nez was fresh out of law school, working as a community organizer for immigrants rights. He and his colleagues started to notice a pattern: Many of the immigrant families they worked with attended organizing meetings with their young children in tow.

鈥淲e started thinking: What is the future of our organizing? And we landed on early childhood,鈥� he said.

Organizers and policymakers started to converge around a plan to secure voter approval of a constitutional amendment to draw on the state鈥檚 Land Grant Permanent Fund 鈥� then about $11 billion and now nearly $39 billion, according to an April report 鈥� to pay for a rapid expansion of early childhood programs. The proposal divided Democrats at the time. Mart铆nez said his frustration over the Legislature failing to send the issue to voters led him to run for office in 2014.

It took years, but that plan worked. In 2019, Lujan Grisham 鈥� then newly sworn in as governor 鈥� signed into law a bill to create the Early Childhood Education and Care Department, based on a plan proposed by Sen. Michael Padilla, an Albuquerque Democrat and longtime advocate for early childhood education.

The next year, the governor signed the Early Childhood Education and Care Fund into law with an initial investment of $320 million. That trust fund has grown to more than $11 billion, State Investment Council documents show.

The Legislature in 2021 approved a resolution to allow voters to determine whether to pull 1.25% more each year out of the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which long has benefited public schools, to boost both K-12 education and early childhood programs. Voters in 2022 overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment, which now sends more than $250 million a year from the growing investment fund to early childhood initiatives.

Eligibility for state childcare assistance with no copays also has expanded 鈥� growing to include families living at or below 400% of the federal poverty level by 2022. That eligibility limit for subsidized care 鈥� $132,000 for a family of four in 2026 鈥� covered the large majority of families in the state.

鈥淭here are very few states anywhere that really even thought about a way to create … a revenue stream so that you can start to make this affordable for parents 鈥� because you have to start there,鈥� Lujan Grisham said.

Women leading both of New Mexico鈥檚 legislative and executive branches also 鈥渃ontributes mightily鈥� to the state鈥檚 policy focus on childcare, she added.

Overwhelmingly, the work of childcare falls on women. Women make up about 95% of the early childhood workforce, with Black and Hispanic women working in childcare at a higher rate than the workforce at large, according to U.S. Department of Labor data from 2024. Research from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, found 14% of New Mexico childcare workers are immigrants.

Meanwhile, women 55% of the seats in the Legislature, outpacing the national average by more than 20 percentage points, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics. Women hold 57% of New Mexico鈥檚 statewide elected executive positions.

There鈥檚 a connection between the women working in New Mexico鈥檚 early childhood education system and the women who work for them in state government, Lujan Grisham said.

鈥淢ostly women in childcare, mostly women in pre-K, women majority in the Legislature, women majority in statewide offices 鈥� I think there鈥檚 a lot of synergy there in the state about putting families first,鈥� she said.

Childcare costs, benefits

As any parent will tell you, childcare doesn鈥檛 come cheap.

That鈥檚 true even when the state of New Mexico is paying the bill.

This year鈥檚 House Bill 2 鈥� the state budget bill for fiscal year 2027 鈥� sets aside more than $1.2 billion for the Early Childhood Education and Care Department. That sum, a little over 10% of the state budget, includes $215 million for childcare assistance.

Lawmakers made sure during this year鈥檚 legislative session the free, universal childcare system will be financially stable for the next five years. Senate Bill 241, signed into law in March, will allow the state to draw up to $700 million from the early childhood trust fund over five years, in addition to setting up guardrails to ensure lower-income families are 鈥渇irst in line鈥� for assistance if the state鈥檚 economy takes a turn for the worse, Mart铆nez said.

Lujan Grisham acknowledged free, universal childcare is an expensive proposition 鈥� 鈥減ublic education is expensive, if it鈥檚 universal,鈥� she said 鈥� but she sees it as a boost for New Mexico鈥檚 economy and a balm to the state鈥檚 child welfare challenges.

The governor can recount the objections some New Mexicans have to free childcare: 鈥淚f people can afford to pay, they should. It should not be universal. … It doesn鈥檛 make sense to me. It feels like a giveaway.鈥�

But she argues an adequately resourced, universal system will inspire workers and companies to move to New Mexico, while allowing more parents to join the workforce.

That鈥檚 particularly true for essential workers like police officers and nurses, who often paid top-dollar prices for overnight or weekend childcare, Lujan Grisham added.

Meanwhile, quality childcare contributes to reduced family stress, calmer households, and long-term cognitive and academic benefits for kids.

While no-cost childcare for all families represents a major cost to the state, Mart铆nez said the policy will stick around 鈥� largely as a result of lawmakers being 鈥渞eally judicious鈥� in planning and setting up the program鈥檚 funding mechanisms.

鈥淎s long as I鈥檓 speaker, this is not one of those programs that are willy-nilly going to get axed by the whims of the political winds,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t took 16 years to get us here, and we will ensure that we deliver on that promise in perpetuity.鈥�

鈥榃e have to get it right鈥�

New Mexico will elect a new governor in November 鈥� and the next person to inhabit the state鈥檚 top office might not choose to prioritize early childhood education in the same way Lujan Grisham has.

Both Democrats in the governor鈥檚 race 鈥� former Congresswoman and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman 鈥� in recent interviews voiced their strong support for the state鈥檚 free, universal childcare initiative. They have promised, if elected, to keep it going, in addition to bolstering the state鈥檚 early childhood workforce through increased pay and expanded training programs.

When her child was young, Haaland said, childcare felt cost-prohibitive; she remembered hiring a babysitter just one time in her entire 鈥渓ife as a single mom.鈥� She said she mopped floors and cleaned bathrooms at an Albuquerque preschool cooperative to get a discount on her child鈥檚 tuition.

鈥淯niversal childcare would have changed my life,鈥� she said.

She described the state鈥檚 push toward a free, universal childcare system as a 鈥渨orthy investment鈥� that would create economic and educational opportunities for adults while improving academic outcomes for kids. Her affordability policy proposes cutting the red tape involved in revitalizing a disused storefront or building 鈥� including by turning it into a childcare center.

鈥淚t鈥檚 better for our economy. It鈥檚 better for our workforce. It鈥檚 better for our kids,鈥� Haaland said. 鈥淚 just think it would be a valuable asset for our state.鈥�

Haaland voiced her support for ensuring childcare workers have avenues for career advancement and better pay.

鈥淭hey deserve to make a sustainable living. … You can鈥檛 raise a child on minimum wage in New Mexico, so we absolutely need to do more to make sure that people can make sustainable wages,鈥� she said.

A father of three grown children, Bregman said his family pieced together childcare by counting on family members 鈥� particularly his wife 鈥� to watch the kids. With the introduction of the free, universal system, he said, 鈥渢imes have changed.鈥�

He argued quality early childhood education has the potential to yield long-term benefits for New Mexico children, who have long suffered from higher-than-average rates of poverty and lower-than-average academic performance.

If elected governor, Bregman promised to build on the promise of free childcare. He said he鈥檇 want to conduct a kind of census of the childcare industry to better understand workforce recruitment and retention strategies, quality improvement initiatives, and whether the state鈥檚 existing supply of childcare slots meets demand 鈥� including in rural and tribal communities.

鈥淲e have to get it right,鈥� Bregman said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e obviously spending a lot of money on it, but more importantly, we鈥檙e talking about the most important asset we have 鈥� our children.鈥�

GOP might 鈥榩eel back鈥� scope

Republicans running for governor, however, aren鈥檛 sold on the program.

Former Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull and Albuquerque businessman Doug Turner voiced similar concerns about free childcare for all. Both said they support childcare assistance for needy families, but they expressed concerns about the financial sustainability and fairness of a program in which families that can afford to pay for childcare don鈥檛 have to.

鈥淚 think the state has a role to play in helping people who need help 鈥� and I think it needs to be done in an intelligent way [to] make sure that the programs aren鈥檛 abused,鈥� Turner said.

He also noted the current workforce can鈥檛 meet the childcare demand. 鈥淲e have a gap that we can鈥檛 really close very quickly,鈥� he said.

If elected, Hull said, 鈥淢y first step as governor is going to be to immediately evaluate the viability and the long-term sustainability of the program. … If we need to peel back the scope of it in the short term until we figure it out, then we need to peel that back.鈥�

He said he plans to work with staff of the Legislative Finance Committee on an 鈥渋n-depth dive鈥� into the childcare supply and demand 鈥� and how the state plans to make up the difference between the two.

鈥淭his is going down a rabbit hole that can get out of control and be far more expensive than I think anybody ever thought it could be,鈥� Hull said.

Duke Rodriguez, another Republican seeking the seat, took his objections a step further: He filed a against Lujan Grisham, with an eye toward invalidating the rules of her universal childcare expansion.

Rodriguez, joined by state Sen. Steve Lanier, R-Aztec, and Sandoval County father Zachary Anaya in filing the lawsuit, argues Lujan Grisham鈥檚 executive branch essentially went about the universal childcare expansion in the wrong way by creating the regulations in November, several months before the Legislature voted to approve funding for the program.

Rodriguez also has raised concerns the true costs could come in far higher than the state鈥檚 projections 鈥� potentially billions of dollars 鈥� and New Mexico can鈥檛 rely on federal funding.

鈥淚t will be 100% borne by tax revenues and appropriated by the Legislature,鈥� he said.

鈥淲hatever program we ultimately adopt … has to be built to last, not built to simply sound good,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淚t would be terrible to make promises of access when the capacity is missing.鈥�

A state judge in the 2nd Judicial District Court ruled late last month in Rodriguez鈥檚 complaint that Lujan Grisham鈥檚 administration must pause the program or present an argument for why the initiative should not be permanently halted. A hearing on the matter is scheduled June 11.

Rodriguez called the ruling a victory.

Lujan Grisham, however, slammed Rodriguez in a statement on Facebook, calling him a 鈥渢hird-tier Republican candidate for governor鈥� and describing his complaint as 鈥渇rivolous鈥� and a 鈥渄espicable attempt to mislead New Mexico families and generate headlines for a campaign that is going nowhere.鈥�

She wrote, 鈥淯niversal child care is in effect and it is NOT being shut down, despite what this desperate candidate claims.鈥�

While Rodriguez expressed his support for assisting needy families, he said in an interview Lujan Grisham鈥檚 free, universal system 鈥渟ounds charming, but [is] probably unlawful.鈥�

鈥淚 think providing this kind of support for our New Mexico families is a truly valid aspirational goal,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut an aspirational goal should not be confused with unenforceable rules and regulations that would put providers at risk, that will put families at risk, and, most importantly, will put children at risk.鈥�

This first appeared on .

In 2025, one-third of states had a waitlist or a freeze on applications for childcare assistance for most families, through the Child Care and Development Block Grant, according to new data published in a from the National Women鈥檚 Law Center.听

The number of states with a waitlist or freeze had increased from the prior year 鈥� from 13 in 2024 to 17 in 2025. But perhaps more concerning, said Karen Schulman, the center鈥檚 senior director of state childcare policy, is the total number of children on those waitlists. 

Between February 2024 and February 2025, the number of children on state childcare waitlists nearly doubled, to 225,000, according to the NWLC, which collected data from state childcare administrators across the 50 states and Washington, D.C. 

Those waitlists only grew as the months wore on. By the second half of 2025, more than 400,000 children were on waitlists in those states, marking a 78% increase from February. In the months since the data was collected, at least five more states, plus Washington, D.C., have implemented waitlists, and two more began freezing intake, according to NWLC. 

鈥淎 range of factors are pulling at states,鈥� Schulman said, 鈥渟o you have more families needing help but a strain on resources that provide that help.鈥� 

Some states are struggling to adjust to the end of pandemic-era funding, the last of which in September 2024, and many states are trying to balance tight budgets while also planning ahead for federal funding cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, she explained. Meanwhile, rising costs have changed many families鈥� financial circumstances, and more may be seeking out assistance. 

Plus, Schulman said, some states have increased the reimbursement rates paid to providers in an attempt to get more of them to participate in the subsidy program; that has redirected some of the dedicated funds for the program.  

It鈥檚 not a surprise that the CCDBG program, which is the main source of federal support for families struggling to afford childcare, is failing to reach everyone who qualifies for it. As of this year, it is to be serving only about one in six of all eligible children, due to inadequate funding. 

While the 400,000 children on waitlists make up a small slice of the total population of eligible children, that number is significant because it represents the families who have expressed a need for the benefit and are being denied it or told it will be delayed, Schulman explained. She also noted that the number of families seeking help is very likely underestimated because of complexities with data tracking. California maintains waitlists at the local level, rather than at the state level; Colorado has waitlists in some counties and frozen intake in others; and Georgia, although it doesn鈥檛 use the term 鈥渇rozen intake,鈥� effectively has a freeze in place since it only serves families meeting priority criteria. 

Whether it鈥檚 a waitlist or a freeze, “There are tremendous impacts for a family who is waiting for assistance,鈥� Schulman said. 

While families are waiting for a childcare subsidy, they may have to stretch their budgets to pay for care out of pocket. That could mean putting off other bills, such as rent and utilities, or struggling to afford food. 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e just meeting their basic needs if they have to pay for childcare themselves,鈥� Schulman said. 鈥淭hey might have to patch together unstable arrangements that could fall apart at the last minute and put their job in jeopardy. They may not be able to go to work at all, which could put them in even greater financial straits.鈥�

All of these outcomes, she said, could have impacts on the family鈥檚 future financial, emotional and physical health. 

Meanwhile, early care and education programs in low-income areas, where many families rely on subsidies to afford childcare, may face another set of repercussions. They could end up cutting already-low staff wages, Schulman said, or go out of business, putting their enrolled families in a bind. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 just a ripple effect throughout the whole community, affecting the economy of the community, the workforce of the community, whole neighborhoods,鈥� Schulman said. 

Kim Kofron, executive director of early childhood education at Children at Risk, a Texas-based statewide advocacy organization, said that one of the challenges is that families who join a waitlist may incorrectly believe that they鈥檒l soon circulate off it. 

Anecdotally, Kofron said, she hears that waitlists in Texas are about two years long. (The state had more than 110,000 children on its waitlist as of February 2025, according to the NWLC.)

鈥淒o they patch together some type of childcare with neighbors and friends? Do they go to a subpar childcare program because that鈥檚 what they can afford? Or do they turn down the job because 鈥� it鈥檚 cheaper to not work and not pay for childcare?鈥� Kofron said, outlining the options for waitlisted families. 

She added: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of questions right now from providers of, 鈥業s it worth it? Is it worth taking subsidies when I can鈥檛 get more kids off the waitlist?鈥欌��

These outcomes are not theoretical for RB Fast, founder of Westwood Academy, an early care and education program in Denver. 

She remembers receiving an email in fall 2024 notifying her that one of the counties she serves was . (In Colorado, waiting lists and freezes are decided at the county level.)

鈥淚 really thought it would be a couple of months,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was not ready for it to be semi-permanent and extended the way it has been.鈥�

Soon, she learned that two more counties would also be implementing a freeze. 

Back then, Fast鈥檚 program, which is licensed for 30 slots, was fully enrolled. She estimates that about two-thirds of those families paid with subsidies. Today, her program is underenrolled, with 22 children, and only three of those families pay with subsidies 鈥� two got in before the freeze began and the third is a child living with a foster family who was granted a temporary subsidy. 

For the remaining families, some manage OK, but others scramble each month, sending panicked emails asking if they can pay late or use a friend鈥檚 credit card for this month鈥檚 tuition. 鈥淵ou can tell they鈥檙e juggling to try to get tuition paid,鈥� Fast said.

She has also seen firsthand the way some families pull together substandard childcare arrangements in the absence of public assistance. Fast knows of a family that had to start leaving their toddler with the great-grandmother while the parents go to work. 

鈥淚鈥檓 sure she loves that child very much 鈥� but at 80, are you in place to give an optimal environment to a 2-year-old?鈥� said Fast, noting the level of attention and activity a toddler requires. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about an inconvenience for one family or a handful of families,鈥� she said of the waitlists. 鈥淚t affects employers, extended families [and] children.鈥�

Fast is in the process of opening her second location, in a nearby suburb of Denver. That program will not be accepting childcare subsidies, she said. Nor will any future program she opens. 

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel worth it to me,鈥� she said. 

Despite having room to serve more children, Middletown day care owner Peggy Fuentes often has to turn away families in desperate need of care. Each of her toddler classrooms has 10 students 鈥� the state caps class sizes for that age group at 12 鈥� but to fill the remaining seats, she鈥檇 have to hire another employee. That鈥檚 because a decades-old state regulation says day care classrooms have to have one adult for every five children between 18 and 36 months old.

With operating costs climbing across the board, , Fuentes said it simply isn鈥檛 feasible to pay another salary to accommodate just two more children.

鈥淚 have an inventory of childcare spots that I鈥檓 reluctant to use because it is cost prohibitive,鈥� said Fuentes, owner of On My Way Early Learning and Childcare Center, which serves around 240 children under 13.

New York state has some of the strictest staffing requirements in the country 鈥� stricter, in fact, than New York City鈥檚. As state leaders allocate billions of dollars to address the childcare shortage in this year鈥檚 budget, a new state law could ease those requirements and unlock new day care seats at no additional cost to providers 鈥� but only if the state agency that oversees childcare decides to act on it.  

In December, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation eliminating a provision that has prohibited the state Office of Children and Family Services from relaxing childcare staffing ratios. The new law leaves it to the agency to actually change the ratios; if it did so, the same number of workers could care for more children.  

State Senator James Skoufis, who introduced the bill in 2024, told New York Focus that adjusting the ratios is 鈥渕ore critical than ever鈥� amid the state鈥檚 ongoing efforts to scale up its childcare sector and provide more affordable care to working parents.

Childcare advocates who oppose the change are concerned having the same number of staff supervising more children would increase the risk of accidents and injuries and fail to address a root cause of the state鈥檚 childcare crisis: low wages for workers.

Supporters counter that looser ratios are consistent with set by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a professional membership organization that promotes high-quality early childhood education, and that alignment with the group鈥檚 guidance would offer flexibility to providers who already operate with razor-thin profit margins.

So far, OCFS has not indicated whether it plans to update the regulations. In a statement provided to New York Focus, OCFS spokesperson Daniel Marans said the agency is 鈥渃urrently assessing the viability of the requested ratio change, with the goal of supporting childcare providers without compromising our commitment to child safety.鈥� The law does not impose a deadline for OCFS to make the switch.

More than 60 percent of New York鈥檚 census tracts are classified as a 鈥渃hildcare desert,鈥� meaning that there are three or more children under 5 waiting for every available slot, according to the . Meanwhile, more than 16,000 children are specifically as a result of staffing shortages that have led programs to operate under capacity. While that鈥檚 not necessarily related to staffing ratios, some think easing them could help address the shortage.

鈥淲e can provide more resources to counties and to providers all we want, but if we don鈥檛 provide the very common sense flexibility that these providers require in order to effectuate creating more seats, then the money is only going to go so far,鈥� said Skoufis.

Skoufis introduced the bill after providers, including Fuentes, expressed their frustrations to lawmakers over being held to tougher ratios than their counterparts in New York City, where staffing requirements are set by the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Day care providers in the five boroughs must have one staff member for every five children between 12 and 18 months and one for every six children who are 2 years old. In the rest of the state, it鈥檚 1鈥�4 and 1鈥�5, respectively. The discrepancies are even wider for older children.

Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, who sponsored the bill, believes aligning ratios with New York City could help thousands of those families access a seat without burdening providers or taxpayers with additional costs.

鈥淐hildcare providers are operating on such slim margins that they frequently worry about going out of business,鈥� Hevesi said. 鈥淲e were looking for a way to give them some breathing room in an incredibly difficult climate without costing anybody any money.鈥�

Dede Hill, vice president of policy at the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, a social policy and advocacy organization, has a different perspective. 鈥淥ne thing that makes childcare in New York state so high quality is because we have low ratios 鈥� and that鈥檚 certainly not something we want to step away from,鈥� she said. Hill is a member of the Empire State Campaign for Child Care, which advocates for universal childcare.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think staffing ratios are the solution to the tremendous issues we have related to supply,鈥� said Hill. The key is more investment in the workforce, including higher pay for childcare workers, she said.

One reason providers are facing significant financial strain is that the state鈥檚 reimbursement level for its , which covers nearly all of the cost of childcare for low- and middle-income families, isn鈥檛 enough to provide high quality care, Hill said. With providers forced to absorb the shortfall, many are unable to offer adequate wages: In 2025, the annual average salary for childcare workers in New York , lower than 96 percent of other jobs.

Fuentes, who has owned her day care center in Orange County for 17 years, said she currently has to choose between raising tuition for all children in order to pay another employee and waitlisting families even though there is ample space to serve them. If OCFS chose to align statewide staffing ratios with New York City, she said, she could enroll around 15 more children without hiring additional staff.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a childcare crisis in New York,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f we can鈥檛 use our full supply of seats, then that crisis is just going to continue.鈥�

For Heidi-Jo Brandt, president of a union representing more than 8,800 providers outside New York City, the flexibility doesn鈥檛 seem worth it. Some revisions to standards may be appropriate, such as the current 1鈥�2 ratio for children under 2 in home-based care, she said, but a broader relaxing of staffing ratios could put children at risk. Research shows inadequate supervision is the main cause of injuries in childcare settings, including , , and from bottle warmers.

鈥淲hile it could have a tremendous impact statewide, our concern is always for the safety of children,鈥� said Brandt.

Some research indicates that high staff-to-child ratios and smaller group sizes are critical for children鈥檚 health, safety, and development, but data on the safety outcome of ratios like New York City鈥檚 is limited.

In recent years, as the childcare industry has reeled from a pandemic-driven dip in enrollment and rise in operating costs, have proposed loosening their childcare staffing ratios, increasing maximum group sizes, and relaxing other regulations to meet demand. Many states set ratios based on guidance from the National Association for the Education of Young Children; New York City鈥檚 ratios are roughly in line with the group鈥檚 recommendations.

Meanwhile, New York state has some of the most stringent ratios nationwide. It is that uses the restrictive ratios recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association for 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. Even New York City鈥檚 staffing ratios remain stricter than those in many other states.

Skoufis first introduced the bill after then-OCFS Commissioner Suzanne Miles-Gustave informed him that aligning statewide ratios with New York City would require legislation. At the time, he said, OCFS officials 鈥渕ade it crystal clear鈥� they wanted to pursue the changes, though he鈥檚 less clear on their position today.

In a January letter to current OCFS Commissioner DaMia Harris-Madden, Skoufis argued that it is 鈥渇inancially unreasonable鈥� to require a 1鈥�5 staff-to-child ratio for 18- to 36-month-olds with a maximum group size of 12.

Hevesi said that he believes the agency should 鈥渁ct sooner rather than later鈥� given the potential benefits.

鈥淢y instinct is that there鈥檚 going to be support to look at this and see what鈥檚 appropriate 鈥� but my role was just to take the handcuffs off and now they are free to do whatever they feel is appropriate,鈥� he said.

Buffalo day care owner Emily Thrasher pointed out that New York City and state regulations differ on other aspects of childcare: The city also has more lenient classroom space requirements than the rest of the state, as well as different age group definitions that determine other regulations. For example, New York City defines a toddler as a child between 12 and 24 months old, while New York state鈥檚 definition is 18 to 36 months.

Thrasher said full alignment with New York City鈥檚 standards would allow her small business to generate hundreds of thousands of additional dollars annually. That, in turn, would enable her to serve more families.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 even imagine how much that would compound for larger day care centers,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e could help more families, open more slots, pay our staff more. 鈥� The changes seem small, but it would make the biggest difference.鈥�

This story originally appeared in , a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. .

Effective July 13, the Administration for Children and Families will several Biden-era that sought to create more predictable, reliable payments to childcare providers. These include paying providers based on a child鈥檚 enrollment, rather than their attendance, which protects them against financial losses from unplanned events such as illness and family travel, as well as making subsidy payments in advance, rather than reimbursing providers the following month.

Both practices help to stabilize the industry by giving programs consistent revenue that allow them to plan and budget month over month, providers and experts said. 

Although the requirements will be rescinded, states will still have the option to pay based on enrollment and in advance of services 鈥� just as families who pay privately for child care have long done. There is nothing in the new rules to prevent states from continuing or starting those payment practices, noted Helene Stebbins, executive director of the Alliance for Early Success, a nonprofit that supports early childhood advocates across the 50 states. 

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 require it, but it doesn鈥檛 prevent it from happening,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can 100% still do it.鈥�

But without the requirement, it鈥檚 likely that some states will reverse course. Already, three states 鈥� , Ohio and 鈥� have paused efforts to implement or extend enrollment-based pay, noted Daniel Hains, chief policy and professional advancement officer at the National Association for the Education of Young Children. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things that, absent that requirement, and given the fiscal situation states are in, states are not going to prioritize these changes if they’re not required to,鈥� said Hains, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 going to have a negative impact on providers and, ultimately, families.鈥�

Currently, about now pay providers based on enrollment, according to an analysis from the First Five Years Fund that was published in March, while the other half still pay based on attendance. At least 10 states are paying providers up front for childcare subsidies, rather than in arrears, according to policy tracking from NAEYC. 

The particulars of how and when a provider gets paid can seem like a technicality, but to an early care and education program operator, that may be the difference between financial solvency and ruin. 

The administration first announced these proposed rule changes in early January, before opening up the issue to public comments. NAEYC included more than a dozen provider voices in its to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees ACF.

A program director in Louisiana explained why the Biden-era policies help to keep her in business.

鈥淒uring cold and flu season, if childcare providers were only paid based on attendance rather than enrollment, many of us simply would not survive the winter,鈥� the director wrote. 鈥淢ost of our families have multiple children, and when one child gets sick, it often spreads through the entire household. Enrollment-based pay is the only model that reflects the real cost of maintaining stable staffing, ratios, and operations.鈥�

A program director in Kansas wrote, 鈥淐hildcare is a tough job. Providers don’t need any additional obstacles. 鈥� Having to wait for reimbursement for a month or more can have a significant impact on a provider’s financial well-being in their program.鈥�

And a director in Maine pointed out that a child whose spot is funded by subsidies should not be treated any differently than one from a family who is paying private tuition. 鈥淲e cannot predict attendance,鈥� she wrote. 

The Maine director鈥檚 point is one that motivated the Biden administration鈥檚 2024 rules, Hains said. The in 1990 establishing the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which authorizes the CCDF, sought to have states鈥� subsidy payment practices 鈥渞eflect generally accepted payment practices of childcare providers鈥� who receive payments privately from families, to maximize choices among low-income families seeking care, Hains explained. The Biden rules to get states back in compliance with that original intent. 

Stebbins, of the Alliance for Early Success, said she couldn鈥檛 think of a single other industry that operates in the way that early care and education does. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 Business 101,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 paid for two kids in childcare. I always paid in advance. I paid if they were sick or we went on vacation. Why is this such a big leap?鈥�

Now that this issue is being returned to the states, she said, it鈥檚 on policy advocates and the early childhood community to help make the case to state leaders why enrollment-based pay and prospective pay are so essential. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 good for the field 鈥� because it creates a stable, predictable source of income, and it is aligned with how private pay works in the industry,鈥� Stebbins explained, laying out the argument. 鈥淚t treats kids who are on subsidy 鈥� low-income children 鈥� just like everybody else.鈥� 

Those outcomes, she added, have ripple effects across communities and entire states. 

鈥淎 stable industry is good for the kids and the programs. There鈥檚 less turnover and uncertainty about income,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for the state economy because it allows parents to work.鈥�

On the other hand, attendance-based payments may disincentivize programs from accepting families who pay with subsidies altogether, said Casey Peeks, senior director for early childhood policy at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. 

The enrollment-based pay and prospective pay are only two of the 鈥渇our critical levers to improving the sector鈥� that the Trump administration is rolling back, Peeks said. The third is the use of grants and contracts to provide direct childcare services, which allow states to enter into agreements with providers to reserve slots for certain populations of children. The reversal of that practice may mean that some families, particularly those with infants and children with disabilities, could have more trouble finding slots for their child. And the final lever is capping the maximum amount a family can pay out-of-pocket for childcare, which the Biden-era rule set to 7% of household income, based on federal affordability standards. 

The co-pay limit isn鈥檛 perfect, Peeks acknowledged, but 鈥渋t gives this peace of mind to know how much you鈥檙e going to pay,鈥� she said. 

In Ohio, one of the that has not yet capped co-pays at 7%, the limit is 27% of income, which can be crushing for some families. 

鈥淚 think knowing how much of a burden this [childcare] expense is 鈥� it rivals mortgage payments and rent payments 鈥� to take away a lever that exists for affordability and offer no alternatives puts families who are already struggling in a really difficult spot,鈥� Peeks said.

Nancy Burnside has devoted three decades to caring for children. At age 46, she jokes that she tried to leave the industry several times to pursue careers in retail and event planning, but she always came back to early childhood education.听

In 2015, Burnside returned to her home state from Georgia and reopened her parents鈥� Kosciusko childcare center, now called 3 Steps Daycare. She knew running the family business would be more of a passion than a lucrative job, but she never imagined things would be so hard. 

鈥淢y mom worked 16-hour days,鈥� Burnside said. 鈥淚 grew up in this industry 鈥� But this is the worst I鈥檝e seen it.鈥�

Over the last year, 75 of the 200 children attending her daycare dropped out. Those kids were all on the state鈥檚 voucher program, which helps low-income families access childcare that makes working possible. Burnside is losing $28,000 a month, hasn鈥檛 taken a salary in two years and is providing free care for five children whose families cannot pay, as well as discounted care for an additional seven children. 

Burnside鈥檚 center is suffering like 89% of centers recently from the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. One year after the state ran out of pandemic-era funds that propped up a fragile system, hundreds of childcare providers across Mississippi struggle to stay open while thousands of parents remain on a waiting list for vouchers. Last year saw the greatest number of closures in nearly a decade, as .  

Out of 229 centers surveyed in the report, more than half reported having to terminate staff as a result of the pause, and nearly half reported caring for children whose parents weren鈥檛 paying. 

鈥淲hen you walk through, everybody says, 鈥榊our building is full.鈥� I know it鈥檚 full 鈥� that鈥檚 because I鈥檓 not charging,鈥� Burnside said. 

Despite and advocates, the Mississippi Legislature failed to allocate any money toward the state鈥檚 childcare voucher program. 

If the state doesn鈥檛 put up money for the program, centers will continue to close.

Burnside can鈥檛 fathom why Mississippi doesn鈥檛 prioritize early childhood education, especially in a crisis of this magnitude. She said there is a misconception that her work is babysitting. She said she has only ever thought of her center as a learning institution. It鈥檚 where children master life skills as simple as tying their shoes and as fundamental as making their first friends. 

鈥淭his is where they start,鈥� Burnside said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anything else more important.鈥�

Darren Brewer, a single father born and raised in Kosciusko, knows firsthand the importance of quality childcare. Brewer pays out of pocket for the care his 2-year-old daughter receives at Burnside鈥檚 center, but he believes he may qualify for vouchers now that his family is down to one income. He hopes to apply once the waiting list is resolved. Brewer applauds the center鈥檚 staff for recognizing early symptoms of ADHD and autism in his son, now 5, and for referring him to further testing. 

鈥淚t helped us with the doctors to know what to do and all that,鈥� Brewer said. 

Brewer recognizes the importance of that early intervention, along with the countless birthday parties, graduations and everyday acts of love that have taken place at the center. 

鈥淢s. Nancy helps more people out than anybody in this town,鈥� Brewer said. 

A potential solution that could be 鈥榟uge鈥�

Mississippi鈥檚 parents and childcare providers have one last hope for restoring money to the voucher program 鈥� a funding model that advocates proposed last year. That model would put unused money from the federal program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families toward the childcare voucher program. 

The Mississippi Department of Human Services is the agency overseeing the voucher program. For months, officials there said it was not possible to use more TANF money than the state already devoted to childcare. Currently, Mississippi transfers the maximum 30% of TANF funds to the state-run voucher program. 

However, advocates have pointed to other states that have legitimately and successfully transferred additional money by creating a revenue stream that utilizes TANF funds separate from the 30% limit. 

In January, department officials and said they were 鈥渆xploring鈥� the funding model. 

Now, Mark Jones, chief communications officer at MDHS, says the agency is finalizing a plan to use advocates鈥� model. The department has not made an official announcement. Jones would not say how much money his department would allocate or how many families the additional money would serve. 

Jones estimates that $60 million is needed to resolve the waiting list. Before the Legislature decided against it, lawmakers to the voucher program. Advocates say that while any amount will help, families and educators will continue to suffer if the state doesn鈥檛 put up the full amount. 

鈥淎s long as we have that waiting list, we know that children, working parents and providers are going to continue to struggle,鈥� said Matt Williams, director of research at the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. 

Still, Williams believes any allocation of money through this new TANF model would help establish the framework for the state to access more funds for the voucher program in the future. He said the implementation of this funding model would be a 鈥渉uge, positive development.鈥�

At the height of the crisis, the department reported a waiting list of 20,000 families. On April 22, Jones amended that number, saying it included duplicates and that there are currently 9,400 families waiting for vouchers. 

Even when the system is not in crisis, it is a far cry from reaching all the people for whom it was designed. Many families don鈥檛 know they qualify, or they may fall off the program due to red tape. 

Experts in Mississippi do not have solid estimates about how many eligible families go without care. But across the country, the voucher program eligible families, leaving far more without needed help in covering childcare costs. 

Meanwhile, Burnside doesn鈥檛 think she can make it past January if the families she works with don鈥檛 regain lost vouchers. She knows that closing would be an enormous loss for her community, where her center has been a lifeline for generations.  

Today, she serves many of the children of Kosciusko natives who attended the center when her parents owned it. She鈥檚 watched parents dropping off their kids become grandparents dropping off their grandkids. 

鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥業 bet you didn鈥檛 think you would never come back on this road,鈥欌�� Burnside laughed. 鈥淏ut they do.鈥�

If her business is forced to shut down, she does not know where those caregivers will go to continue working and supporting their families.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

But now, in the wake of a new focus among Ohio lawmakers on supposed fraud in the state鈥檚 childcare system, they are on the verge of ditching the idea altogether. A under consideration would require providers to be paid based on attendance rather than enrollment as they are by parents who pay out of pocket.

In December, conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video claiming to uncover widespread fraud in Minnesota鈥檚 childcare program, particularly among daycare centers run by Somali American residents. The video went viral and reached federal officials, and the Trump administration cited it as motivation to pursue an and various efforts to restrict federal childcare funding. Despite the video offering no verified evidence of fraud 鈥� and the fact that the state was several cases of fraud in its childcare system 鈥� some states have responded by intensifying their focus on supposed fraud. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott agencies to launch investigations into childcare fraud, while Idaho鈥檚 Department of Health and Welfare heightened reviews of funding. (The reviews found of providers guilty of any wrongdoing.)

Shirley鈥檚 video sparked an immediate reaction in Ohio, according to Tamara Lunan, a childcare organizer with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. The state has the Somali American population, just behind Minnesota. in Columbus, Ohio claimed centers were receiving public funding for nonexistent children even though evidence at least two of those claims. According to the at The Ohio State University, just 0.43% of all the providers who accept vouchers through the state鈥檚 publicly funded childcare program were found to be misusing funds in 2025. In a of 124 complaints sent to the state鈥檚 Department of Children and Youth last year, the agency found no evidence of fraud in 100 of them.

In January, Ohio lawmakers two proposals 鈥� House Bills 647 and 649 鈥� they said were aimed at combatting fraud in the state鈥檚 publicly funded childcare system.  

Marquita McClendon, who has operated a childcare program in Cincinnati since 2023, acknowledged that fraud exists. 鈥淏ut I feel like the systems that we already have in place already do the job necessary,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e changing laws over an unsubstantiated claim. It鈥檚 just beyond me.鈥�

The state made some changes ahead of implementing the new enrollment-based payment system that have led to sacrifices for providers. It a requirement for counties to use presumptive eligibility, which allows families to receive childcare vouchers if they already qualify for another program like food stamps, and allows parents to enroll immediately once they get a new job, rather than waiting weeks for their paperwork to be approved. Some providers accept children into their programs during that interim period anyway, Lunan said, but often aren鈥檛 paid for all of that time. The state also reimbursement rates for some types of in-home providers and increased the threshold for children to qualify as full time, which allows providers to be reimbursed at a higher rate. 

鈥淭here were things taken away from us,鈥� McClendon pointed out. With those reductions, she鈥檚 making $10,000 less each month, she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in the red.鈥� The loss of revenue has meant she can鈥檛 buy new equipment for the children in her care or do field trips this summer as she normally would. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 run an effective program,鈥� she said.

If providers were paid based on enrollment, it would help them weather children鈥檚 absences for illness or snowstorms, 鈥渢hings that providers can鈥檛 possibly be able to plan for when they鈥檙e making their budgets,鈥� Lunan said. It 鈥渨ould help to stabilize the programs.鈥� Instead, 鈥淧roviders are hemorrhaging income based on these changes,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 killing their bottom line.鈥�

Reversing the decision to pay based on enrollment is just one of the changes included in the legislative proposals Ohio lawmakers have put forward in the name of fighting fraud this year. Some others have since been toned down or removed. initially that would have given the state鈥檚 Department of Children and Youth the power to cut off funding or suspend a license for any provider merely suspected of fraud, waste or misuse of dollars without a hearing. That language has since from the bill; now those actions can be taken if 鈥渆vidence demonstrates鈥� that a provider knowingly engaged in fraud or misuse of funds. But providers remain concerned about lawmakers giving the attorney general more power to prosecute perceived fraud, which in the bill. 

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to see childcare providers get penalized because the state made an overpayment to them,鈥� Lunan said. Both overpayments and underpayments are included when states calculate their payment error rates, and those can be due to the state government鈥檚 error, not providers acting with ill intent. Her organization is pushing for the state to create a committee made up of childcare providers that could distinguish between clerical errors and actual, intentional fraud. 

The original proposal for , introduced by Republican lawmaker Josh Williams, would have mandated the installation of cameras in all childcare programs that receive government funding to 鈥渁llow visual inspections in real time,鈥� . It would have given the Department of Children and Youth the ability to view the footage at any time. McClendon pointed out that she has diaper changing stations in her classrooms. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way to protect my children鈥檚 privacy,鈥� she said, calling the idea 鈥渁 bit extreme.鈥�

While that idea has since been abandoned, lawmakers have adjusted the bill to facial recognition for children who attend programs that receive public funding. Such technology won鈥檛 work on young children, particularly infants, given how rapidly their faces are developing and changing, McClendon and Lunan pointed out. McClendon also noted the challenge of keeping kids still long enough to take a photograph. Lunan pointed out that there is already an existing mandate for programs to have an attendance system in place that takes pictures of parents when they sign children in.

An made to that bill the storing of photos of the children. But many parents are still opposed, Lunan said: a against mandating facial recognition has been signed by nearly 900 people. 

Lawmakers are also reducing the time given for allowing a child to be checked in retroactively, if their attendance was originally missed, from 30 days to seven. 鈥淭hat would be a tremendous hardship,鈥� Lunan said, on both providers and the parents who are the ones who have to go into the system and fix the problem.  

The legislation calls for spending up to over two years on data analytics to detect patterns of fraud or abuse. The facial recognition proposal alone would be 鈥渆xpensive for the state and providers, diverting scarce public dollars and provider time away from care itself and toward unnecessary surveillance infrastructure,鈥� said Ali Smith, senior project coordinator at Policy Matters Ohio, . Lunan agreed. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need funds to come out of childcare,鈥� she said. What Ohio childcare providers need instead, she said, is more funding, not less. 鈥淧roviders are not defrauding the system. They are barely breaking even 鈥� most providers are in the red,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he conversation really needs to shift from fraud to funding.鈥�

The anti-fraud bills 鈥渨ould just destabilize childcare, or destabilize it further, because it鈥檚 already unstable,鈥� Lunan said. 

New Mexico has recently launched the United States鈥� first model, followed by Vermont and that are working to build capacity to support similar systems.

A national spotlight has also been cast on New York City鈥檚 efforts after promises on the campaign trail from Mayor Zohran Mamdani to expand free care for children as by the end of his term in late 2029.

The conversation is growing at several different levels, with some states focusing on pre-K access and others looking into providing care even earlier. But, most are grappling with major roadblocks in scaling larger 鈥� and universal 鈥� initiatives, including questions on funding models and accountability.

Shael Polakow-Suransky, a former chief academic officer at the New York City Department of Education, and the current president of Bank Street College of Education, spoke with 社区黑料 about childcare trends and what it鈥檒l look like to create higher quality programs as states look to expand access.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

To kick off our conversation with the idea that there is a lot of movement around early childcare right now and accessibility to it, what are we seeing across the country and what are states investing in or considering legislation around?

We’re not getting any help right now from the federal government. During the Biden administration, it was the opposite. There were federal funds flowing to states specifically to do this work, and that’s part of how you got some really interesting, innovative stuff happening in states not that long ago.

Vermont is one of, I think, only two states now that have a really strong program to for early educators. Kentucky guaranteed for childcare workers that their own children or deeply subsidized care. 

New Mexico is one of the most interesting examples right now because in November 2025, they launched universal childcare. 

One of the things that is striking about their strategy is that they created a dedicated permanent revenue stream for it, 鈥� so it’s not conditioned on the federal government being able to support it, or an annual tax appropriation. That makes it stable in a way that’s unusual. They have also specifically said that competitive educator compensation is a goal which is really different.

D.C. is the other place that has done something similar to this. In 2018, they created a that had an explicit call around pay parity [for early care workers], and it gave people initial one time payments [up to $14,000]. Then, they created a salary scale based on educational attainment. They were also trying to push people to get the training that they needed to deliver at a high quality, and during the phase of that project, the employment in the sector grew by 7% and retention rose to over two thirds.

In most places, including New York City, early childhood folks鈥� turnover is five times the rate of what you see in K-12 settings. That turnover is a function of the low wages and and sometimes the lack of training as well, because if you’re not doing well in your job, you don’t want to stay in it.

In New York, a lot of our workforce is actually in poverty. More than half of New York’s early educators are relying on public assistance. We have more than 16,000 children statewide who can’t be served because of vacant positions and this is where we actually have state funding for childcare seats, but we don’t have people to fill those positions. So I think those models of D.C. and New Mexico are really worth looking at other states.

What about missed opportunities that aren’t being considered when lawmakers are drafting legislation or proposing new funding?

When you think about elected officials and who they’re accountable to, the most clear promise you can make is X number of seats for X communities. 

We’re going to have for 2-year-olds in New York City, 鈥� that is the thing that will stick in the minds of the public. That other layer, on quality, is harder to boil down into a sound bite.

When you create access, you could create a system that actually does damage if you don’t have quality. Quality is defined by what are the adults able to do with children once they have this time with them? We want it to be something that has real educational impacts, 鈥� and taking advantage of this incredible moment of brain development where 90% of your brain architecture is built by the time you turn 5.

What does high quality care look like? What are signs for parents to look for?

A quality learning environment for early childcare allows kids to move around freely and explore and interact with each other and with adults and the materials that are in the space, whether it’s blocks, or art supplies, or a dress up area, or a water or sand table.

In low-quality settings, a lot of times what’s happening is kids are in some way, physically restrained from moving, and this is done in the name of safety. In that low-quality setting, you don鈥檛 have enough adults, the physical layout of the space isn’t totally safe for a toddler to be wandering around and the kinds of things that are going to be interesting for that toddler to pick up and stick in their mouth are not available.

In a low-quality environment, that child is maybe sitting in a high chair or in a playpen, and there’s an iPad going that they’re looking at which is not able to interact with them and is not supporting that development. You may be keeping the child physically safe, but if they aren’t able to interact and move, their brain development is not going to progress the way it needs to.

You want to set up the physical space, and you want to have the staffing to support that flexible movement and exploration, because that is how our brains develop 鈥� through those types of interactions with people and with materials. If the person is so stressed, either because their own life is so stressful because they’re not able to make ends meet and or their work environment is so stressful because they’re understaffed and working really long hours, that connection is lost.

When we talk about opening seats across the country, what are the odds that these seats are going to be low quality care programs?

There’s been research done over the years that has looked at the quality of early childhood settings and in general, that number of really good settings are like 20 to 30% of what we have. That doesn’t mean that the other 70% are low quality 鈥� it’s a spectrum. My guess is probably only 10%, maybe 15%, fall into that low quality bucket, but there’s a lot in between that high quality and low quality that needs work.

How can states and lawmakers take more accountability when they are considering opening more spots up to ensure that it is leaning toward the highest level of care for the youngest kids, especially developmentally?

Building a living wage is the most important thing because that brings people into the workforce. It encourages people to stay in the workforce. And as people stay, they develop experience and relationships with children. You can’t do that without training. So that’s the other big piece of this, what are we doing to train people well?

From birth to 3, there’s not a requirement anywhere in the country that you have to have a teaching license to teach at that level and there can’t be that requirement given the current compensation structure. So then, what is the requirement? If you’re not going to ask people to have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree, 鈥� how do you provide them with training and support that will enable them to accelerate learning and development for children?

The goal is that you build in the resources for professional development for the existing folks who are already in the field, and then resources for people to get trained as they enter the workforce as well. 

I’ll give you one example. Bank Street has partnered with New York City during the pre-K initiative because the state actually does require a master’s degree for pre-K teachers here and that’s a relatively new requirement, so there are a lot of teachers who were working before that requirement went into place, and are now out of compliance with that law.

The city asked us at Bank Street to design something specifically for that group that would be attuned to the fact that they already have lots of knowledge and skills and they don’t need to start from the beginning. 

We created something called the Advanced Standing Program, which is a mastery based program for teachers who are already pretty experienced, and so they can do it much more quickly than a normal master’s degree. They get credit for their experience, so the cost is lower, and it’s historically been paid for partially by the city or by nonprofits where the folks are working. 

So, creating those kinds of programs that are really responsive to the real needs of folks in this workforce, as opposed to a compliance requirement that pushes a lot of people away.

There’s some examples now of universal childcare, but in most states, it is pretty limited to low-income families or at a pre-K level. So, when we’re talking about this quality issue, I want to get into equity also. Childcare programs may be getting some of the highest needs students. How does the issue of quality play a role in development and readiness by the time these students enter the K-12 system? 

The achievement gap that we see in K-12 schools between wealthy and low-income students 鈥� which is usually like a 20 or 30 point spread in achievement when you look at third grade or eighth grade test scores or high school graduation rates 鈥� is visible beginning at 18 months.

If you study toddlers, the same exact graph shows up between upper-income and low-income children. So why is that? 

We know that’s exactly that moment where language development is happening in the brain, and so if a child is sitting in front of a TV all day by themselves, or iPad or and no one’s talking to them, no one’s interacting with them, then they’re going to be really low scoring around that language development.

There’s not much that’s different between upper income and lower income children except for the fact that upper income families have much more access to quality care. If we can provide that quality care across the income spectrum, there’s a shot at closing those achievement gaps later on.

We’ve talked about New York City a little bit, and I know through several decades, there’s been a push and pull around expanding this early childhood care access under each mayor. Can you talk a little bit about the history of what New York City has tried, what’s new now under Mamdani’s proposal and whether that will be effective or not?

One of my big regrets, I was senior deputy chancellor under Mayor [Mike] Bloomberg for his third term in office, and it was around that time that we started to expand pre-K, but it was a very modest expansion. As someone who came up as an educator in middle schools and high schools, I didn’t really know what I know now about the power of early childhood. I don’t think any of us at the DOE in those days, other than folks working in the early childhood division who weren’t at the decision making table, understood how powerful the impact on educational equity is if you invest in early childhood. 

It took Mayor [Bill] de Blasio making the pre-K commitment as part of his first mayoral campaign to make that the focus for the Department of Education and for the city as a whole. They added 60,000 new seats in pre-K, then expanded pre-K as well in the second term. 

Mayor [Eric] Adams made lots of promises about working on this but really didn’t move the ball. 

What Mayor [Mamdani] campaigned on is that there’ll be free childcare for kids from birth to 5. It鈥檚 beginning with expanding the number of seats for 3-year-olds and expanding 2-year-olds. It鈥檚 a fairly modest expansion in this first year, and I think the question that will face the mayor over the rest of this term is how do you get to that larger goal where everyone has access and and how do you do it in a way that pairs access with quality? 

I think they’re off to a good start.

I want to pose the question you said Mamdani鈥檚 team will have to answer. How do states lead large scale expansion and ensure quality as they try to expand to everyone?

One of the lessons that we learned from the pre-K expansion is that you need to pay attention to the existing ecosystem and not lose capacity as you build capacity. 

One of the downsides of the pre-K expansion during de Blasio’s term was that they put a lot of the seats into public elementary schools, and the teachers became part of the UFT. They got regular salary the same way any K-12 teacher, which is great, but then the nonprofits that were running childcare programs as part of the initiative didn’t have the funding to match those salaries, and so a lot of people left the nonprofit daycare centers 鈥� and even worse, family childcare, which are small businesses run out of people’s homes that usually serve children birth to 5, were not initially included in the strategy.

We actually saw a loss of childcare seats in the birth to 3 space when some of those folks went out of business. 

I think part of the solution this time around, particularly because we’re working with younger children, is how do you support family childcare as part of this? How do you help improve the quality and the economic viability of that? 

Last question just to wrap us up. What you had talked about during your time at the NYC Department of Education with not paying attention to childcare, I think is something that was universal for lawmakers early on too. This conversation has really picked up in the last five years or so. How likely is it to continue seeing such acceleration in this movement?

I think one of the interesting things about childcare is it’s a bipartisan issue in most places in the country. 

The governor of Ohio, a Republican governor, has done massive investments in early childhood. Nebraska, Louisiana, lots of red states have really prioritized this, and the reason why is that more than three quarters of families have both parents in the workforce, so people need childcare. They need a place for their children to be. They need to be able to afford it, and they want it to be safe, and they want their children to be learning.听

From an educational equity standpoint, we need that quality in order to sort of solve our broader problems in terms of achievement gaps in our school system. 

We haven’t seen as much investment in the second Trump administration, but the first Trump administration actually saw the biggest increase in early childhood funding since the Clinton administration. Biden went even further. Those were both a Republican president and a Democratic president actively investing in this. We have Republican governors and Democratic governors actively investing in this.

This is something that really speaks to people, and so I think for that reason, we are going to continue to see new public funding flow to this. It may not come as fast as I would hope, but we’re on the trajectory in the right direction.

That began to change in 2022, when Kentucky became the first state in the country to roll out an initiative making most early childhood educators automatically eligible for childcare subsidies. 

Novel at the time, this program 鈥� which, in effect, provides free childcare to early childhood educators in licensed programs through an expansion of the state鈥檚 Child Care Assistance Program 鈥� caught the attention of leaders in dozens of other states and has been replicated widely in the years since. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just happening in one type of state,鈥� said Diane Girouard, state policy director at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a nonprofit that advocates for high-quality early learning experiences. 鈥淚t鈥檚 happening in [states] big and small; blue, red and purple; rural and non-rural. States are just seeing that it鈥檚 working. It鈥檚 unique. It鈥檚 a really good workplace benefit.鈥�

The idea to make early educators automatically eligible for childcare assistance was conceived as a strategy to help recruit and retain early childhood educators in the wake of the pandemic. By 2022, many families needed childcare to return to a normal work schedule but often couldn鈥檛 find spots for their children because early care and education programs were so severely understaffed, leaving slots unfilled and entire classrooms vacant. 

The model was so successful in Kentucky that other states took notice and began to fund their own versions of an effort to provide childcare assistance to early childhood educators, primarily through pilot programs. More recently, some states have even moved to make the program permanent. 

Last month, both and enacted laws making most early childhood educators automatically eligible for childcare assistance. Iowa鈥檚 governor signed a bill on April 9, while Kentucky鈥檚 program was made permanent a few days later, on April 14. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e psyched,鈥� said Sarah Vanover, director of policy and advocacy at Kentucky Youth Advocates and one of the champions of this program in the Bluegrass State. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e known for being frugal and conservative with money,鈥� Vanover said of Kentucky鈥檚 legislature, which is overwhelmingly Republican. 鈥淎nd yet this is something we鈥檙e investing in. When you have that dialogue with [program] directors, they鈥檒l tell you they have been able to open classrooms and keep staff.鈥�

The reason states have continued to invest in this type of program, Vanover and other state leaders shared in interviews, is because it works. By delivering free or discounted childcare to early educators 鈥� many of whom have jobs with low wages and few, if any, benefits 鈥� several states have seen workers who are more willing to stay in their jobs. And some educators who had left the workforce to stay home with their young children are finding it鈥檚 just enough of an edge to lure them back into their teaching positions, surveys and program directors have shared.

Since 2022, leaders from 38 other states have reached out to Vanover about the model, she said. Many of those leaders have gone on to pursue some form of the program. At least a dozen states, including , , , and , currently have at least a pilot program in place providing childcare assistance to early childhood educators. Two others, New Jersey and West Virginia, have introduced related bills. is the only state known to have initially offered and then ended this type of program, and in that case, it was the result of a severe budget deficit, Girouard said. 

While the model has spread, no two initiatives are exactly alike, Girouard added.  

Kentucky and Iowa, for example, make this benefit available to early childhood educators regardless of income, while most other states only have enough funding to increase the income threshold above what is available to all families in their states. In Rhode Island, for instance, the state鈥檚 childcare subsidy program is available to all families with an income less than 261% of the federal poverty level. For , that income cap increases slightly, to 300%. 

And Kentucky鈥檚 program includes any staff member working in a center-based early care and education program 鈥� from teachers to administrators, cooks to early intervention specialists. 

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 run a childcare program without the assistant teachers, without the nutrition staff, without the administrators,鈥� Vanover said. 鈥淚f you’re looking at doing this without the other staff, you鈥檙e going to have teachers get shuffled around. It鈥檚 essential for the whole program to take advantage of it 鈥� every employee.鈥�

Meanwhile, a in Maine 鈥� called the 鈥渃hildcare employment award鈥� 鈥� has emerged as unique in a couple of ways. 

Maine鈥檚 program provides at least a 50% discount on childcare for early childhood educators, according to Heather Marden, co-executive director of the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children, a state affiliate of NAEYC. For staff who were already eligible for childcare subsidies before the pilot, the state also covers the cost of their co-pays, which can run anywhere from $3,000 to $8,000 a year, Marden said.

Importantly, Maine鈥檚 program is distinct in that it allows home-based childcare providers 鈥� a group often left out of this benefit 鈥� to participate. (The legislation that made Kentucky鈥檚 program permanent also allows home-based providers to use the benefit for the first time.)

A recent of Maine鈥檚 pilot program found that it has had a positive impact on workforce retention, noting that nearly every participant was considering leaving the field before receiving the award.

Moreover, the report found, many of those participants were weighing whether to leave the workforce altogether to stay home with their children, rather than looking for jobs in other fields. The discounted childcare has put enough money back into their pockets that they have been able to stay.

Marden noted that while that鈥檚 good for each individual teacher, it鈥檚 also good for entire communities. 

鈥淭he impact of retaining one educator is pretty incredible,鈥� she said, explaining that a single educator gained or retained opens up licensed classroom slots for four to 12 children. 

Maine鈥檚 childcare employment award program was serving 511 children from 313 families as of September 2025, with nearly as many children and educators on the waitlist. The state has funded the pilot at $2.5 million a year for the past two years, and it just hasn鈥檛 been enough to reach everyone, Marden explained.

While many early childhood leaders in Maine want to see the pilot program funded at a higher amount, the reality is that it will likely soon cease to exist altogether. During the recent legislative session, which ended in mid-April, policymakers did not fund the pilot for another year. As of now, the program is slated to end after June 30.

In Iowa, uptake has been strong. As of September 2025, more than 3,600 children from 2,153 families had taken advantage of the benefit, according to data from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. And a survey conducted by the state agency, the results of which were shared in January 2025, found that 87% of participants remain in their roles, and 12% began working in childcare as a result of the pilot. 

Hollie Allen, co-owner of Vine Street Child Care, a large center-based program in West Des Moines, Iowa, said that at least 13 of her teachers 鈥� out of about 60 people on staff 鈥� are enrolled in the program. They still owe co-pays between $35 and $100 per week, depending on factors like household income and number of children, she said, but that鈥檚 a big improvement over the full cost of a spot in her program.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand why they鈥檙e calling it free childcare. It鈥檚 not,鈥� Allen said, but added that, compared to the $360 per week she charges for an infant slot, 鈥減aying $67 is awesome.鈥�

The program has been a 鈥渄ouble boon鈥� for Allen, she said, because she was previously giving staff who weren鈥檛 eligible for other financial support a 50% discount on childcare at Vine Street 鈥� and losing money on those slots in the process. Now, with the state鈥檚 childcare assistance program covering the cost of early childhood educators鈥� childcare, Allen has been able to give every person on payroll a $2 per hour wage increase. 

鈥淚t was a big cashflow injection for our program,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淭hose across-the-board wage increases were critical.鈥�

In other states, such as Rhode Island, where the pilot program has been extended through 2028, the impact on turnover in the field has been real but modest, said Lisa Hildebrand, executive director of the Rhode Island AEYC. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 still helpful,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he intent is there. It鈥檚 still retaining some educators. But it could be a lot better.鈥�

Hildebrand added: 鈥淲e just need way more money in the system. This is not going to solve all the problems. It鈥檚 a little bit of Band-Aids. You鈥檙e giving free childcare to educators because you鈥檙e not paying them enough that they can afford childcare on their own. You鈥檙e still not paying people enough, and that鈥檚 the problem.鈥�

鈥淲ith pain in my heart, I told my son I couldn鈥檛 pick up or drop off my grandson at school anymore,鈥� said Hernandez, who asked to be identified by her first initial and last name in order to protect her safety. 鈥淚 was scared. If they take me when he鈥檚 with me, what would they do to him?鈥�

She cares for her two grandchildren, ages 5 and 6, while their parents are at work. The 5-year-old, who has been diagnosed with autism, attends a preschool with specialized resources. Outside of preschool, Hernandez is the only one his parents trust to care for the boy.

鈥淚 dropped him off, picked him up, went on his school field trips, cooked for him after school,鈥� recalled Hernandez. She took three buses to get to the school, a daily roundtrip commute between two and three hours, while carrying a stroller and diaper bag.

But Hernandez had to pull back. 

The nation鈥檚 child care system relies on the contributions of immigrants like Hernandez. early care and education providers identify as immigrants, and home-based child care 鈥� the most arrangement in the U.S. 鈥� has a of immigrant providers than center-based programs.

Over the past year, immigration enforcement activities have intensified, leaving providers and families anxious and unsettled. Since he took office, Trump has expanded immigration enforcement and a policy that prohibited immigration activity in certain spaces, including schools and places where children congregate. The administration has also made financial investments in federal immigration enforcement.

These investments and policy shifts have disrupted the child care workforce nationwide, heightening fear and instability among providers. caregivers and child care providers of young children have reported noticing the impact of immigration enforcement activities in their community, according to the RAPID Survey Project at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood. Some have left the field altogether. 

A conducted by economists Chris Herbst and Erdal Tekin found that increased arrests by federal immigration officers in the first six months of the Trump administration are associated with 39,000 immigrant child care providers leaving the workforce. It also found that, as a result of the increased arrests and shrinking child care workforce, 77,000 American-born mothers also .

Below are the stories of five immigrant women providing home-based care for relatives and neighbors. Located in California, Colorado, Illinois and Texas, they all reported that intensified immigration enforcement has disrupted their work, with ripple effects on the children and families they serve. 

Some shared that the young children they care for have expressed fear that their parents could be arrested. Some said they had to change their routines to limit their time in public spaces, and that parents were doing the same. Others said parents stopped taking their older kids to school. 

These vignettes 鈥� which draw from interviews conducted in Spanish that have been translated and edited for clarity 鈥� offer insight into the experiences of immigrants caring for our nation鈥檚 youngest children. 

A. Hernandez

Home State: Illinois
Place of birth: Mexico
Number of years providing child care: 6
Still providing child care: Yes
Number of children cared for 2听

After visiting family in the U.S. in 1991 when she was 16 years old, A. Hernandez fell in love with Chicago and decided to stay. She started working at a local restaurant, where she met her husband. She married at 17, had four children and eventually became a stay-at-home mom. 

Her children are now adults, and she provides child care for their kids. It鈥檚 not uncommon: working parents rely on a grandmother for child care.

But after President Trump was inaugurated, Hernandez said she put cardboard on her windows so no one could see inside and barely left the house. 

When she could no longer bring her grandson to and from preschool, his parents changed their work schedules as best they could to account for the disruption in child care. They eventually enrolled their son in a busing program, but the process took over a month, she said. On the days they could not adjust their work schedules, they opted for him to stay home with Hernandez. He missed over a month of school, and a number of sessions with his speech therapist.

鈥淚t affected him a lot. Before, he was starting to speak and sing. He was more conversational,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淣ow, he struggles. His communication is more sounds and gestures. He missed over a month of his therapies, and it shows.鈥�

Hernandez said she鈥檚 been anxious for months. Once her grandson was enrolled in the busing program, she decided she could pick him up at the bus stop. She began returning to her routine, but said she constantly felt 鈥渓ike someone was following her.鈥�

Then, in November 2025, a Chicago child care provider was at an early learning center on the same street where Hernandez’s daughter works. It happened while children were being dropped off.

Hernandez recalled hearing the news. The child care provider 鈥渨as doing something good, working with children. Now we have to explain this to children, that we鈥檙e all at risk,鈥� she said.

Worried for their safety, Hernandez and her husband opened a naturalization case in November with the hope of gaining U.S. citizenship. The legal proceedings are expensive, so to help make ends meet, Hernandez has picked up an overnight shift at a fast food chain. (She is typically paid $75 a week to care for her grandchildren.)

Hernandez has tried her best to shield her grandchildren from the increased presence of immigration officers in their neighborhood. 鈥淢y eldest grandson saw officers near his school,鈥� she said. When he told her about it, he said he was afraid they were coming to take him. 鈥淭heir uniforms are green. He said that the 鈥榞reen men鈥� were coming to take children in black vans. I told him, 鈥楴o, they won鈥檛 take you.鈥欌��

Carmela Enriquez

Home State: Colorado
Place of birth: Mexico
Number of years providing child care: 20
Still providing child care: Yes
Number of children cared for: 4

In 2001, Carmela Enriquez came to the United States from Mexico, joining her family in Colorado. She was 15 years old, and enrolled in a local high school as a ninth grader. In 11th grade, she was warned that she would not have access to federal financial aid because, at the time, she was an undocumented immigrant. 

Knowing that her family wouldn鈥檛 be able to help cover the cost of college, she dropped out of high school. 鈥淚 was sad, because I always liked school,鈥� said Enriquez. 

In 2004, Enriquez got married and the next year, she gave birth to her first son. Soon after, her cousin approached her about caring for his infant, who was around the same age as her son. He liked the idea of his baby being watched by someone in the family while he was at work. Since then, different family members have relied on Enriquez for child care. Today, she cares for four of her nephews, in addition to her two youngest children, who are 2 and 6 years old.

Enriquez said she changed a number of daily routines immediately after Trump came back into office. She typically picked up her four nephews from her sister鈥檚 house, but assuming there would be more immigration officers stationed at high-traffic roads, she changed her route. 

鈥淚 tried not to drive on busy streets,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when it snows in Colorado, I noticed they weren鈥檛 removing the snow as fast on the roads I traveled on as on the main streets. I told myself I had to stop my fear of officers, because I was also scared of being in a car accident.鈥� 

A few months later, Enriquez began volunteering for a local group that alerted community members if federal immigration officers were nearby. Her eldest child, now in college, warned his mother not to participate.

鈥淗e said, 鈥楴o, don鈥檛 go. You shouldn鈥檛 go outside. If you need something from the market, I鈥檒l go,鈥欌�� Enriquez recalled. 鈥淚t makes me sad that my children, born here, are scared.鈥�

Enriquez said she has witnessed people get arrested by immigration officers, and fear has swept across the community. 鈥淟ast September, there was a local celebration for child care providers. There was food, flowers. Only three providers, myself included, showed up,鈥� said Enriquez. 鈥淭here had been immigration officers seen on a nearby street. I couldn鈥檛 tell providers to come anyway. I can鈥檛 take away their fear.鈥�

鈥淲e are essential workers. We care for children whose parents work in agriculture, dairy farms, food transport,鈥� said Enriquez. 鈥淚鈥檓 crying because I see so many kind providers, and the quality care they give to children. There鈥檚 people saying this country is not ours, and that if [immigration] officers mistreat us, we deserve it. But no one deserves to be treated that way.鈥�

E. Hernandez

Home State: Texas
Place of birth: Mexico
Number of years providing child care: 12
Still providing child care: Yes
Number of children cared for: 7

E. Hernandez, A. Hernandez鈥檚 sister, moved to Texas from Mexico with her husband in 2013, when he relocated for work. Then five months pregnant, she became friendly with a neighbor, who mentioned she could not find before- and after- school care for her 7-year-old son.

鈥淚t started as a favor. [The neighbor] said it would be difficult to leave her son with someone she didn鈥檛 know,鈥� said Hernandez, who requested we refer to her by her first initial and last name in order to protect her safety. 鈥淚 said I鈥檇 take care of him. I鈥檇 drop him off at school, pick him up, and care for him until she came home.鈥� 

Hernandez cared for her neighbor鈥檚 son until the family moved 15 months later.

Over the past 13 years, Hernandez has cared for more than a dozen children through a variety of arrangements 鈥� some steady, others occasional. She began by watching the children of her husband鈥檚 coworkers and, once her eldest started school, connected with local parents in need of after-school care.

Today, Hernandez looks after her own three children and provides care for others as needed. She regularly supports one family during school breaks and, in health emergencies, steps in for another family, sometimes caring for all five of their children 鈥� four of whom she said are immunocompromised.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a favor,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淭hese are children who are ill, so I always say yes 鈥� even if it鈥檚 two in the morning.鈥�

Such flexible, around-the-clock care is especially common among home-based providers. At some point, children requires care during nontraditional hours.

Last year, Hernandez was advised by a local parent to pursue a child care license so she could provide long-term care to more families. (In Texas, child care providers are from a license if they do not care for more than one unrelated child or sibling group.)

鈥淚 was so excited. I鈥檝e always loved children, so I decided to call the local agency,鈥� said Hernandez. When asked over the phone to provide her Social Security Number, Hernandez specified she had anIndividual Taxpayer Identification Number (). 鈥淭he woman on the phone said that Texas does not give child care licenses to people without a Social Security Number,鈥� Hernandez said.

Though she鈥檚 been unable to get licensed, she continues to care for children. 鈥淚 do it for the good of the community, for the good of our children,鈥� she said.

Blanca Luna

Home State: California
Place of birth: Mexico
Number of years providing child care: 5
Still providing child care: Yes
Number of children cared for: 3

Blanca Luna immigrated to California from Mexico in 2016, when she was 24 years old. She arrived with her then 15-month-old daughter in order to join her husband in the U.S. 

She now has two children, 12 and 9 years old. As a stay-at-home mom, Luna began to meet local parents when her youngest son started kindergarten in 2020. 

鈥淚n our town, many parents work in agricultural fields. Agricultural workers continued to work during the pandemic [stay-at-home orders], and they needed child care because many centers closed,鈥� said Luna. 鈥淚 wanted to help because they couldn鈥檛 stop working. I started providing child care, even if it was an hour or two 鈥� If it were me who needed help, I would want someone to help me. I did it out of love, community.鈥�

Luna has continued to provide child care to local families, usually when school is closed for holidays. She provides regular child care on weekdays to a 3-year-old girl, and is compensated between $300 and $400 a month. She also occasionally provides before- and after- school care for two other children. One of those families pays her $25 per day. The other doesn鈥檛 pay her at all.

Over the past few months, Luna said she has been approached by two local parents who do not have American citizenship about whether she would take care of their children if they were arrested by immigration officers. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the heart to say no. But it is a concern for me,鈥� she said. 鈥淭aking care of a child needs money, and I don鈥檛 have an income. Only my husband does.鈥�

Those fears weigh heavily on the children in her care, Luna said, particularly their mental health. The threat of family separation creates instability, especially when 鈥渃hildren see parents being beaten, mistreated and humiliated.鈥�

Luna said there are efforts to support families in her community, but they fall short.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen resources like food banks. That鈥檚 good. But people can鈥檛 pay rent with food,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think people want to go to work safely and build a better future.鈥�

Yanet Martinez

Home State: California
Place of birth: El Salvador
Number of years providing child care: 17
Still providing child care: Yes
Number of children cared for: 6听

Yanet Martinez immigrated to the U.S. 17 years ago, fleeing domestic violence in her home in El Salvador. Her five children stayed behind. 

In 2019, Martinez said she qualified for 鈥� a program for victims of criminal activity 鈥� that has since changed to a, a program for victims of trafficking.

She found her way to Los Angeles and picked up a series of odd jobs. Today, she works at a local community center as a promotora, a Spanish term similar to a community liaison or resource navigator. She鈥檚 also a local child care provider.

Four of her children have immigrated to the U.S. She has nine grandchildren, and cares for six of them. She also occasionally cares for her neighbor鈥檚 children. 

, federal immigration officers and state troopers arrived at a local park on horseback and in armored vehicles in the neighborhood where Martinez lives. One of her children witnessed the raid.

鈥淢y daughter was on the way to work, but she ran back inside. I had a doctor鈥檚 appointment, and I chose not to go. It was chaos. I saw tanks 鈥� tanks I haven鈥檛 seen since I was a girl during the [Salvadoran Civil] war,鈥� said Martinez. 鈥淎nother time, one of my sons saw federal agents at a parking lot close to his job. He managed to see them in time and hid, but six of his coworkers didn鈥檛 make it to their cars. The agents pushed them to the ground, beat them and took them away.鈥�

Despite fearing for her safety, Martinez continues caring for her grandchildren, bringing them to and from school. On a local bus, in transit to pick up one of them, Martinez said, 鈥淚鈥檓 still working in the community. I鈥檓 still providing care for my grandchildren. I do it with fear, with precaution. But I do it.鈥�

Reporting for this article was supported by New America’s Better Life Lab Story Fellowship.

]]> /zero2eight/why-colleges-school-districts-and-hospitals-are-closing-on-site-child-care/ Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1031066 In February, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) announced it would shutter its on-campus child care center, which has operated for nearly 40 years, at the end of the spring semester.The decision caused a weeks-long on campus, with families, staff and students at what many say was a sudden and unexpected move. 

The child care closure at UNO is reflective of a concerning trend: Across the country, universities, school districts and hospitals are shutting down affiliated child care programs at an alarming rate as the cracks in America鈥檚 child care system begin to widen into fissures.

Since the beginning of 2025, a growing number of institutions have closed or put forth plans to close on-site child care programs that serve employees and, in the case of universities, student parents. These include universities such as , , and the , along in Washington, Arizona, and Kentucky. During the same time, public K-12 districts 鈥� including in Michigan, in Missouri and in Colorado 鈥� have announced similar closures, as have hospital systems in , and .

In almost every case, administrators are pointing to rising costs as a key culprit. Indeed, absent public funding, large institutions cannot run a sustainable child care business, particularly as most institutionally-affiliated programs offer tuition discounts to employees. In the case of Baptist Health, a nonprofit health care organization in Arkansas, the system said it $2 million a year operating two of its child care centers.

While there may have been a time when such losses were manageable, these institutions are being buffeted by other headwinds. Many colleges, universities and school districts are dealing with declining enrollment numbers that have . A key federal funding program that helps colleges and universities subsidize child care for student parents 鈥� Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) 鈥� has been held flat, which is a functional decrease in the face of inflation and rapidly rising child care costs.

Meanwhile, hospital systems are struggling with Medicaid cuts, rising labor costs, and tariffs increasing the costs of imported medicines and supplies; The American Hospital Association a 鈥減erfect storm of financial pressures.鈥� 

The rash of institutional closures should be a stark warning about the future of employer-sponsored child care. That term usually conjures the concept of private companies offering on-site centers or subsidies for child care as a workplace perk. But in practice, these institutions function similarly: They operate on-site child care for their community members, such as staff, students or patients 鈥� and in many cases, the programs have been around for decades. In a sense, we might consider institutionally-affiliated child care programs the best-case version of employer-supported care. The institutions are often anchored in public missions, subject to greater accountability and backed by generally reliable funding streams. Yet, even these programs are disappearing.

If institutions designed to serve the public can鈥檛 sustain employer-linked child care, it raises a larger question about how realistic it is to . 

It seems clear that, reluctant as the decision may be, child care quickly finds itself on the chopping block when budgets tighten. Often, it is viewed as a nice-to-have for institutions, even while it鈥檚 a must-have for families. When programs close and families lose subsidized care, they鈥檙e often forced into a wild scramble for a spot among scarce options. With the aforementioned headwinds only projected to worsen, more closures are, unfortunately, likely on the way. 

To be clear, the closures don鈥檛 signal that on-site child care is inherently flawed. In fact, the passionate reaction of families and providers show just how valued these programs are. The question is, how should such programs be funded? A model that relies on institutions themselves bearing the cost seems to be breaking down. Similarly, depending on a single funding stream, like CCAMPIS, is clearly risky, as it keeps programs in a constant state of vulnerability 鈥� just one unfavorable grant cycle away from collapse.

What鈥檚 needed, instead, is a way to wrap institutionally-affiliated child care into a broader publicly-funded system, as is done in nations like and . 

The child care sector may well be entering a phase where Band-Aids like incentivizing employers to offer child care benefits like on-site programs or stipends can no longer hold back the bleeding. If universities and hospital systems 鈥� to say nothing of Fortune 500 companies like and 鈥� are increasingly unable or unwilling to maintain their child care programs despite evidence of their positive impacts, then a course correction is needed. 

Policymakers are rushing to incentivize employer-sponsored child care at a moment when the American economy is slowing down and financial headwinds are picking up. If there鈥檚 any good news, it鈥檚 that about five thousand years ago humans invented a way to pool individual resources and redistribute them for collective benefit. In other words, the antidote to institutional child care closures is the same as the antidote to mom and pop child care closures: tax dollars. 

]]> /zero2eight/missouri-child-care-subsidy-cuts-could-hit-foster-kids-low-income-families-hardest/ Sat, 11 Apr 2026 16:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1030961 This article was originally published in

Every child who starts at Lemay Child and Family Center in St. Louis County receives a developmental screening during their first month of attendance.

Based on these screenings, kids can receive speech or occupational therapy at the center, and staff can connect families with community support like help sourcing healthy food.

鈥淭he economy right now is just really challenging,鈥� said Denise Wiese, the center鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淪o we feel that those extra supports we give parents and children are really critical.鈥�

More than 60% of the children the center serves qualify for a state subsidy program that helps cover the cost of day care for low-income and foster children.

But if lawmakers approve a proposed $51.5 million cut to that program, Wiese told The Independent, the center could be forced to roll back services or reduce scholarships that make child care more affordable.

The cuts are part of a laid out by Republican state Rep. Dirk Deaton of Seneca, chairman of the House Budget Committee, that would eliminate incentives the state currently pays on top of the basic child care subsidy rate.

Deaton told the committee the enhancements were created before the state started paying market-rate costs for child care.

鈥淲hen those were put in place, the rates weren鈥檛, in some cases,100% of market rate,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n a lot of cases, we鈥檙e already paying the market rate. So why would we be paying more than the market rate?鈥�

For child care providers, Wiese said, losing these payments will be 鈥渄evastating.鈥�

鈥淭hat increase for us over the standard daily rate is critical because we welcome any child, regardless of the family鈥檚 income level or the child鈥檚 developmental level,鈥� Wiese said. 鈥溾�f those enhancements get cut, we will have no choice but to reduce some of the services that we provide for these children.鈥�

Casey Hanson, deputy director at Kids Win Missouri, told The Independent the proposed cuts would have an outsized effect on the state鈥檚 most vulnerable children.

The funding enables providers to cover losses if foster families need short-term or irregular child care. It also helps train staff to work with kids who have experienced trauma.

鈥淪ome people think, 鈥極kay, that funding just gets cut, and so they still get paid the market rate. They don鈥檛 get this extra bit,鈥欌�� Hanson said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not an extra bit to be able to provide that additional therapy or additional support.鈥�

With the cut to their bottom line, child care providers may have to turn families away.

鈥淲hat decisions do they have to make?鈥� Hanson asked. 鈥淒o they have to lay off staff? Do they have to close?鈥� Do they just quit taking foster families?鈥�

Some facilities already hesitate to take on those families, Hanson said, and the proposed cuts would 鈥渄e-incentivize that even more.鈥�

The cuts come during a period of instability for the program. At the end of 2023, the state changed software providers to manage the subsidy payments, and technical difficulties led to a backlog of missed payments that .

Some day care providers closed under the pressure, and the stress continues today.

Demand for child care subsidies has , exceeding the amount of money appropriated to the program this fiscal year.

With available funds shrinking, the state鈥檚 education department launched a waitlist for the program at the beginning of March. Children under state care, like foster children, are exempted from the waitlist. Those who qualify based on their income, though, will have to wait until funds are available.

鈥淥ur system is already at or over capacity,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough resources to serve the children and families that are qualified with this current [funding] structure.鈥�

Despite mounting pressure, providers are expected to see a long-awaited change in the way subsidies are paid that state officials promise will be initiated by this summer.

Currently, child care providers submit attendance logs and are reimbursed based on the number of days subsidy children are in their care. In May, the department plans to pay subsidies at the beginning of the month based on enrollment, not attendance.

Gov. Mike Kehoe championed the switch in his inaugural State of the State address last year.

鈥淲e will not allow late payments, or technology issues to put these small businesses at risk of not being able to provide for families in need of child care,鈥� he said.

The governor is still supportive of paying providers based on enrollment, but Deaton鈥檚 proposed budget could prevent this change.

Deaton鈥檚 budget plan includes instructions to pay 鈥渟olely on a child鈥檚 actual attendance and shall not be made prospectively, on authorization, enrollment, contracted slots or any other non-attendance-based methodology.鈥�

State Budget Director Dan Haug told the House Budget Committee Monday that the state would hold off on paying by enrollment in May if Deaton鈥檚 suggestion is signed into law for next fiscal year, which begins in July.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it would make sense to make a change in May and then go back on July 1,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat would not be good for the providers, moving them around with how they鈥檙e being paid.鈥�

Paying on enrollment gives flexibility to providers, Wiese said. A family may need to miss 10 days in a month, but the center can only get paid for five absences.

鈥淚f a family wants to spend their day with their child, that鈥檚 the best thing for the child,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f [the state is] paying us based on authorization, that slot is paid for whether that child is here or not.鈥�

With budget amendments forthcoming, Hanson hopes to see edits to benefit child care providers.

鈥淲e know that (lawmakers) care about children and families,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut sometimes these decisions don鈥檛 reflect that these [cuts] are going to be really painful for children and families in our state.鈥�

The Independent鈥檚 Rudi Keller contributed to this report.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

]]> /zero2eight/pilot-program-provides-early-childhood-educators-with-rent-free-business-spaces/ Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1030934 This article was originally published in

After struggling for months to sustain her child care business at home, Minerva Caba Toribio thought she would have to close due to rent increases and high costs. But now, she鈥檚 able to operate out of a classroom located on Granite Street in Worcester at the Guild of St. Agnes, the largest early education and care agency in Central Massachusetts. Caba Toribio has space for 10 children, with five currently enrolled and three others that will soon be joining.

鈥淲e serve Brazilian families, Latin American families, immigrant families,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey feel comfortable to see that we can speak the same language and we have the same traditions.鈥�

Caba Toribio will be able to use the space rent-free for two years. By saving on rent, utilities, meals, and other expenses, she hopes to restart her home-based child care service once the time is up.

It鈥檚 all part of a pilot program called the , formed in partnership by the Guild of St. Agnes 鈥� which serves almost 2,000 children across roughly 150 child care establishments 鈥� and the Worcester-based Seven Hills Foundation 鈥� which provides supportive services to children, adults, and seniors with disabilities and other life challenges. Their new family child care incubator 鈥� only the third of its kind in the nation 鈥� provides two classroom spaces that were empty due to a lack of staffing to two licensed educators to operate their child care businesses while they prepare to later offer the service in their homes. The program is meant to provide more child care slots in an area where demand is high but supply is low, while also making it easier for family child care entrepreneurs to get their start.

鈥淚n addition to expanding care to more children and families by using classrooms that were otherwise empty, we are able to share services such as transportation, healthy meals, and business support to the resident educators as they establish their new businesses,鈥� said Sharon MacDonald, president and CEO of the Guild of St. Agnes.

The program, which can accommodate up to 20 children, was modeled after in Boston, which was the first of its kind in the Commonwealth and provides short-term program space, resources, and training for newly licensed family child care entrepreneurs. The other incubator program in San Francisco in 2019 and has trained and established more than 100 new child care businesses, creating over 800 new child care slots.

鈥淚 was thinking about closing my business, so when I heard about the incubator, I thought, 鈥楾hat can’t be possible. I will have a space where I can keep working with the same families that I had at my home?鈥欌�� Caba Toribio said.

The other resident educator, Eva Fajardo Marroqu铆n, is a newly licensed provider who will lead the second classroom with 10 children.

Around 59,000 (70 percent) of infants, around 43,000 (43 percent) of toddlers, and around 10,000 (5 percent) of preschoolers in Massachusetts live in a child care . The state defines this as areas where for every three children there is only one child care slot, though there are regions in central Massachusetts where the ratio is greater than ten children to one slot.

Granite Street is in the heart of one of Worcester鈥檚 child care , according to Leslie Baker, program director for the Seven Hills Foundation鈥檚 Center for Childcare Careers.

The children鈥檚 tuition is covered by state subsidies, meaning the Guild of St. Agnes and the Seven Hills Foundation are not responsible for the educators鈥� salaries. A $1 million grant from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts allows them to pay for the building, the classroom equipment and supplies, and a full-time project coordinator who provides case management, business training, and professional development support for the two educators. (The foundation also provides grant funding to CommonWealth Beacon.) The educators will soon establish savings accounts so the coordinator can document their progress towards their long-term business goals.

Cost isn鈥檛 the only barrier that aspiring educators face in trying to open family child care businesses. Many, including Caba Toribio, face landlord resistance and struggle to find homes or apartments that allow family child care to operate. Others struggle with navigating the licensing process with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.

Many of the families served by the Guild鈥檚 child care programs qualify for (CCFA) vouchers from the state. But that system remains underfunded even after the Legislature approved Gov. Maura Healey鈥檚 proposal to change the income eligibility threshold from 50 percent of the state median income to 85 percent last year. That move added 4,000 low and moderate-income families to the program, but more than 30,000 children were on the statewide waitlist for the program at the end of 2025.

鈥淚t’s opportunities like this that are making sure we are creating pathways for early educators, because the more classrooms we can fill with great educators, the more slots that will become available for the littlest learners in our community,鈥� said Sen. Robyn Kennedy, a Democrat representing Worcester, at the pilot program鈥檚 ribbon-cutting event on Monday.

The Commonwealth鈥檚 early child care system continues to suffer from a due to low earnings, a lack of employee benefits, and subsequently high turnover.

Among family child care program owners and employees, just over 40 percent receive paid time off, around 25 percent receive paid sick leave, around five percent receive discounted child care, and less than 8 percent receive dental insurance and retirements benefits, according to a 2025 published by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Just 4 percent of employees receive health insurance compared to 15 percent of owners.

鈥淚 don’t think we often think of childcare as a business,鈥� said Sen. Michael Moore, a Millbury Democrat who represents Worcester. 鈥淵ou can’t be successful if you can’t operate it, put the business model together, and be able to afford it.鈥�

Caba Toribio said many families prefer home-based family child care over center-based child care because it is often less expensive, more flexible, and tightly knit.

鈥淲e have a small group. Some parents prefer that. The children have the opportunity to feel like they are part of a family,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ere in the center, I keep the same concept. Because it’s a small group, they feel safe.鈥�

Baker and MacDonald want to ensure that the program is sustained after the educators move out in two years.

鈥淎s they eventually launch their business, part of the project is to backfill it and continue this on,鈥� MacDonald said. 鈥淥ne of the questions, obviously, is: What does it cost to do that without the grant funding?鈥�

They are confident that eventually, other cities and programs across the state will pursue their own incubator projects.

鈥淲e’re trying to develop a model that could be replicable by other family child care systems,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淲e’d like to be that resource for other systems that are interested in developing this.鈥�

This article is part of CommonWealth Beacon鈥檚 ongoing coverage of early childhood education issues and is funded, in part, by the .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

]]> /zero2eight/when-work-isnt-9-to-5-child-care-cant-be-either/ Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1030834 In New York City and New Mexico, policymakers are making history by rolling out ambitious universal child care plans that offer affordable care for families and invest in the providers that drive our economy. As these bold efforts expand access for young children, leaders must consider a fundamental reality of modern work: Child care that ends at 6 p.m. might not work for parents whose shifts start at sunset, stretch overnight or change week to week.

Child care during nontraditional hours 鈥� including early mornings, evenings, nights and weekends 鈥� is a growing need for American families. Flexible care with variable hours from week to week is also in demand.

In many homes across the country, work happens outside of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The best available data, drawn from the past decade, suggest that in some states live with a parent who works nonstandard hours, and that accommodate those schedules 鈥� though these figures rely on data collected before the pandemic. These data also indicate that work outside traditional hours is common in families that have lower incomes. 

Expanding access to equitable child care options requires careful attention to the diverse child care needs of working families. For a parent who starts a shift as a nursing assistant at 7 a.m., works overnight as a hotel receptionist or drives for a ride share service as a second job on the weekend, , as many licensed child care programs follow a more conventional schedule. Challenges also exist for parents who work jobs with rotating shifts, who not only require care outside of normal business hours, but also need the hours to be flexible. 

To ensure that working families can thrive, the child care sector needs more public investment in child care settings that offer care during nontraditional hours and increased support for the workforce needed to deliver it. When designing a universal child care system, policymakers must consider the growing population of parents working outside traditional business hours and should incorporate the following three principles.

Include home-based child care providers in policy design. Right now, most child care during nontraditional hours is , rather than by licensed child care providers. In other words, by people families trust who care for children in ways that resemble parental care. This type of arrangement 鈥� known as family, friend and neighbor (FFN) care 鈥� is in the U.S. child care system. This trend points to both a preference and a gap: Families rely on familiar, home-based care during these hours, yet the supply of licensed child care that is open during these hours simply isn鈥檛 there. Building a universal child care system that is responsive to families鈥� needs will require recruiting and investing in licensed family child care providers and FFN caregivers who operate outside of child care licensing systems. Building policies that include the full range of home-based providers will require creative solutions, such as community-based peer support groups and access to resources and materials related to caring for children. 

Create fair working conditions and compensation for providers who offer care during nontraditional hours. Increasing child care access for working families must prioritize investment in the workforce caring for children during . These providers face some of the in an already strained sector: low pay, unpredictable schedules, on-call demands for families that need last minute child care or need to change hours without notice, and the strain of balancing their own family responsibilities with offering child care. Many FFN caregivers provide child care for their families . Expanding child care options that meet the needs of families working nontraditional hours requires intentional strategies that ensure a livable wage for paid child care workers and compensation for FFN caregivers 鈥� many of whom indicate for their work. These approaches must also reflect that the cost of care varies by time of day. 

Right-size standards and regulations to reflect the realities of providers caring for babies and children during nonstandard hours. Finally, quality and regulatory frameworks must evolve to recognize that care at 10 p.m. does not look like care at 10 a.m. Children鈥檚 development during nontraditional hours is shaped by like shared meals, bedtime stories and quiet, unstructured time. Systems that measure quality solely through daytime standards risk missing 鈥� such as healthy sleep practices and creating calm and comfortable environments 鈥� while placing unnecessary burdens on providers. Universal child care systems should offer tailored professional development that reflects the realities of care at night and on weekends 鈥� focused less on building lesson plans and more on developing routines, relationships and supporting children through transitions like bedtime or early wake-ups.

As states and cities build universal child care programs, ensuring access to child care beyond standard work hours must be a central goal. By embracing a mixed-delivery system that values all types of care, investing in compensation and professional development, and developing appropriate standards, early adopters of universal child care initiatives can provide an example of how to create policies that meet the needs of all working families.

]]> /zero2eight/states-are-increasingly-using-child-care-waitlists-leaving-parents-in-limbo/ Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1030103 Taylor Moyer has been trying to get child care subsidies ever since her oldest child was born eight years ago. But she said she was stuck in a Catch-22. In Virginia, where she lives, she couldn鈥檛 qualify for the state assistance unless she was employed or actively engaged in a job search, but she couldn鈥檛 job hunt without reliable child care 鈥� and she couldn鈥檛 accept a new position without knowing she could afford it. This problem kept her out of the workforce for years, leaving her dependent on her partner鈥檚 income.

When she recently separated from her partner, it became critical that she get a job. She was hired for a position with a nonprofit last summer, and shortly after that, she went online and applied to get a subsidy so she could afford child care for her three children, ages 2, 4 and 8 years old.

Two months went by before she got a response, she said, only to be told that she had been put on a waitlist. It gave her 鈥渁 moment of panic,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 need my bills to be paid but I also need somebody to watch my children.鈥� There was no way she could afford the out-of-pocket cost of child care on her pay. It costs a year, on average, for center-based care for a toddler in Virginia.

A growing number of parents have been confronted recently with a situation similar to Moyer鈥檚. Strapped for child care funding, have started waitlists for child care subsidies 鈥� or lengthened existing ones 鈥� putting new applicants in limbo when they need immediate help paying for care. Virginia is one of 14 states that have recently instituted or expanded waitlists, according to Child Care Aware of America. 

Moyer ended up asking neighbors and friends to watch her children, 鈥減eople that I normally wouldn鈥檛 have asked to watch my kids,鈥� she said. She installed some cameras in her house to make herself feel more secure. But 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 as comfortable as I would have been had they been in a licensed, insured day care,鈥� she noted, adding that she had to work around the schedules of the people who agreed to watch her children, even though she wasn鈥檛 able to control her own schedule at work. There were some days when the person she had arranged to watch her kids canceled at the last minute, sending her scrambling to find someone else.

鈥淚t was very, very emotionally stressful, because I had never been away from my kids up until this moment and suddenly I鈥檓 leaving them at home with other people,鈥� she recalled.

Moyer had to wait four months to get off Virginia鈥檚 waitlist, she said. Then, when she was finally taken off, she had to fill out all the paperwork again, which required getting documents from her employer and finding a child care center that she could enroll her children in. It took her another two weeks before she was actually getting help, she said. 

Waiting lists for child care subsidies are not new. 鈥淚t has been true for a long time that there are not enough resources to provide subsidies to every eligible family,鈥� said Anne Hedgepeth, senior vice president of policy & research at Child Care Aware of America. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not meeting families鈥� needs with our current subsidy system.鈥� In 2021, were eligible for subsidies under state rules, but just 1.8 million received them, or less than a quarter of those who qualified. 

But the child care sector has, in the past five years, received more funding that it typically does. It received in federal COVID relief funding meant to prop the sector up, which some states to eliminate waitlists, among other changes. The Child Care and Development Block Grant, which mostly funds state subsidies, received a increase in funding in 2023 and then another increase in 2024. Some states, for their part, also devoted some of their own dollars to the sector.

Now with the billions in COVID relief funding gone, and with big state budget cuts looming due to to Medicaid and other safety net programs passed by Republicans in Congress, many states have searched for ways to reduce spending. Waiting lists have become a common tool. States are 鈥渘ot able to serve all eligible families, and they鈥檙e having to do things like institute waitlists that limit families who are coming in,鈥� Hedgepeth said. 

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia have recently started putting at least some parents on waiting lists for child care subsidies or have significantly expanded the number of parents on their lists, according to Child Care Aware of America. Missouri also   a waitlist starting March 1. 

The number of states with waitlists has nearly doubled since early 2022, according to Child Care Aware of America. 鈥淢any on this list did not have waitlists when there were additional dollars available,鈥� Hedgepeth said, and 鈥渨ere able to serve all of the families that were applying.鈥�

This situation 鈥渄oes tell us that the funding amount that was flowing to states during the pandemic was an amount that better reflected the total need in the system,鈥� Hedgepeth said. The increase in states using waitlists as an approach to cut costs is bad on its own, but it鈥檚 also a canary in the coal mine, she said, signaling deeper troubles in the child care system.

鈥淎 single state may not be able to replace federal funding,鈥� she noted, but if it鈥檚 only spending the bare minimum without dedicating general funds 鈥渢hat鈥檚 a real opportunity for state policymakers.鈥� , for example, has instituted waitlists without investing any additional funding for the sector. 

For parents like Moyer, the impact of state waitlists can be devastating, Hedgepeth said. Many families don鈥檛 bother to go through the steps to get a subsidy or might not even know that they鈥檙e eligible in the first place. For those who actually fill out the paperwork and submit it, 鈥渨hich is often no easy task,鈥� she said, finding out that they won鈥檛 get any help for a number of months or, possibly, indefinitely 鈥渃an be really disheartening.鈥� Parents likely face impossible choices about how to make sure their children are cared for while they work. 鈥淭his is not something they have time to wait for,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey need care today for their kids.鈥� That鈥檚 especially true for mothers, as women鈥檚 labor force participation has , and many parents child care problems are keeping them from work. 

Providers, meanwhile, often suffer as well. In Indiana, for instance, the freeze in new subsidies left some providers who were counting on enrolling new infants with empty infant classrooms. The freeze, along with deep reimbursement cuts, has put them in a difficult financial position. 鈥淵our highest rates of pay comes from your infants,鈥� Dionne Miller, who runs Room to Bloom Learning Academy in Indianapolis, previously told 社区黑料. 鈥淲e no longer have that stream of income coming in.鈥� More than 100 providers closed last September and October after the state鈥檚 changes were put in place.

On top of the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds, ongoing federal funding has become increasingly unstable. In December, the Trump administration announced that, after resurfacing fraud allegations in Minnesota鈥檚 child care and other public programs, it was freezing all child care funding to the state and reinstituting a Defend the Spend requirement for the Child Care Development Fund, which provides key funding for state subsidies across the country. With the change, all states now have to provide justification, including receipts and photo evidence, in order to draw down the money that was already appropriated by Congress. 

The administration also sought to completely freeze CCDF and other federal funding to five states, although that action has been by a judge. And the administration rescinded Biden-era rules that paid child care providers in a more stable way. 

Given all of this, Hedgepeth said, 鈥淚 would not be surprised to see more states institute waitlists.鈥� 

鈥淲e are in some ways back to the pre-pandemic conversation of the way in which child care and early learning are situated in our priorities,鈥� she added. It鈥檚 鈥渘ot receiving the full support that it needs despite what we know about its critical importance to families and economies.鈥�

]]> /zero2eight/states-want-to-help-families-the-child-tax-credit-might-be-their-answer/ Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1029703 Lauren McNally recalls when the checks began showing up at her house in 2021. As part of the expanded, refundable child tax credit, McNally and her husband were among families who received monthly checks from the federal government to offset the costs of raising their children. 鈥淚t helped us pay off some credit cards and helped us with groceries, child care and car payments. Basic things,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淲e didn’t go on a vacation with it.鈥�

McNally, a Democratic state representative who lives in west Youngstown, Ohio, relies on her neighbors 鈥� who include nurses, police officers and public utility workers 鈥� as her North Star for how families are doing. These are people, she describes as having 鈥渏ob titles where they should be able to sustain a family and a household, but aren鈥檛 even coming close.鈥� She hears how they are struggling to pay bills, how they can鈥檛 afford back-to-school supplies for their kids, or how long they will wait to turn the air conditioners on at their houses in the summer. 

that  most families spent their expanded 2021 child tax credit for everyday necessities: groceries, utilities, housing and clothing 鈥� the very same things she, her husband and neighbors were doing. The extra payment, between $3,000 and $3,600 annually per child 鈥� or a monthly check between $250 and $300 鈥� brought the child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2%, . also shows that the funds dramatically improved overall well-being for families, many of whom were able to use the money to pay down bills or give a bit of breathing room to their finances. supports its bipartisan appeal. 

After the federal tax credit expired at the end of 2021, McNally introduced the in 2023, a measure she has since re-introduced in each session of the Ohio General Assembly since. A version of her proposal even made it into , before being overridden by the Republican鈥檚 veto-proof majority in the statehouse. 

McNally wasn鈥檛 the only lawmaker to view the child tax credit as a vehicle for families with young children to improve outcomes 鈥� and Ohio wasn鈥檛 the only state to take that approach. Altogether, 22 states and D.C. have created , though only child tax credits will be active in 2026. 

鈥淪tates were curious about how to fill the gaps left behind,鈥� said Ryan Vinh, a research analyst at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, who has studied the impact of the child tax credit.

by the Columbia center found that the state-level child tax credits helped mitigate the loss of the expanded federal credit. And the center鈥檚 forthcoming research, Vinh said, shows that the states that have expanded their child tax credits are seeing similar effects with bringing people out of poverty, but not to the extent the federal government鈥檚 impact was, largely because states are not able to offer the full amount of $3,000 to $3,600 per child. 

In July 2025, the federal , from $2,000 to $2,200 per child, although the new version limited the ability to receive a refund and created new eligibility criteria so that some families who were previously able to access the credit no longer could. Refundability is particularly crucial for the families in poverty, as it requires a family to make enough income to have a sufficiently high tax burden, rather than being able to access the funding outright. 

The ability to zero-in on child poverty is incredibly effective for state lawmakers who see this as an issue to address, and it鈥檚 drawing the attention of other states who are seeing the impact.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a domino effect,鈥� said Neva Butkus, a senior analyst who leads the state child tax credit work for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. States and localities seeking to add or expand a child tax credit work with her team to come up with what they want to solve for 鈥� in some cases it may be reducing the number of families in poverty, or it might be creating a smaller tax credit that more families can access, improving overall affordability. 

Butkus observed that there are clusters of states that tend to follow one another, such as those based on geography, and that conversations surrounding the child tax credit (CTC) among state lawmakers transcend political affiliation. She points to the CTC that McNally and DeWine pushed for and one that as examples of forward momentum in red and purple states. 鈥淲e are seeing it become more commonplace, and lawmakers across the aisle are seeing the value in the credits, as affordability becomes more of a focus.鈥�

The CTC is 鈥渂oth an affordability and anti-poverty mechanism,鈥� Butkus said. 鈥淟awmakers understand the rising costs associated with raising children. With recent years, lawmakers and advocacy groups come to us with poverty alleviation really as a focus,鈥� she said. But addressing refundability tends to be one of the differences along party lines, she noted, as some legislators view fully refundable tax credits to be an anti-work incentive.

Vinh points out that there is not strong evidence that the fully refundable child tax credit negatively impacted workforce participation, and on the 2021 expanded tax credit found a 鈥渕uted鈥� impact on employment.

But there are limits to what states can do to address poverty. They are required to balance their budgets and cannot run a deficit 鈥� unlike the federal government 鈥� and cannot do deficit financing. 鈥淲ith the upcoming changes to Medicaid and SNAP, states have to take on additional cost sharing,鈥� Vinh said. 鈥淭o the extent that states have to find money in their budget, these kinds of gaps at the federal level create some concern about being able to fund more ambitious tax credit policies.鈥� 

States that do opt for a generous child tax credit may see its impact relatively quickly. Butkus cites Minnesota as an example, explaining that in 2023, the state legislature used a budget surplus to聽 implement a child tax credit of $1,750 per child; in 2024 this was offered as an , a similar model to the checks in the mail that families received in 2021. from the Columbia center cite that this change will cut child poverty by one-third.

In neighboring Iowa, though, the legislature opted for a described as 鈥渁 total windfall to the state鈥檚 of households.鈥�

Ohio, too, opted to go in a different direction, despite having a Republican governor who championed the proposed child tax credit. In 2025, the child tax credit was nixed, but the state for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium. The state also switched to a , which, like Iowa鈥檚 changes, lowered taxes for the wealthiest residents..

McNally plans to keep pushing for the expanded child tax credit in Ohio, though she is aware that the outcome of the 2026 governor election will likely foretell whether she can gain momentum. Part of what she wants to do is continue selling it to families, who tend to tune out conversations about taxes. 

鈥淭axes are complicated, dry and dull,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when I say 鈥榬emember when you got the check in the mail, once a month from the federal government? You want to do that again?鈥� They said 鈥榦h that is awesome.鈥� They just want to get that money in the mail so they can buy groceries. They don鈥檛 care what is happening behind the scenes to get that.鈥�

]]> /zero2eight/a-record-share-of-u-s-workers-now-have-access-to-paid-leave/ Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1029493 This article was originally published in

A third of American workers now have access to some form of government-issued paid leave 鈥� the biggest share ever. 

The United States is one of only a handful of countries that doesn鈥檛 have a federal paid leave policy offering workers paid time off after the birth of a child or to seek medical care, for example, and access to unpaid leave is only about . In that dearth of federal action, states have moved ahead to pass since 2002, which now cover a third of the population. Ten of those were passed in the past decade, as support for paid leave ; three go into effect this year.

Some states鈥� paid family and medical leave programs expand beyond time off to care for a new baby or to get medical treatment. Last year, Colorado expanded its paid leave program to include an for parents of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. In Oregon, also qualify for paid leave. Connecticut offers paid leave if you鈥檙e serving as an .

According to research from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit advocacy group, the 14 laws now cover 32 percent of private-sector workers, an estimated 46 million people. Of those covered, a third are women, a third are men and another third are parents. Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have especially benefited 鈥� 55 percent have paid leave through their state programs, as do 41 percent of Latinx workers due to a concentration of these communities in states that have enacted programs. 

Paid leave laws are in 13 blue states and the District of Columbia: California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware and Minnesota.

Though other workers may receive paid leave from their employers, workers of color 鈥� and especially women of color 鈥� are less likely to be in jobs that offer any paid leave. That鈥檚 one of the reasons advocates have pointed to a state or federal system as an equalizer that could improve access. 

鈥淎ll workers will at some point need paid leave, whether for their own health or to care for loved ones. But when access is not guaranteed, the workers least likely to have paid leave also tend to be those who are likely to face greater health and caregiving challenges and have fewer financial resources to fall back on,鈥� the National Partnership for Women & Families noted in its report. 

Low-wage workers, , have to paid family and medical leave from their employers than do high-wage workers.

鈥淭his creates a double bind for low-wage workers who often can鈥檛 take off unpaid time because they lack savings or might lose their job if they do. This inequity especially impacts women who are more likely to be low-wage workers and at the same time do two-thirds of unpaid caregiving,鈥� said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, a senior fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families and one of the authors of the report. 

Large paid leave campaigns in six more states 鈥� Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia 鈥� could, if passed, bring the share of American workers covered to 44 percent, the national partnership estimated.

The most imminent of those is a proposal in Virginia. Last month, lawmakers in the Virginia House and Senate that are likely to be signed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who called for passing a state program in her State of the Commonwealth speech this year. 

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are hoping to reignite momentum behind a paid leave bill that has support. Lawmakers in and are also considering a bill this session. And both Nevada and New Mexico have come close: In Nevada, a paid leave bill passed in the legislature last year was by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and in New Mexico, a paid leave bill passed the House last year .

At the federal level, part of the momentum of the past decade has come from men 鈥� 鈥� pushing for more paid leave access. During the Biden administration, the United States got to passing a federal paid leave policy before it was removed from a spending bill. Now during the Trump administration, lawmakers made permanent a who voluntarily offer paid leave to certain employees. 

So while the issue does have bipartisan support, Republicans and Democrats remain at odds about what form a federal paid leave policy should take. At a , U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Pennsylvania Republican who has a newborn, said his wife is able to care for their daughter because of her company鈥檚 paid leave policy. 

鈥淲e know that this practice makes an important difference for many in our community. Unfortunately, paid family leave has been out of reach for millions of Americans who are hoping to grow their families,鈥� he said. 

But while state bills are 鈥渆ncouraging,鈥� Mackenzie said it is also 鈥渄ifficult for state administrators and private-sector benefits managers to navigate the patchwork of paid leave policies across different states. While one program may work in Maryland, Alabama likely has its own workforce challenges to manage. One state鈥檚 approach should not be forced upon another鈥檚 workforce, or vice versa.鈥� 

For paid leave, he said, 鈥渢here is no silver bullet solution.鈥� 

Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of Paid Leave for All, a national advocacy organization pushing for federal paid family and medical leave, said she is 鈥渉eartened to see there is bipartisan interest and dialogue鈥� on the subject. 

But, she added, 鈥渢here are states that will likely never pass paid leave, so as long as there isn’t a federal guarantee, this is going to create a system and have and have nots that will just continue to grow inequities.鈥�

was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of . .

]]> /zero2eight/children-deserve-physical-and-emotional-safety-in-maine-ice-threatens-that/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1029466 I am the mother of two children who attend public school in Lisbon, Maine. I’m also a preschool teacher at a licensed child care center. I love children and my community. That is why this moment is so difficult. 

Over the past six years, my own children and many young people in Maine have experienced  violence, terror and educational disruption. From the COVID pandemic and its aftermath, to the lockdowns after the Lewiston mass shooting and the regular practice of active shooter drills, many in our community are living on edge. 

Some lockdown drills required the entire kindergarten class to crowd together in the bathroom in their classroom and remain still and silent. Five year olds were trained not to respond to a knock on the door, and to only come out when they heard an announcement over the public address system. My son called it “Kansas Clover,” which we later learned meant “campus closure.”

Our children and families are already worried about school safety. In the past few months, Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents have made things so much worse. 

In September, immigration officers in a Portland 鈥檚 driveway arrested a parent who had just dropped off his child. This sent shock waves throughout the community. It solidified that we in child care needed to raise our voices to protect children and families. We also realized we needed to provide support for child care providers, educators, hospital and health care workers, and people who work for public institutions. Their physical and emotional safety is at risk. 

Further underscored this need, creating widespread fear in our communities. Local schools saw in January because of these concerns.

This fear works its way to impact even the youngest in the community. In my own classroom, we have noticed an increase in stress behaviors during the enhanced ICE occupation, as well as in the days and weeks following the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good amid the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis. Students who do not normally act out have been yelling, crying and throwing tantrums noticeably more.

From church members to family members to families in our child care center, people are noticing a difference. Parents are making emergency communications plans in case ICE creates a disruption that leaves them unable to pick up their child. Schools and students have noticed their classmates stop showing up to school, and do not know where they are.

All children deserve affordable, accessible, high quality education in physically and emotionally safe environments. This cannot happen when officials are deputized to enter sacred spaces, profile, detain or arrest parents, caregivers and young people. Learning and fear cannot coexist. 

This isn鈥檛 surprising.

For decades, federal administrations led by Republicans and Democrats prohibited immigration enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals. Policies were built on the premise that everyone should be able to access services supporting life and wellbeing without fear. It was common sense that children needed safe spaces where fear would not find them.

Unfortunately, one of the first actions of the current administration was to reverse these policies. They sought to rationalize their actions by pushing harmful and false narratives linking immigrants with criminality. But no one benefits when one group of people is maligned, targeted and pushed to the margins of society. It only hurts the people in our communities.

We need action at every level to respond to these threats and protect our children. Our elected officials can lead through legislation, such as in Maine which would prohibit ICE from entering public schools, child care centers, libraries and hospitals without a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge. 

Local mutual aid groups are working overtime to make sure that affected communities are able to get food, medicine and baby products delivered when the threat of racial profiling by ICE is too great to leave home, regardless of citizenship status. Members of my own community are getting notarized to help create formal arrangements for children in case anything happens to their parents. This kind of action must continue and expand to protect children from future harm.

There’s a lot that we parents can’t control in the world to keep our children safe. However, we have an opportunity to speak up against ICE terrorizing our schools, child care centers and medical facilities. We should act swiftly to do so. Whether you are an educator, a lawmaker or a parent who cares about your community, speak out against ICE. All of us can contribute to the safety and future of our children and our communities.

]]> /zero2eight/helping-student-parents-thrive-in-an-era-of-unpredictable-federal-aid/ Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=zero2eight&p=1029237 Correction appended Mar. 9, 2026

Kela King had two children by the time she was 17 years old. She dropped out of high school, received her GED, and for 13 years has struggled to complete her college degree as a working mother.

When King, now 35 and a mother of three, failed two classes last year because she was focused on her children鈥檚 needs, she wondered if she was ever going to graduate. But with the support of the student parent success program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 鈥� which helped her navigate her studies while working 鈥� she聽hopes to walk across the stage in December 2026.

鈥淚’m building this legacy,鈥� King said. 鈥淓ven if I don鈥檛 get to where I want to be, you’ll be able to see the legacy just in the building.鈥�

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For King and many other student parents, attending college can be a very tough road. Obstacles like financial stress, balancing coursework with family responsibilities and finding affordable, quality child care make it difficult for students raising children. 

Parents make up about and according to , which provides research and resources for pregnant and parenting students. They represent a diverse population, including a significant share of , , and individuals from Student parents face especially steep challenges and are than those without children to leave college before completing their degrees.

These students have unique needs, and a growing body of points to that colleges and universities can take to help them flourish and graduate. Successful practices include: Offering child care on or near campus with financial assistance to cover or subsidize the cost; providing access to food and other basic necessities; building a student parent support center; and creating opportunities for peer community building. 

There鈥檚 a key 鈥� Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) 鈥� that helps colleges and universities support students like King by subsidizing child care and funding support services for student parents. But the program has come under threat recently. Last year, the federal government abruptly CCAMPIS grants for about a dozen colleges that depend on the funding. 

The future of the program鈥檚 funding has been precarious for some time, but in February, after facing potential elimination under the Trump administration for months, Congress approved the final 2026 federal budget, maintaining CCAMPIS funding at , the same as it was in 2025. This brought relief to some higher education institutions, but not for the colleges that saw their grants terminated.

Financial cuts to programs that support student parents will certainly hamper efforts to serve these students 鈥� especially through child care 鈥� but advocates say there are actions campus leaders can do to help them persist and thrive.

鈥淐hild care is huge, but it鈥檚 not the only thing that’s necessary for parenting students to be successful,鈥� said Nicole Lynn Lewis, executive director of , a nonprofit that supports student parents in college. 鈥淲e also want to see, across the institution, real intentionality around supporting these students. And sometimes that’s low hanging fruit at no cost or low cost.鈥� 

For example, if a higher education institution simply shows student parents in its marketing material, it would send a message 鈥渢hat I belong here,鈥� she said.

While more research on outcomes is needed, said Theresa Anderson, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, some have shown that initiatives such as a student parent resource coordinator, regular peer meetings and monthly stipends help by increasing graduation rates and offering a . Anderson has also found in her that parents who receive a college degree typically earn more than those of similar socioeconomic status without a degree, which suggests the importance of bolstering support for student parents. 

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The question for colleges and universities is how to translate research on what helps student parents thrive into reality 鈥� and in ways that suit their specific type of institution. About half of student parents attend community colleges, while 20% attend private, for-profit institutions and a combined 29% attend public or private nonprofit institutions, according to by the SPARK Collaborative. They tend to have as high or higher grade point averages than their non-parent peers, but they are also to graduate from college within six years than those peers. 

Changing that dropout rate is one of the goals of Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. Over the past four years, it has stepped up its services for student parents. The institution鈥檚 progress includes big-ticket items such as reopening its child care facility 鈥� which closed during COVID 鈥� and starting a that offers scholarships and wraparound services, including case management and academic coaching. Howard has also offered changes resulting in smaller, but still significant benefits, such as priority class registration.

For its efforts, the college last year was awarded a by Generation Hope. The seal, which the organization has given to 22 higher education institutions and nonprofits, recognizes 鈥渆xemplary, measurable efforts in supporting parenting students.鈥�

Celeste Ampaah, 23, and the mother of a 5-year old, said she first felt unseen on the Howard college campus. 鈥淚 didn’t even know that there were any other parents on campus, especially people that were my age,鈥� she said. And she wasn鈥檛 aware of the resources the college offered. 

She was leery about letting her professors know she had a child, afraid it would seem like she was asking for special privileges or making excuses.

鈥淚 just stopped going to class if I had a hardship,鈥� she said. 

But that changed once she connected with Howard鈥檚 resources for student parents and became a parent scholar. Now she proudly carries the backpack that proclaims 鈥淪tudent Parent鈥� below the Howard logo and reaches out to other parents. 

鈥淚’m not ashamed anymore,鈥� she said.

Priority class registration is one benefit Ampaah says is an enormous help. 鈥淏eing able to plan my classes and work around my schedule before everyone else jumps on board feels like a luxury,鈥� she said. 

There is room for improvement, she noted, including displaying resources for parents on the college鈥檚 website more prominently, and training faculty and staff to be more aware of student parents on campus and the difficulties they face.

Some of the obstacles that affect student parents, such as transportation costs, also impact many low-income students, so the goal is to connect those students with the services already available, said Maya Mechenbier, a fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University who co-authored a recent of the needs of student parents in Maryland. 

In an interview for the study, Mechenbier recalled, 鈥渙ne mother shared that having to walk across campus or use public transportation while quite pregnant was a big barrier for her. Had she known about transportation subsidies sooner, she might have not had to drop out at that time.鈥�

For that reason priority parking for student parents is a welcome benefit, something California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly), a four-year university that is part of the California State University system offers. 

The university has also garnered the FamilyU Seal for its parent-friendly services. Much of the institution鈥檚 progress has been led by Tina Cheuk, an associate professor of education, who was a student parent herself when in graduate school at Stanford University.

It was about a decade ago, and she felt completely isolated, Cheuk said. She recalled asking for a quiet place to breastfeed her daughter 鈥� a lactation room 鈥� and being told it simply wasn鈥檛 possible.

She threatened to file a case with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights and ultimately received the space she needed. And that started her on the road to become a student parent advocate at Stanford and later at Cal Poly.

A student parent at Cal Poly won鈥檛 run into Cheuk鈥檚 problem today, as the university now offers . There is also on-site child care and a coordinator for student parents within the student affairs office. In addition, there are community events for families 鈥� and at graduation, children receive some regalia and walk across the stage with their parents.  

Some of these supports are mandated under California state law, which that public colleges and universities give student parents priority registration and provide a 鈥渃learly visible鈥� on the institution鈥檚 website outlining resources available to such parents, as well as a designated support person.

The law, Cheuk said, 鈥渟erves as a minimum. But if all can meet that minimum, that is a signal to potential students that there are resources.鈥�

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More states and colleges are recognizing that in order to serve student parents, it鈥檚 important to about their lived experiences. But one of the sticking points around serving this population, experts say, is simply identifying who they are.

There is no federal mandate to collect such numbers and a tool that many colleges used 鈥� a question on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form that asked if students had dependents 鈥� when the form was simplified for the 2024-25 academic year. 

While the FAFSA number wouldn鈥檛 have included international students or those who didn鈥檛 apply for financial aid, it was one data point.

鈥淲ithout such data, it鈥檚 difficult to understand the characteristics of those students, which programs they’re in, and where they’re facing roadblocks and barriers,鈥� Anderson said.

Five states 鈥� California, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas 鈥� requiring student parents to be counted. The Urban Institute has awarded grants to 23 higher education institutions, including Cal Poly, through its , as an effort to develop best practices for colleges to identify student parents in their data systems. 

For example, Cheuk said students could be asked if they have dependents when filling out an intake enrollment; California community colleges already do that during their application process. 

Some colleges 鈥� even ones that implement best practices 鈥� are struggling in the face of rollbacks. UW-Milwaukee has had an on-site child care facility for more than 50 years and a longstanding wraparound and scholarship program aimed at serving student parents, said Rachel Kubczak, the manager of UW-Milwaukee鈥檚 who has been working with student parents at the institution for the past decade. She is also King鈥檚 advisor.

The child care facility is still operating robustly, but when UW-Milwaukee last year, Kuczak said, many students had to scramble to cover the child-care subsidies they lost through that program or simply reduce their child-care hours, which affected their ability to work and go to classes.

In addition, the university鈥檚 wraparound program was supported through one generous grant from 2005 that ended in 2021. That left Kubczak, as the only full-time staff member, struggling to figure out how to serve these students. 

But even without the funding she needs, Kubczak offers crucial types of support 鈥� often partnering with other campus centers 鈥� such as welcome orientations, coffee and pastry mornings, parenting workshops and assistance in navigating the system.

And she can chalk up some wins, she said, such as getting diaper changing decks in most bathrooms on campus, as well as safe and comfortable lactation rooms. 

There are also success stories, like King鈥檚, Kubczak added. King, who is majoring in social work and minoring in American Sign Language is on track to graduate this year.

鈥淎s a teen mom, I鈥檝e been counted out by family members saying I couldn鈥檛 do it,鈥� said King. But Kubczak 鈥減ushed me and supported me.鈥�

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Kela King鈥檚 job and marital status. She鈥檚 currently married and working at a nonprofit.

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