HOUSTON – Neomi Fletcher’s family is growing by two as she expects twins. Her 21-month-old daughter will soon become a big sister.
One of the first things Fletcher and her husband discussed when they learned their family of three was growing into five was trying to figure out child care. Her daughter’s child care costs roughly $1,000 a month.
“And so, when I think about adding two more children into our child care expenses to one, finding a center for them and making sure my older daughter can transition to a center that meets her academic needs as she ages, we’re looking at $3,000 to $4,000 a month to have all three of our children in a child care program,” Fletcher said. “And so for us, that just wasn’t sustainable. That’s about a third of our income. It’s almost double what we pay in our mortgage.”
She and her husband discussed the costs with her mom, who then offered to retire early and move in with them to avoid the daunting costs.
“She’s only 62 years old [and] still wanted to work about seven more years but she’s going to retire and come support us, so we don’t have to pay that expense,” she said.
The Fletchers aren’t alone.
According to the Annie E. Cassie Foundation, access to affordable quality child care is limited.
“The number of working parents and caregivers who said child care problems forced them to miss work in the previous week had never been higher than 60,000 before the pandemic. However, that threshold was eclipsed repeatedly beginning in 2020, hitting a record 104,000 in October 2022,” the report said.
The report used data from the National Database of Childcare Prices, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, and National Survey of Children’s Health to find that 12% of Texans with children had their jobs changed due to child care problems.
The report notes job changes as a person “quitting a job, not taking a job or greatly changing a job in the previous year.” The average annual costs, per the report, are $8,718.
Fletcher is the assistant director of early childhood education for Children At Risk, a non-partisan research and advocacy non-profit dedicated to understanding and addressing the root causes of child poverty and inequality. In her role, she oversees a number of child care facilities and helps low-income families apply for assistance through state-funded Workforce Solutions.
Workforce Solutions offers scholarships to parents that meet income requirements and pays for a portion of their child care costs. However, the agency is facing a significant backlog. When parents visit the group’s website, they’ll come across a waitlist notification letting them know the agency is “processing applications from September 2022.”
This is why Fletcher has had to turn parents away because she said while they’re compassionate, they can’t wait months for payment.
“We can’t right now,” Fletcher said. “Nine months is too long. If it were a shorter window, two to three months of a wait time, we might be able to make that exception.”
Workforce Solutions is currently funding child care scholarships for 30,000 children in the greater Houston area, which is about 19,000 families, said Michelle Castrow, the Workforce Solutions Senior Manager.
The organization attributes the backlog to several factors: pandemic disruptions, increase in demand, low unemployment, and inflation.
“What’s the reason behind the backlog?” asked KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun. “The increase in demand,” Castrow answered.
“Unemployment continues to be low and so we are well below 5%, so there are more people that are working. There’s an increase in demand on the child care. Part of the backlog is also a pandemic disruption. What I mean by that is, just like everything else, we hear about the supply chain disruption and in a way the child care industry had a significant pandemic child care disruption.”
To address the backlog, Castrow said the organization is looking to hire 35 full-time positions.
“Hopefully, we are, again, coming on the tail end of those disruptions and working towards really making everything faster, more efficient, more effective,” Castrow said.
Whenever the program gets back into operation, Fletcher believes there needs to be a large discussion on child care costs.
“I do think it’s a crisis and I think we need to talk about it as a crisis because there’s so much that happens in those first five years of a child’s life that sets the trajectory for their entire life,” Fletcher said.
Harris County leaders, in association with the United Way of Greater Houston and BakerRipley, announced a new program hoping to ease the burden of child care-- Early REACH.
“The Early REACH program is creating 800-1,000 new spaces within existing high-quality child care programs to serve additional children across Harris County,” the website said. “Developed with the input of stakeholders across the county, this program is meant to pilot a new approach to funding child care for young children, as well as support child care centers recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused many centers across the county to close.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON EARLY REACH:
When will children and families be able to enroll in Early REACH?
- The program is currently live. Click the “Apply” button at the bottom of the page to register for the Early Reach program.
How many spaces are available for this program?
- Up to 1,000 child care spaces are available. The program is currently adding child care spaces on a rolling basis.
What children are eligible to participate?
Children and families are eligible to participate if they meet these requirements:
- Residence: Live in Harris County
- Age: Children ages zero to four
- Demonstrate financial need via one of the following:
- Live in a family that makes 85% less of the State Median Income (SMI) (approx. $75,468 annually for a family of four)
- Live in an area of high need, according to the Social Vulnerability Index (high need considered to be .75 or above) or
- Are experiencing homelessness, or
- Are in foster care, or
- Receive WIC, SNAP, TANF, free or reduced lunch, or SSI income.
What is the cost of the program for a family?
- Families may enroll children aged 0 to 4 in the selected child care centers at no cost to them.
Is the Early REACH a voucher program?
- No, Early REACH is not a voucher program. Child care centers will receive funding in advance based on the number of child care spaces available.
Can my child participate in the program and stay at their current child care center?
- Yes, Early REACH will be working with at least 30 centers across Harris County. If your child’s current child care center is included, an eligibility specialist will determine if your child can participate in the program and stay at the current child care center.
How can I learn more about Early REACH when it launches?
- If you have questions about Early REACH not addressed above, please contact them through email at earlyreach@bakerripley.org or call 713-547-8280.