Dear Northern Virginia Legislator,
We write to you - and the entire NOVA General Assembly Delegation - as leaders in community-based philanthropy across our region to share our deep concern about the ongoing struggle that low-income Virginians have accessing affordable childcare. We know that this is an essential service for Virginia’s workers and a critical income-producing small-business sector across Northern Virginia.
The pandemic has only further exacerbated a longstanding issue. In census tracts where the median income is below $50,000, there are just 32 early childhood slots for every 100 young children. In 2016, only 9% of children eligible for a state subsidy received one. In NOVA, only 39% of providers have agreed to accept subsidies. In 2019, just 29% of three and four year-olds at or near poverty in NOVA were enrolled in preschool. This is the second lowest rate in the nation [Ready for Kindergarten, Ready for Life, CFNOVA’s Insight RegionTM].
We urge you to support legislation that targets strategic actions and investments that support this foundational service industry. This is more important than ever as we approach the end of the second full year of the pandemic and settle in for what looks to be a much longer haul than most predicted. We request the following:
1. Revise the state childcare subsidy program to ensure that providers are appropriately compensated and have significantly reduced paperwork burdens.
- Increase the state subsidy amounts to provide a financial incentive for providers to participate in the program.
- Set rates using cost-of-quality modeling rather than simple market rate.
- Direct that subsidies be provided as a “contract for blocks of slots” rather than “per-child vouchers” to reduce administrative burden and improve provider cash flow.
- Building on emergency policy changes, continue, at least through June 2024, the following childcare subsidy program adjustments:
- Families may earn up to 85% SMI
- Job search is a qualifying activity
- Elimination of the family co-pay
- Maintain the increased number of pre-approved absences (Young children are not eligible for the vaccine and are more prone, anyway, to catching illnesses. It seems premature to go back to pre-pandemic levels of allowed absences.)
2. Take the following actions to ensure that childcare can compete with public schools for teachers and assistants:
- Create an opportunity for childcare workers to participate in VRS or some other pooled retirement program.
- Align state agencies to ensure seamless access for providers to the G3 training program (which provides free tuition for CDAs through the community colleges) and Virginia’s ACA program of health insurance.
3. To ensure that VPI dollars are fully utilized in all jurisdictions, ease the requirement that VPI local match funds must be appropriated through local governments.
- Currently several NOVA jurisdictions are unable to fully use their VPI allocations due to this requirement.
We are aligned with early learning positions held by Voices for Virginia’s Children, the Virginia Chamber’s Blueprint 2030, VACO, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, and the Virginia Promise Partnership. Please do not hesitate to contact Mary Hynes, Arlington Community Foundation, maryhhynes@icloud.com, if you have additional questions.
We thank you for your support of this important issue.
Signed,
