Last week, the state’s Family and Social Services Administration announced reimbursement rate cuts for child care providers for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program. Beginning in November, providers will see their reimbursement rates lowered 10-35% based on the age of children they are serving. The rate cuts are part of series of recent changes impacting the stability of the child care sector. The CCDF and On My Way Pre-K programs already face significant wait lists, affecting families who rely on vouchers and providers who serve kids in the program. The recently announced rate cuts will further impact all families who need care, whether through CCDF or not. 

Providers will now face difficult choices: keep operating, likely at a loss; pass on increasingly unaffordable costs to families; ask already underpaid staff to take wage cuts; or close their doors. Families will lose access to care as providers reduce capacity. Businesses will lose employees who can no longer find care. The economic impact will be felt across the state.

Whether you are a parent, a provider, or a concerned community member, we are encouraging you to contact your legislators about the impact that child care funding cuts and wait lists are having on you or those close to you. Families and providers both want a system that supports children, with solutions that help parents afford care without devaluing the work of caregiving itself. While the state budget is tight, the child care system faces critical challenges, and we cannot back away from supporting providers and families now.