Coalition Says State Needs $700 Million To Address A “Crisis”
Advocates of affordable child care are organizing a “Morning without child care” rally on Tuesday March 15th at child care centers across the state, including a New Britain rally at the Human Resources Agency (HRA) on Clinton Street.
Coalition leaders, who include New Britain Board of Education Vice Chair Merrill Gay, executive director of the CT Early Childhood Alliance, are calling for a $700 million investment in child care services. “Connecticut must invest in the entire system. Simply raising the rates for state funded programs and Care 4 Kids alone will have no benefit to the majority of children, and close to 80 per cent of the industry, including the family providers providing the bulk of Connecticut infant and toddler care.”
Early care centers in eight cities “will open late so that staff and families can participate in rallies to draw attention to the crisis in child care.” a Childcare for Connecticut’s Future coalition statement said. “Programs across Connecticut are so short staffed that classrooms are closed despite waiting lists of children. That means parents can’t find and afford early care and education. At the same time, employers and businesses have a workforce shortage. The labor force participation rate is dropping. Connecticut’s economic future is at risk and we need a bold investment to address these issues.”
Citing surveys that show growing staff shortages and low pay for workers, the coalition is calling for pay increases for providers in all settings, competitive wages and to retain high quality staff, increased funding for families so they can afford early care and education and funds to renovate and build additional care capacity
Last fall Merrill Gay confirmed that infant and toddler child care shortages are severe in New Britain. “We have licensed spots for only 8 out of every 100 children under 3 in New Britain,” he said. Statewide Data compiled by a Trinity College student for child care advocates shows a deficit of 2,786 for children three and under in New Britain. Neighboring West Hartford, a town of comparable size, comes up 1,234 short. Most working families are priced out of appropriate child care services in New Britain, particularly care for infants and toddlers.
Without new child care investments working and middle income families with young children face high costs “with the average high-quality program costing upwards of $17,000 for preschool and $22,000 a year for infants and toddlers. The child care coalition says addressing the child care crisis with new funding will allow Connecticut’s economy to expand as jobs in demand are filled.
The child care coalition formed last November and leaders pointed to President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation as a way to address the state’s crisis in services for young children. The Build Back Better bill, however, has been blocked in the U.S. Senate in the face of unanimous Republican opposition and the intransigence of two members of the Democratic caucus, Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
