Subsidies for working poor are vital

Editorial from AZ Republic on July 27, 2010

Bill Berk – Tucson

Thank you for the attention you are bringing to the travesty involving child-care subsidies for the working poor (“State must not let subsidies die for those in need,” Editorial, Monday). The number of children currently on the waiting list can be counted. What can’t be counted is the number of children being left home alone or with unsuitable caregivers while their parents attempt to earn a living and support their families. The safety of all our children is at stake, yet the governor and Legislature seemingly turn a blind eye to the struggles of working parents as they try to better their lives.

Parents without access to safe, affordable and reliable child care are unable to work. Instead, they stop working and access more state-funded programs. While funding child care may seem expensive, the cost pales compared to supporting a family on welfare.

Preschools give jobless a hand

by Sonu Munshi – Jul. 17, 2010

The Arizona Republic

Imagine researching a company to a T, ironing your best duds for an interview and then taking your snotty-nosed toddler who is likely to cry or scream along to face a potential employer in an interview.

Peoria resident George Gormsen doesn’t have to imagine. The 31-year-old Web designer had the pleasure twice after he found himself in the unemployment market between November and June.

With his wife, Renee, working during the day, his daughter, Lorelai, now 14 months old, tagged along on interviews.

“That just didn’t look professional at all,” Gormsen said.

Shockingly, he didn’t land either position. He’s sure Lorelai’s presence was at least part of the reason.

But Gormsen is now back to work at a Peoria car dealership, and he can’t thank a Peoria day-care provider enough.

The Peoria dad was able to interview without Lorelai in tow, thanks to a free trial day at Sunrise Preschools.

The nearly 30-year-old Valley preschool, along with Tots Unlimited, another preschool and child-care center owned by the same company, is offering Interview Care, a free, no-strings-attached service to Valley parents of children ages 6 weeks to 12 years.

Dana Vela, president of Sunrise Preschools, hopes the offer of free licensed child care for unemployed parents to use when they go for an interview helps the community.

“There is a definite need out there,” she said.

The creative offer could have a longer-range benefit, helping to boost enrollment at a time when preschools are struggling as parents lose jobs.

The offer is open at all Valley locations on a space-available basis for an undetermined period.

Parents must make reservations in advance for up to four hours of care. Immunizations and other information are required.

State must not let subsidies die for those in need

Jul. 19, 2010 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

Child-care subsidies for the working poor are a rational response to a real need. This fact collided with a state budget deficit that required tough cuts. The crash left Arizona’s child-care subsidy program on life support.

It should not be allowed to fade away.
As the number of children being served shrinks and the waiting list of eligible children grows, Arizona needs to take a look at what can be done to preserve this program, which shows a commitment to things that are highly valued in our society: hard work and family.

For people with good-paying jobs, child care takes a big, but unavoidable bite out of the family budget.

For low-income earners, the cost of safe child care – as much as $5,000 to $8,000 a year per child – can be out of reach. Without a subsidy from the state, these working families can be forced to give up work or put children in unsafe settings.

Since February 2009, when Arizona imposed a waiting list for working families seeking child-care subsidies, the number of children in the state program went from about 48,000 children to 31,900 this April, according to the Department of Economic Security. If the waiting list is maintained, the number served will drop to 27,600 by December, says Steve Meissner, director of communications for the DES.

By that time, the number of children who are eligible but are not allowed in the program will exceed 19,000. Currently, about 10,300 are on the waiting list, with an additional 4,000 eligible but not included on the list.

Bruce Liggett, executive director of the Arizona Child Care Association, says calling it a “waiting list” is a benign description that creates the impression of a “one child out, one child in” process.

In fact, for the working poor, the waiting list is really a turn-away list, he says.
Liggett says that if the number of children served continues to shrink, the program could lose federal matching money.

The state continues to face a deficit, and more tough decisions will have to be made. But preserving a program that includes a big federal match makes sense.

Moving children off the waiting list and into the program to maintain the current level of funding would be a good temporary solution. When economic times improve in the state, the goal should be to increase investment in a program that helps keep children safe while parents work.

Cuts to Child Care Subsidy Thwart More Job Seekers

This article was just printed in the New York Times;

TUCSON — Able-bodied, outgoing and accustomed to working, Alexandria Wallace wants to earn a paycheck. But that requires someone to look after her 3-year-old daughter, and Ms. Wallace, a 22-year-old single mother, cannot afford child care.

Last month, she lost her job as a hair stylist after her improvised network of baby sitters frequently failed her, forcing her to miss shifts. She qualifies for a state-run subsidized child care program. But like many other states, Arizona has slashed that program over the last year, relegating Ms. Wallace’s daughter, Alaya, to a waiting list of nearly 11,000 eligible children.

Now, in this moment of painful budget cuts, with Arizona and more than a dozen other states placing children eligible for subsidized child care on waiting lists, only two kinds of families are reliably securing aid: those under the supervision of child protective services — which looks after abuse and neglect cases — and those receiving cash assistance.

Ms. Wallace abhors the thought of going on cash assistance, a station she associates with lazy people who con the system. Yet this has become the only practical route toward child care.

So, on a recent afternoon, she waited in a crush of beleaguered people to submit the necessary paperwork. Her effort to avoid welfare through work has brought her to welfare’s door.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” she says. “I fall back to — I can’t say ‘being a lowlife’ — but being like the typical person living off the government. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to use this as a backbone, so I can develop my own backbone.”

As the American social safety net absorbs its greatest challenge since the Great Depression, state budget cuts are weakening crucial components. Subsidized child care — financed by federal and state governments — is a conspicuous example.

Despite a substantial increase in federal support for subsidized child care, which has enabled some states to stave off cuts, others have trimmed support, and most have failed to keep pace with rising demand, according to poverty experts and federal officials.

That has left swelling numbers of low-income families struggling to reconcile the demands of work and parenting, just as they confront one of the toughest job markets in decades.

The cuts to subsidized child care challenge the central tenet of the welfare overhaul adopted in 1996, which imposed a five-year lifetime limit on cash assistance. Under the change, low-income parents were forced to give up welfare checks and instead seek paychecks, while being promised support — not least, subsidized child care — that would enable them to work.