Child care wait lists have been a fact of life in a number of states in recent years.  In February, 2009, 19 states had waiting lists or had frozen intake into their programs (meaning that they were turning away children, even if they were not maintaining a list.) That was up from 17, the year before. So, it was particularly pleasing to hear an announcement a couple of weeks back that Pennsylvania had eliminated the waiting list for its subsidized child care programs. This was a considerable feat since the state generally has 8,000 to 11,000 children on standby for these programs.  

The infusion of $2 billion in Recovery Act funding, over a two-year period, has been key to turning the situation around – at least temporarily. In fact, federal dollars permitted at least ten states to reduce the number of children waiting. Some eliminated the wait altogether, according to Helen Blank, director of leadership and public policy for the National Women’s Law Center.

 A few examples from a new report on supporting state child care efforts, published by the Center:

·      At the end of last year, Louisiana used $3 million of its Recovery Act funds to offer services to 2,700 children, delaying the need for a waiting list from October to December.

·      In Maryland, $15 million in ARRA money delayed implementing a waiting list until February 2010.

·      In New Mexico, $13.9 million staved off the need for a waiting list until January.

·      Arkansas used $22 million to provide child care services to 12,232 children, eliminating the 8,000 child waiting list that had existed back in March 2009.

 What happens when the stimulus dollars are all gone? Ah, that may be the cloud inside of this silver lining. In states where budgets have been hardest hit by revenue declines, the momentary relief provided by ARRA funds has already worn off. Arizona used its stimulus dollars to avoid eliminating child care help for 9230 children (on an average monthly basis) between February and December 2009. But in January the list had grown back to 11,000 and it was expected to hit 17,000 by June. Though the Obama administration has recommended a $1.6 billion increase in funding for child care, that appropriation is still up in the air.

It may be that states will see a more lasting bang for the buck when they made longer term investments with the ARRA money in addition to dealing with current needs. New Jersey used $2 million of its money to help child care centers meet health and safety licensing requirements. Indiana has used some for the design and maintenance of safer playgrounds. Arkansas built a better computer system because its paper-based billing systems were standing in the way of giving families better service and providers timely pay.

Pennsylvania, where the Recovery Act contributed $60 million in additional payments over a two year period, used some of its money to serve more children, but it also used stimulus dollars to improve the quality of infant and toddler care. Pilot projects were modeled after its very successful Keystone Stars program, which targets high poverty areas and rewards providers who have the best quality ratings with tiered add-on payments. The new infant and toddler pilots are also putting research about early childhood development into practice, integrating parents into the program more and providing a higher degree of parental support. “Moving to support high quality infant and toddler care is a good strategy,” says Blank. (photo at right) “It’s in the shortest supply and gets the least attention.”