Nursery teacher's eye cut

Written by Jennifer Fernandez

BURLINGTON — Omira Thompson sat on the floor Wednesday in the early childhood classroom at First Presbyterian Child Development Center, feeding two male students lunch.

One of them winced and tried to wipe his mouth with his bib, but Thompson laughed. “I don't think he likes pears,'' she said.

Thompson, the lead teacher in the early childhood classroom, is one of 32 teachers at the five-star children's home, which serves about 90 children from infants to six years old.

Across North Carolina, child care facilities like First Presbyterian Church will have to make difficult decisions in the coming months as the last of the federal pandemic aid runs out at the end of June. The money, first appropriated by Congress in 2020 during the tumultuous early days of the pandemic, helped the center pay teachers more through raises and bonuses. Some were even able to provide benefits, often for the first time. The grant was renewed in 2021 and also renewed last year.

If child care centers can't maintain that level of pay, teachers may leave to make more money at places like Target or Starbucks, child care advocates say.

Without additional government funding, child care centers are expected to cut teachers, close classrooms, increase tuition and fees, or a combination of these measures, according to a study of child care providers released last week. More than 1,500 child care facilities in North Carolina could close, according to a study commissioned by the North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council.

“The work we do matters. We deserve respect. We deserve to be paid for the work we do,” said Davina, director of First Presbyterian Child Development Center. Boldin-Woods said. “But more importantly, our children deserve it.”

cliff'

Pandemic assistance from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 has helped increase salaries and benefits for child care providers and subsidized child care costs for many families.

Last year, Congress authorized the use of $150 million in discretionary funds from federal pandemic aid to continue stabilization grants.

The so-called funding cliff, originally expected in December 2023, is now expected to occur in June, when that funding ends.

Child care providers, along with lawmakers from both parties, state officials, and state chambers of commerce, have added funding to the state budget last year to make up for the loss of federal pandemic aid meant to help child care providers get raises and maintain raises. A petition to Congress to include $300 million was unsuccessful. Staff will receive bonuses for another year.

“For as long as I've been in the industry, early education professionals have struggled with a shortage of childcare workers and a competitive market for teachers with better pay and benefits,” said Andrew, owner of Providence Preparatory School.・H. “Sandy” Weathersby said. He spoke Tuesday in Charlotte to the North Carolina General Assembly's Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services.

“But we haven't been able to find a solution because this problem is bigger than us. We need help,” he said.

Impact on the workforce

Childcare plays an important role in the economy. Parents cannot work if they do not have a place to leave their children.

Another survey last year of registered voters in North Carolina showed that 26% of parents with children under 5 left their jobs because they couldn't find affordable child care.

Six in 10 of these same workers report taking time off from work due to child care issues, according to results from a telephone and online survey of 500 people commissioned by the North Carolina Chamber Foundation.

Three in 10 people do not pursue job training or continuing education due to lack of affordable childcare, and 37% refuse to get a job, get a promotion, or change jobs because of the high cost of childcare.

“Affordable, high-quality child care supports working parents, helps businesses recruit and retain talent, and gives North Carolina children the skills to succeed in school and life.” ,” NC Chamber Foundation President Meredith Archie said in a statement. When the survey results are announced. “The health of North Carolina’s economy is directly related to the strength of its workforce. This study shows that North Carolinians understand the critical role of child care and that it is a top priority for the state. It shows what you want.”

The chamber found that a majority of Americans, across political lines, want states to increase funding to ensure workers have access to affordable child care. .

A longitudinal study of children who received high-quality early childhood care in Michigan found that they were more likely to earn a living wage and own a home as adults than children who did not receive that care. It turned out to be high.

“It's not a parenting issue. It's not a parent issue. It's an economic issue,” Boldin Woods said. “So unless early education and child care works, the economy literally doesn't work.”

Educators, not babysitters

Children's brains are growing at a rate of nearly 1 million neural connections per second, and the first few years are a critical time for children, according to the Center for Child Development at Harvard University.

“Every child's environment during their first three years lays the foundation for the rest of their lives,” Weathersby said. “That means the cake will be baked by the time the child is three years old.”

Boldin-Woods said children spend eight to 10 hours a day in early education programs “discovering and learning things that will put them on the path to success.”

“I don't think people understand the importance of the work that's being done, and I don't think they understand the long-term impact and far-reaching impact that early education has,” she says.

According to the Buffett Institute for Early Childhood Research at the University of Nebraska, researchers around the world have studied the effects of high-quality child care and education. Information from more than 150 scientific studies shows that the right care can have significant short- and long-term effects on everything from cognitive and social-emotional development to school performance and income. It shows that there is. It can also reduce anti-social behavior, reduce welfare participation and even reduce trouble with the law.

Research also shows how important brain development is to health in later life.
North Carolina's groundbreaking Abecedarian Project followed children from low-income families receiving high-quality child care over several decades. They found that children who received better care were healthier as adults, had lower rates of heart disease and diabetes, and had better mental health.

find a solution

“Creative strategies are underway,” said Janet Singerman, president and CEO of Child Care Resources and co-leader of the Child Care Resources and Referral Council.

The Kentucky General Assembly passed a bill in 2022 that sets aside $15 million to create public-private partnerships between employers and the state to help families afford quality child care.

States from Montana to Maine are increasing their eligibility for child care subsidies through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant program, according to a Feb. 21 article in the Center for American Progress.

Several states are pouring money into stabilizing their child care systems, with California investing $600 million to raise wages for child care workers and Minnesota $316 million.

In North Carolina's budget passed last year, lawmakers included $525,000 to increase capacity in family-based children's homes and support for a $900,000 pilot program where families, the state, and providers would share the costs. , approached childcare in several ways.

The budget also included increases in child care subsidies, which were based on outdated market data, most of which were federal funds used to offset costs to parents. .

The reimbursement will cover 30 to 50 percent of the cost of classroom space, said Ariel Ford, director of child development and early education at the state Department of Health and Human Services. But you can't run a business on 50% of your costs, she told lawmakers.

Ford said Congress should revisit the grant increase when the General Assembly reconvenes later this month.

“What we know is that current child care subsidies are based on what local families can afford. But that's not the only real cost,” Ford said in Tuesday's testimony. told the committee. “What that means…is that child care costs continue to be pushed down because we can no longer raise the costs that families can afford. That means we can't pay any more for teachers to be in the classroom. That’s the thing.”

Mr. Weathersby offers advice for local governments and businesses, from employer-funded tuition and tuition discounts for early childhood educators to tax credits for tenure-track employees and tax breaks for employees who provide certain benefits to child care workers. proposed several ways in which they could work together to solve the problem.

Closing has already begun

Based on responses to a survey by the Child Care Resource and Referral Council, the anticipated closures will leave approximately 92,000 children without access to child care. This number is on top of the hundreds of facilities that have closed in the past year alone, and the thousands of children who have already lost their places.

The number of licensed facilities fell from 5,500 in February 2023 to 5,166 in February of this year, according to state data. Enrollment during this period decreased from 220,303 to 214,088. The number of teachers has also decreased by 386.

Many of the institutions that plan to remain open will have to raise tuition and fees, expect to reduce staff, consolidate or close classrooms, reduce the number of children they serve, or close altogether. He said he would be forced to close.

“There's no question that we need to invest more in child care across this country. It's an underfunded system,” Singerman said.

She described the survey responses as “sobering”.

“Child care is an issue that we all need to be involved in if we care about what's happening to our children and to working parents,” Singerman said.