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Early Care

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... a year, the average cost for infant care in Missouri is nearly equal to tuition ... Missouri ranks 44th nationally in access to infant care. ACCESS ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Early Care


1
Early Care Education in Missouri
  • Landscape Legislative Opportunities in 2009

Carrie Shapton Partnership for Children Policy
Outreach Coordinator
December 9, 2008 CMC 2008 Missouri Policy Briefing
2
Why invest in early care education?Because
its good for Missouris economy!
  • Child care is an essential support for Missouris
    working families
  • 175,00 parents with children under the age of 6
    (68.2) depend on child care to go to work every
    day in Missouri.

Child care is a critical industry in Missouris
economy
  • The regulated child care industry employs 34,000
    people in 5,000 small businesses.

Quality early care education programs
prepare Missouris children for tomorrows
workforce
  • 90 of a childs brain develops before the age of
    5 and early childhood experiences have a critical
    impact on K-12 achievement.
  • To stay competitive in a global economy, Missouri
    must start investing today in tomorrows
    workforce.

3
Early Care Education Issues in MO
  • Quality Rating System
  • State Child Care Reimbursement Rates

AFFORDABILITY
QUALITY
ACCESS
  • State Child Care Assistance Eligibility

Voluntary Pre-K For All
4
AFFORDABILITY
State Child Care Assistance Eligibility
Quality child care is out of reach for many
low-income families
  • A single mother with two young children in
    Missouri making just 23,000 a year would be
    ineligible to receive state assistance for child
    care that costs an average of 11,325 across the
    state nearly 50 of her total income.
  • At 6,500 a year, the average cost for infant
    care in Missouri is nearly equal to tuition at
    Missouri state universities.
  • At 127 of Federal Poverty Level, Missouris
    income eligibility for state child care
    assistance ranks 47th in the nation.

When quality child care is unaffordable
  • Parents are forced to turn to lower quality, less
    reliable, or even unsafe child care situations.
  • Children dont benefit from quality early
    learning experiences that have the greatest
    return on investment.
  • Parents worry wondering if their child is safe.
  • Employers lose productivity when parents have
    unreliable child care situations.

5
AFFORDABILITY
State Child Care Assistance Eligibility
Missouri trails behind our neighboring states
141
117
181
180
127
146
163
199
203
6
AFFORDABILITY
State Child Care Assistance Eligibility
Recent progress in Missouri
  • In 2007, Missouri raised income eligibility rates
    from 108 FPL (the lowest in the nation) to 127
    FPL.
  • Used to be 51st in the nation, moved up to 46th
    in 2007, and now dropped to 47th in 2008.
  • In 2008, Missouri funded a new transitional
    assistance program so that a parent can accept a
    raise of up to 1 hr and maintain reduced
    benefits for child care up to 139 FPL -
    24,500/yr for family of 3.

7
AFFORDABILITY
State Child Care Assistance Eligibility
Transitional Assistance Helps Reduce the Cliff
Effect
  • When eligibility limits are so low for child care
    assistance, parents turn down raises or
    promotions because a small increase in income can
    end up costing more in child care costs if the
    parent becomes ineligible for state assistance.

of Monthly Income Spent on Child Care Based on
Eligibility for Child Care Assistance (Based on
single parent with 1 infant 1 preschooler in
Jackson County)
Cut Off at 127 FPL
Transitional Assistance from 127-139 FPL
8
ACCESS
State Child Care Reimbursement Rate
Even families who qualify for state child care
assistance still cannot access quality,
affordable ECE programs.
  • States are recommended to set reimbursement rates
    to child care providers at the regional market
    rate to ensure that low-income families have
    equal access.
  • Missouri is last in the nation for adequately
    reimbursing pre-k and school age providers,
    paying only 50 of the true cost of care.
    Missouri ranks 44th nationally in access to
    infant care.
  • Providers are less willing or cannot afford to
    care for subsidized children when reimbursement
    rates are so low.

The market rate is determined by a statewide
survey every two years and ensures families can
access 75 of providers in an area.
9
ACCESS
State Child Care Reimbursement Rate
Case Study The monthly cost of care for 1 infant
and 1 preschooler in Jackson County
Who pays the difference?
State Reimbursement to Providers 946
Market Cost of Child Care 1,580
  • Low-Income Parents
  • Often cannot afford the high co-pay
  • Are pushed to lower quality and unregulated care
  • Do not have access to high quality programs that
    best prepare children for school success
  • Child Care Providers
  • Affects resources available to improve quality
  • Cannot afford to raise teachers salaries
  • Hard to recruit retain qualified staff
  • Must limit or eliminate slots for subsidized
    children

10
ACCESS
State Child Care Reimbursement Rate
Current reimbursement rate vs. market rate
  • Because of low reimbursement rates, parents
    receiving child care assistance can still pay up
    to 89 of their total income to access child care
    at the market rate.

of Monthly Income Spent on Child Care Based on
Level of State Reimbursement (Based on single
parent with 1 infant 1 preschooler in Jackson
County)
11
ACCESS
State Child Care Reimbursement Rate
Recent progress in Missouri
  • In 2007, Missouri raised rates for licensed
    providers by 5
  • In 2008, rates for all Missouri counties were
    raised to at least 50 of the market rate for
    licensed pre-k and school age providers, and 65
    of market rate for infant care.
  • Some regions saw large increases after years of
    inequity (Buchanan County), while other areas
    only received a small raise (Jackson County).

Even with recent increases, Missouri has a long
way to go to catch up for flat funding state
child care reimbursement rates for over 15 years
12
QUALITY
Quality Rating System
Missouri must invest in quality to see the
greatest return on investment
  • 527 Missouri child care providers have achieved
    national accreditation
  • But parents have no consistent measure or
    comparison of quality for the more than 3,000
    additional licensed child care providers in the
    state.

A Quality Rating System would
  • expand access to high quality early learning
    opportunities for children
  • provide a way for parents to evaluate and select
    high quality programs
  • and ensure that Missouri tax dollars are being
    spent on the highest quality programs that are
    most effective at preparing our youngest
    Missourians for success in school

13
QUALITY
Quality Rating System
Improving quality costs , but parents cant
afford to pay more
  • The QRS Program Improvement Fund will help
    programs afford quality improvements without
    having to pass on all the costs to parents
  • Program Improvement Grant funding could be used
    for
  • Technical assistance
  • Facility expansion, play structures, and
    educational materials
  • Educational scholarships for teachers
  • Teacher compensation initiatives
  • Missouri currently allocates 12 million a year
    to quality improvement initiatives that could be
    targeted through a statewide Quality Rating
    System

14
QUALITY
Quality Rating System
Legislative History
  • Legislation has been sponsored by Senator Charlie
    Shields (R-St. Joseph) for past 3 years
  • In 2008, SB 726 would have only required ratings
    for programs receiving state quality improvement
    funds
  • Tasked the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood
    with developing a tiered system of reimbursement
    for providers serving children with state child
    care assistance
  • QRS passed the Senate in 2007 2008, but stalled
    or was weighted down by other amendments in the
    House

15
Pre-K
Access, Affordability, Quality
Missouri trails, but hope on the horizon
  • 2007 State of Preschool ranked Missouri 32nd for
    access to state-funded pre-k for 4-yr-olds out of
    38 states with state programs
  • Funding for the MO Preschool Project has been
    flat funded at about 13 million/year since its
    inception 10 years ago
  • MO Panel on School Readiness Focus on Pre-K
    convened 4 times in the summer and fall of 2008
  • Final report has been published with 9
    recommendations
  • Now the Coordinating Board must determine next
    steps with the Governor and Legislature

16
Pre-K
Access, Affordability, Quality
Pre-K Panel Recommendations
  • Voluntary for Missouri 3 4-yr-olds
  • All children are eligible, but would use a
    sliding fee system based on income
  • Centers, family homes, and school-districts can
    participate (diverse delivery), but have to meet
    standards established by the State
  • Enrollment should begin in the fall of 2012
  • Establish a standardized child-assessment process
    and data tracking system
  • Establish state and local systems of oversight

Purpose of Missouris Publicly Funded Pre-K
System To ensure that Missouris children have
access to high quality pre-kindergarten learning
experiences that prepare them to succeed in
school and life.
17
Legislative Opportunities
Whats in store for 2009?
  • 2008 State Legislative Elections
  • 43 new state House members and 6 new Senators
  • Republicans took 3 Senate seats (23 Rep/11 Dem)
  • Democrats took 3 house seats (89 Rep/74 Dem)
  • New Governor
  • Nixon has expressed support for pre-k, but could
    be lost amongst many social service priorities
    tough budget year
  • Coordinating Board for Early Childhood
  • 2009 policy priorities include child care
    affordability and QRS
  • Draft next steps for Pre-K Panel recommendations
  • Projected budget deficit of 340 million in the
    current fiscal year
  • MO Budget Project estimates 900 million
    shortfall in FY 2010

18
Legislative Opportunities
ECE Legislative Priorities in 2009
  • Maintain and increase income eligibility for
    state child care assistance.
  • Maintain and increase reimbursement rates for
    licensed child care providers serving families on
    state child care assistance.
  • Support legislation establishing a statewide
    Quality Rating System that will help providers
    improve the quality of their care.

19
Legislative Opportunities
What can you do? Children need advocates to speak
up!
  • Come to Child Advocacy Day!
  • January 27, 2009
  • www.childadvocacyday.org
  • Write, call, or meet with your State
    Representative about Missouris Quality Rating
    System
  • Invite your state legislators to visit an early
    childhood program in your community

20
Contact Partnership for Children
  • Partnership for Children
  • 4510 Belleview, Suite 200
  • Kansas City, MO 64111
  • www.pfc.org
  • Carrie Shapton
  • Policy Outreach Coordinator
  • Phone 816/531.9200 ext. 227
  • Email shapton_at_pfc.org
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