Raising
Connecticut’s
Children
How Family Child Care Providers Can Strengthen Children’s Care and Learning,
Support Working Families, and Efficiently Strengthen Our Communities
A Working Paper from CSEA/SEIU Local 2001
Revised February 28, 2012
Raising
Connecticut’s
Children
How Family Child Care Providers Can Strengthen Children’s Care and Learning,
Support Working Families, and Efficiently Strengthen Our Communities
Introduction
In December 2011, Connecticut’s family child care providers voted 95%-5% to organize together to improve
their working conditions and designate CSEA-SEIU Local 2001 as their union. The more than 4,500
providers who care for thousands of children through the state’s Care4Kids program were responding to the
low wages, lack of access to affordable health care, and system inefficiencies that make their own economic
standing precarious.
Ironically, these same child care providers are the support for thousands of low-wage working families, who are
themselves struggling to gain their place in the middle class.
And they are the hope for a fairer society. Family child care providers support children’s social and emotional
development and academic success, shrinking children’s achievement gaps in their earliest years and preparing
them to be good students and productive citizens.
Family child care providers in Connecticut care deeply about their profession and the families they serve,
and want to make child care work better for everyone. Now they see a way forward by working together with
the state. Enabling family child care providers to organize for a voice in shaping child care policy is a wise
investment in our children, our economy and our future.
Background
Connecticut families depend on child care. As in most states, the majority of
Connecticut parents are struggling to balance work and family responsibilities. In
2007, two-thirds (68%) of Connecticut children lived in families where all parents were
working.1 More than 160,000 Connecticut workers depend on child care, making it a
central part of Connecticut’s economy.
Many parents
prefer the
intimate,
home-based
atmosphere,
consistent
relationships
and cultural
responsiveness
of family child
care providers,
and often the
convenience
and flexible
hours that
family child
care providers
offer are vital
to enable
parents to
work.
Many of these Connecticut parents choose home-based child care. Many parents
prefer the intimate, home-based atmosphere, consistent relationships and cultural
responsiveness of family child care providers, and often the convenience and flexible
hours that family child care providers offer are vital to enable parents to work.
Family Child Care in Connecticut
Family child care providers are an essential part of Connecticut’s early education and care
industry. About 10,000 Connecticut children attend licensed family child care homes,
with many more in license-exempt care.2 As of October 2011, about half of the children
in the Care4Kids subsidized child care program are in home-based child care settings, and
in cities such as Hartford and New Haven, family child care providers make up an even
higher fraction of subsidized care.3
Family child care providers may either be licensed by the state or under some conditions
can operate legally without being regulated by any state agency. Licensed family child
care providers work on their own in their homes, caring for up to six children full time
(as well as an additional three school-age children during the regular school year.) There
are more than 2,600 licensed family child care providers in CT, with about 1,000 caring
for children in the Care4Kids program.4 License-exempt family child care providers—
often referred to as “family, friends, and neighbors” (FFN)—are legally allowed to care for
children to whom they are related or to provide care in the home of the children in their
care. More than 3,500 license-exempt providers care for families using Care4Kids.
1
Connecticut Voices for Children by Cyd Oppenheimer, Connecticut Early Care and Education Progress Report, 2009. Available at: http://ctkidslink.org/publications/ece09progress.pdf
2
United Way of Connecticut, Child Care Capacity/Availability/Enrollment Report for Family Day Care - Home Summary Fall
2009. Available at http://www.211childcare.org/professionals/Capacity2009/2009FamilyStatewide.pdf
3
Care 4 Kids, October 2011 Report. Available at http://ctcare4kids.com/pdf/Aug_2010_Report.pdf
4
Connecticut Department of Public Health website - http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3141&q=387164&dphNav_
GID=1823&dphNav=|
6
Raising Connecticut’s Children
Care4Kids: Connecticut’s Child Care Assistance Program
Family child care providers play a major role in supporting working families in
Connecticut through the state’s subsidized child care program. Care4Kids, the formal
name of the state’s child care assistance program, is administered by the Department of
Social Services and funded through a combination of federal and state funds. It subsidizes
moderate- and low-income working parents who need child care for their infants,
toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children (from birth to age 13). Assistance comes
in the form of vouchers, which families use to pay their child care providers. For many
working parents, this subsidy makes the difference between being a productive member of
Connecticut’s workforce and unemployment or cash assistance.
Vital Work, Poverty Wages
Yet despite their importance to working families, family child care providers struggle to
make ends meet, and providers who care for subsidized children receive even less than
average. The average self-employed Connecticut child care provider who filed taxes in
2008 earned $14,581.5 This average includes providers regardless of whether they care for
subsidized children; providers accepting below-market rates for subsidized children likely
earn less. Payment rates for subsidized child care have not increased since 2002, and
according to the Connecticut Department of Social Services, subsidy rates were only high
enough to pay for the cheapest 14 percent of infant and toddler slots in licensed family
child care homes in 2009 and the cheapest 37 percent of preschool slots.6
And compensation for license-exempt providers is even lower. Providers who have been
exempted from a license care for children from a single family exclusively. However, in
order to earn the minimum wage these providers would have to care for four children full
time. A provider caring for two children full time earns only $9,256 in a year, well below
the poverty level for a single person, even before subtracting the amount the provider
spends on food, toys, supplies and other costs.
Yet these dedicated providers continue serving the children and families of Connecticut,
and their commitment offers us a pathway to improve the quality and efficiency of child
care and to support economic development and job growth.
5
U.S. Census Bureau website, EPCD, 2008 Non-Employer Statistics. Available at http://censtats.census.gov/cgi-bin/nonemployer/nondetl.pl
6
Connecticut Child Care and Development Fund Plan FFY 2010-2011. Available at http://www.ct.gov/dss/lib/dss/pdfs/ccdf_
plan_2010-2011_063009new_.pdf
Raising Connecticut’s Children
7
Connecticut
child care
providers
earn less
than $14,600
annually while
working a
60-hour week.
Rates have not
improved since
2002.
Connecticut’s Family Child Care Providers Are
Key to Economic Development and Job Growth
Family
child care’s
flexibility
appeals to
the increasing
number
of parents
who work
nontraditional
hours or
variable work
schedules
such as those
in retail, the
service sector
and health
care.
Child care supports employment in Connecticut in a two-fold way: it not only allows
parents to work, but also provides jobs for tens of thousands of child care providers. But
the industry’s economic benefits go well beyond parents and providers. Every year, the
formal early care and education industry in Connecticut adds an estimated $920 million
in value to the state’s economy; the industry purchases an additional $460 million
in goods and services.7 Moreover, every dollar spent on child care in Connecticut is
estimated to produce $1.96 in spending in the economy as a whole—higher than almost
any other industry in Connecticut, including construction, retail, manufacturing and
transportation.8
Ensuring Flexible and Reliable Child Care
However, if parents do not have reliable child care options, unstable child care
arrangements undermine productivity. Conflicts due to child care cause parents to miss
an average of eight to nine days of work every year.9 According to a 1998 report, parents
who miss work for this reason cost U.S. businesses an estimated of $3 billion.10
Family child care providers play a vital role in offering the dependable child care that
Connecticut’s families and businesses need. Family child care, as opposed to center-based
care, is especially critical for industries that need shift workers outside the regular 9-to-5
schedule. Family child care tends to be more flexible than other types of care, a quality
that appeals to the increasing number of parents who work nontraditional hours or
variable work schedules such as those in retail, the service sector and healthcare.
Talking about the support of Nelida Centeno
“Nelida’s day care has given me the opportunity to work without worrying. My son has
been cared for, loved and nurtured in a way I thought only a mother could do.
“I have now graduated nursing school and am on my way to a brighter future. I worked
full time while I went to school at night. Child care programs are essential in the lives of
single mothers and are the reason we survive.
“Our lives are better for the experience and Nelida will forever be part of my family.”
Barbara Sato
Meriden
7
Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, University of Connecticut, The Economic Impact and Profile of Connecticut’s
ECE Industry, 2004. Available at http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/ece04econimpactfull10.pdf
8
Cornell University by Zhilin Liu, Rosaria Ribeiro and Mildred Warner, Comparing Child Care Multipliers in the Regional
Economy: Analysis from 50 States, 2004. Available at
http://economicdevelopmentandchildcare.org/documents/publications/91.pdf
9
Carillo 2004 as cited in Shellenback, K. “Child Care and Parent Productivity: Making the Business Case,” Linking Economic
Development & Child Care Research Project, December 2004, p.7.
10
Building Blocks: A Legislator’s Guide to Child Care Policy, National Council of State Legislators, 1997, p. vii, as cited in “How
does high quality child care benefit business and the local economy?” Economic Opportunity Institute.
8
Raising Connecticut’s Children
Working parents need affordable child care
“After I received my associate [degree] in child development, I opened up my home day care
center. I have been caring for kids in my home for three years. My goal was to provide a safe
and nurturing environment and that’s what I have.
“It is especially hard to find affordable care for toddlers in Meriden. One woman who recently
found a job wasn’t going to be able to keep it because she’d been to all the centers in
the area—the affordable slots were all full. She was thrilled that I was able to take her two
toddlers.
Leida Zembrano
Meriden
“It’s important that fami ly day care providers have a voice; this is the main reason I want to
have a union. I also take advantage of every class I can to continue my own education and a
union would help to make trainings more available to more providers.”
Hard to keep going when rates are frozen
“Parents who are struggling in this tough economy really depend on home-based child care
providers like me. I teach social skills to help get their kids ready to learn in school while they
can work to stay in their homes and keep their heads above water.
“But helping families who need quality child care is harder than ever. We’re essentially small
business owners and our homes are where we provide services. Care4Kids rates have been
frozen, and my own home is close to foreclosure now.
Bertha Pleasant
Bridgeport
“If we can’t afford to keep our doors open, that means fewer working families will get the
care their kids need.”
My child care has built a community around the kids
“We provide a setting that is nurturing and starts kids off on the right foot. The very first
child I ever cared for STILL comes back to visit me 23 years later.
“Through my small home-based child care business, I have built a community around the
kids of my town.
Deborah Boissy
Enfield
“I have cared for over 100 children, and I love nothing more than watching children
developing from infants into young adolescents. We hold mini-carnivals where the kids
make baked goods to sell and then donate the money to a charity that they all chose
together. Family day care homes are also a great way to teach teamwork and we accomplish
that by helping each other and by doing daily chores.
“But although family providers like me love our work, we feel that we are without a voice
when it comes to state decisions regarding child care. The legislature must give us that
voice, and would allow us to be able to improve family child care by being a part of the
decisions that affect our small businesses.”
Keeping Low- and Moderate-Income Parents in the Workforce
High-quality
early care and
education
programs
reduce the
number of
students
held back
and placed
in special
education;
increase the
number who
complete
high school
and enroll in
college; reduce
incarceration
and juvenile
arrest;
increase
lifetime
earnings and
tax revenues;
and reduce
reliance on
welfare and
incidence of
child abuse.
Connecticut’s child care subsidy program is key to keeping low- and moderate-income
families active in our workforce, because reliable child care is key to self-sufficiency for
low-income families. Without subsidies, eligible parents would be faced with costs of
25% to more than 40% of their annual gross income for child care.11 Research has found
that families who receive child care subsidies are more likely to be employed, work more
hours, have higher earnings and remain off cash assistance than eligible parents on the
waiting list for child care assistance.12
Investing in Connecticut’s Future
Finally, quality child care is a smart long-term investment because it yields very high
returns, benefitting families, society and the economy as a whole. Several studies estimate
the financial returns of quality early childhood programs. High-quality pre-K programs
reduce the number of students held back and placed in special education; increase the
number who complete high school and enroll in college; reduce incarceration and juvenile
arrest; increase lifetime earnings and tax revenues; and reduce reliance on welfare and
incidence of child abuse.13 Benefits were estimated at up to $17 for every $1 invested—
three-quarters of that was returned to the public.14
11
Connecticut Voices for Children by Peg Oliveira, Separating Fact from Fiction: Myths About the Adequacy of Funding for
Care 4 Kids, 2005. Available at http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/ece05factfiction05.pdf
12
Matthews, H. 2006. Child Care Assistance Helps Families Work: A Review of the Effects of Subsidy Receipt on Employment.
Center for Law and Social Policy, pp.2-4.
13
Pre-K Now. Dollars and Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K. May 2007, p. 10.
14
Pre-K Now. Dollars and Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K. May 2007, p. 5.
10
Raising Connecticut’s Children
Investing in Family Child Care Providers Helps
Children Succeed in School and in Life
Quality early experiences pave the way for children’s social, emotional and cognitive
development, with long-lasting impacts on children’s achievements in school and in
their professional life. As From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood
Development summarizes the research, “In sum, the positive relation between child care
quality and virtually every facet of children’s development that has been studied is one
of the most consistent findings in developmental science.”15 Supporting the child care
system and giving family child care providers a voice in improving the quality of the
industry in Connecticut is an investment in the state’s children and their future.
Strengthening Relationships, Tackling Turnover
Low pay and
few benefits
mean onethird of family
providers
leave the
profession
every year.
Many parents prefer home-based settings because low staff-to-child ratios ensure
children receive more attention and nurturing. The relationship that a caregiver builds
with the children in her care profoundly affects how these children approach all future
relationships. Children with closer relationships to their caregivers have better thinking,
language, and social skills, and show fewer behavior problems than children lacking
strong bonds to their caregivers.16 And as From Neurons to Neighborhoods notes, “Stability
and skill appear to go together. More stable providers have been found to engage in
more appropriate, attentive and engaged interactions with the children in their care.”
Consequently, supporting family child care providers and their relationships with
Connecticut’s children is important to improving the quality of child care in our state.
Unfortunately, due to the high rate of turnover among family child care providers,
many children lose these vital relationships. Nationally, turnover among family child
care providers is estimated at 30% to 40% per year,17 five times higher than teachers
in the public school system.18 Losing a care giver means children’s cognitive and social
development is disrupted and parents are left scrambling to find other arrangements.19
According to a recent study, the stability of care for young children— the length of time
they spent with the same child care provider—had a “strong and consistent positive
impact on child outcomes” such as cognitive development and school readiness.20
15
Shonkoff, J.P. & Phillips, D.A., Eds. (2000.) From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development.
Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
16
National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL). 2000. “Teacher Education, Wages Key to Outcomes” No. 18.
Spotlight. Available at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~SCPP/pdfs/spot18.pdf
17
See National Economic Development and Law Center. 2001. The Economic Impact of the Child Care Industry in California,
Executive Summary. Oakland, CA. p.iv. Also see Kontos et al. 1995 as quoted in Brooks, Fred P. 2005. New Turf for Organizing: Family
Child Care Providers. Labor Studies Journal, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Winter 2005): 47.
18
Turnover in the k-12 public school system is thought to be about 7% annually. See Whitbook, Marcy and Dan Bellm. 1998.
Taking on Turnover: An Action Guide for Child Care Center Teachers and Directors. Washington, DC: Center for the Child Care Workforce.
19
Doherty, G. 1999. Elements of Quality. Research Connections Canada: Supporting Children and Families. Ottawa: Canadian
Child Care Federation. P.1.
20
Loeb, S., Fuller, B., Kagan., S., & Carrol, B. (2004). Child care in poor communities: Early learning effects of type, quality, and
stability. Child Development, 75(1), 47-65.
Raising Connecticut’s Children
11
Turnover is caused by many of the problems collective negotiation is poised to address:
low pay, poor benefits, inadequate professional advancement opportunities, job stress,
administrative and bureaucratic obstacles, low job satisfaction, and lack of recognition as
professionals and invested stakeholders in the child care system.
Improving Quality Through Professional Development
When
providers
gain a voice in
state decisionmaking,
they achieve
recognition
as a critical
pillar in the
child care
system. This
empowers
providers
and instills
a sense that
their input
and work are
valued by
society.
Formal education, as well as specialized training in early care and education, are linked
to quality care in both center-based settings and family child care.21 But family child care
providers often face challenges in pursuing training and education. Timing, location,
cost, language and other factors may be obstacles for home-based providers to participate
in professional development activities. Often the content of training and education
focuses on center-based settings and may not be appropriate or helpful for family child
care providers. And without a viable career path that includes incentives for quality
improvement, hardworking and low-paid providers who already struggle to balance their
long hours with their own needs and those of their families are less likely to participate.
Giving family child care providers an organized voice enables them to work with the state
and other major stakeholders to develop the most appropriate and effective approaches to
quality improvement in family child care. Child care providers in other states who have
organized with SEIU have helped develop highly attended training programs and have
negotiated financial incentives linked to quality to drive improvements.
Building Commitment and Connections
Just like training and education, a family child care provider’s commitment to caring
for children has an important positive influence on quality. Providers with greater job
commitment are more likely to participate in training, plan activities, be licensed, and
follow standard business and safety practices. Providers who are connected with their
family child care community also tend to be of higher quality.22 Moreover, those providers
who perceive they are supported in their work are also more likely to be satisfied in
their jobs and to continue to care for children.23 When providers gain a voice in state
decision-making, they achieve recognition as a critical pillar in the child care system. This
empowers providers and instills a sense that their input and work are valued by society.
Ultimately, the recognition and support SEIU providers receive lead to heightened
devotion and satisfaction, which translate into better care for children.
21
Shonkoff, J.P. & Phillips, D.A., Eds. (2000.) From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development.
Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
22
Galinsky, E., Howes, C., Kontos, S., and Shinn, M. (1994, November). The study of children in family child care and relative
care—Key findings and policy recommendations. Young Children, 50(1), 58-61.
23
Bollin, G. (1993). An investigation of job stability and job satisfaction among family child care providers. Early Childhood
Research Quarterly, 8, 207-220.
12
Raising Connecticut’s Children
Collective negotiation also provides a mechanism for home-based providers to connect
with each other through their union. This network not only leads to positive peer
support, it also exposes providers to the professionalism of their fellow providers. Through
peer connections, providers may realize that child care can be a career, not just a job.
In Washington State, hundreds of license-exempt providers have become licensed since
joining their union.
Universal Pre-K in Home-Based Settings
Giving family child care providers a voice is vital to the success of Governor-Elect
Malloy’s goals to offer Universal Pre-Kindergarten to all Connecticut families. As
mentioned, many working families prefer and depend on family child care providers
to care for their children. Family child care providers offer care to cover parents’ long,
variable, and/or non-traditional schedules when schools and centers do not, and many
parents feel strongly that their children do best in home-based settings. To create a
Universal Pre-K program that successfully reaches children in working families and
respects parents’ choices for their children, family child care providers must be included
in the UPK system.
Since
providers
experience
the child
care system
on a daily
basis, they
know how
policies and
practices can
be amended
to make
the system
better
and more
efficient.
Some family child care providers already meet high quality standards, and many others
want to achieve those standards but need support to reach their goals. Through collective
bargaining, family child care providers can help create a professional development system
that will raise quality across the board and help more providers deliver high-quality UPK
services that will help the children in their care succeed in school.
Giving Family Child Care Providers a Voice Will Bring
Efficiency and Innovation to the Child Care System
Working Together to Create a More Efficient System
Since providers experience the child care system on a daily basis, they know how
policies and practices can be amended to make the system better and more efficient.
Organizational representation provides a process for caregivers to share their knowledge
with the state. By making changes, not only are providers better able to focus on the care
they provide for children, but administrative overhead in the Care4Kids program can be
reduced.
For example, when there are delays in reviewing parents’ applications for subsidized
child care, providers are at risk of not being paid for care they provide to families—but
when providers contact Care4Kids staff to inquire about parents’ application status, these
calls increase the administrative burden further. In Washington State, family child care
providers with SEIU have worked with the state to develop a better process for notifying
providers of decisions and answering questions.
Raising Connecticut’s Children
13
Providers can also work with the state to make the subsidy system more understandable
for providers, decreasing provider errors and the administrative burdens of dealing
with them. The rules and procedures for participating in the Care4Kids program are
complicated, especially for new providers. Individual providers contacting Care4Kids
staff for clarification is an inefficient way of addressing the issue. And when providers
are confused, they are more likely to make mistakes with their paperwork, requiring
significant time and effort on the part of Care4Kids staff to correct. Organized family
child care providers in several states have worked to improve providers’ understanding of
the subsidy program. In Oregon, family child care providers with SEIU worked with the
state to develop an orientation for new providers which clearly explains the requirements
and procedures of the subsidy program.
Payment
delays put
providers’
homes at risk.
Foreclosure
and eviction
means
providers
lose both
their homes
and their
child care
businesses.
Improving Efficiency by Decreasing Turnover
The high turnover in family child care creates a variety of added costs in the child
care system. On top of the indirect costs stemming from the disruption to children’s
development, there are many direct and immediate costs of turnover, from the costs
of licensing and training new providers, to parents’ use of state-funded resource and
referral services to locate child care, to the additional Care4Kids paperwork that must
be processed if the parent finds a new provider—or the cost of cash assistance if the
parent is unable to find new child care before losing her job. Addressing the turnover
crisis by giving family child care providers the right to organize would not only raise
the quality of child care in Connecticut, but also improve efficiency by decreasing these
unnecessary costs.
Parents lose
work support
and children’s
lives are
disrupted.
14
Raising Connecticut’s Children
Conclusion and Recommendations
Experienced family child care providers know firsthand what it takes to deliver reliable,
affordable, quality child care, and want to work together with the state to make the
improvements that Connecticut families, communities and businesses need. But the
decisions that could improve Connecticut’s child care system are made by state agency
officials without input from the Connecticut citizens who deliver these services every day.
Giving family child care providers the freedom to form a democratic organization of their
choosing—in which providers could decide on the ideas that would most improve child
care, and negotiate with state agencies to implement them—will empower family child
care providers to help make the changes our state needs. With a voice in the decisions that
affect them, providers can improve child care for children and families, find efficiencies in
the child care subsidy program, strengthen Connecticut’s economy, and make child care a
career which can attract and retain a consistent, committed and qualified workforce.
With a
voice in the
decisions that
affect them,
providers can
improve child
care, find
efficiencies
in the child
care subsidy
program,
strengthen
Connecticut’s
economy,
and make
child care a
career which
can attract
and retain a
consistent,
committed,
and qualified
workforce.
Raising Connecticut’s Children
15
CTChildCare.org
12547 wm030712