The Financial Impact of Childcare In Florida
September 15, 2023 meeting recap with Evelio Torres (President & CEO of ELC & Florida House Representative Ashley Gantt.
We had a great turnout with about 17 people show up. Mrs. Walker started out the meeting with introducing Sheyes Of Miami Learning centers & the community our childcare providers are serving on a daily basis. Some of the issues they are having is mothers are having a hard time being able to afford childcare even with the raise they receive because when they get paid more they no longer receive assistance or scholarships and they still are now able to make enough to fully pay their rent, bills & childcare. Also, childcare facilities are starting to close because parents can’t afford childcare & they can’t keep children enrolled. A child’s developmental age is at its peak between 1-4 & this is the age the parent needs the most assistance with child/early learning education so their kids can thrive while they are able to pay for a roof over their families head & food on the table.
Mrs. Sandra Hall spoke about her story where she wasn’t employed & didn’t have a place for her family to live. If you don’t have a job you can’t make money to pay for childcare or rent. Mothers cannot work without childcare for their children. The two issues got hand in hand. Mrs. Walker gave her a chance to start with a job so she could start working towards childcare & a home to live in. Mrs. Whitney Hartford is in a similar situation. As a mother of twins I couldn’t afford to pay the full cost of childcare, therefore I wasn’t able to actively work until I was able to qualify for a scholarship for my twins through the Children & Trust. We were living one a 1 income house as a family of 5 we were barely making it. Mrs. Walkers staff sent me the ELC information so I could apply for childcare assistance, but unfortunately we made just over the income limit so we didn’t qualify. Luckily ELC works with The Children’s Trust, which is a scholarship program which we qualified for but ended up on a waitlist for 2-3 months. Which I heard the waitlist is very long so imagine being the only income of your family and having to wait 2-3 months for childcare? I am eternally grateful for the scholarship which pays a significant portion of childcare for my twins. We are able to live a little bit more comfortably but finances are still tight because whatever I make as a second income usually covers the cost of childcare & I am left with a small portion to put towards our bills or whatever else my children need. My work stills suffers from time to time because my children are sick every 2-3 weeks which comes with kids being in daycare.
Mr. Dan Vila expressed that as a childcare owner the biggest problem they are facing right now is hiring staff due to the cost of living. Their ability to pay staff has not kept up with the cost of living. The fund they receive goes to being able to pay quality staff. Also, when children are absent for more than 3 days they don’t get funding for those days missed by the child but they still have to pay the teachers for working the whole day. Mr. Torres has been a huge help with trying to close that financial gap.
The issues Mr. Torres addressed with us during this meeting were that the only people who qualify for childcare are at an income poverty level of 150% when most of the middle class is at a poverty level of 200-300%. People are also refusing raises because they could lose their benefits/ child care assistance. In the future anyone who makes $15 or make will not qualify for childcare assistance. $15 dollars an hour doesn’t even cover the cost of living right now leaving families & childcare centers in a bind. The minimum wage will be increasing to $15 by 2026.
Mrs. Gantt will be working with us to find a solution to two of these issues. She will have to file a bill,she has to lobby the bill to get it on the agenda/ committee for it to be heard by the other members of the legislative branch. Once that goal has been achieved then she has to get all of the members for the particular committee to sign to vote for the bill so it can go to the next committee, so the bill can be passed & make it on to the governors desk.
One goal is to increase the eligibility criteria from 150-200% to receive childcare assistance in 2024 & then increasing the poverty level 300% by 2030. The cost of living will only continue to increase over time. The second goal is getting a tier increase with minimum wage so anyone who is making $15 an hour doesn’t lose their benefits. She’s working on doing this for July 2024. That way working families in the lower/middle class can receive childcare assistance. If they can afford to keep their kids in childcare then the childcare facilities will be able to stay open & pay their employees based on the demand alone.