Child care. Those two words continue to evoke a flurry of emotions for families everywhere, but especially working families.

In an effort to help quell some of the frustration and angst associated with child care, Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Bobby Scott backed reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act in Congress on April 27.

Scott, a ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said the COVID-19 pandemic was a clear reminder that affordable child care is essential to children, parents and the economy.

“Our economy is still forcing workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children,” Scott said. “Whether it’s a high cost of child care or preschool, the failure to properly invest in early childhood care and education continues to push millions of Americans out of the workplace.”

During a news conference on April 27, the Democrat lawmakers said one aim of the bill is that no working family would pay more than 7% of their income on child care.

The 2022 estimated median cost of infant center-based care reached more than $13,000 a year for Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Portsmouth, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Database of Childcare Prices.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Scott, from Newport News, have been introducing the bill in Congress every year since 2017. Murray said that under the legislation, the typical family would pay $10 per day for child care while many would pay nothing at all.

“It lowers cost for families. It increases high quality options for parents,” she said. “It increases pay for our child care workers so that they can earn a living wage and we can stabilize the child care sector.”

The bill also aims to dramatically expand access to preschool and supports full-day, full-year Head Start programs along with increasing wages for those staff, Murray said.

Kaine said he hears three things when he travels throughout Virginia: the cost of child care, the low wages paid to child care workers and the difficulties employers have hiring workers.

“There are millions of Americans who are out of work for just the one simple reason: They can’t find affordable child care,” he said. “They’re skilled, energetic, productive, and employers need them in industries of all kinds … But if they can’t find affordable child care, they’re not in the workforce.”

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‘We as a society can do more’

Virginia Beach City Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse said children and families need support, and she hopes the bill will pass.

“I think we as a society can do more, and we as a community can do more to support working families,” she said.

Rouse said that when she participated in Read Across America in early March at Amberley Child Care in Virginia Beach, she learned a great deal from its owner and director, Ericka Campfield. Campfield completed the Virginia Beach Grow Smart early education business program.

“I heard about her successes and struggles operating a quality child care center, including recruiting and retaining credentialed staff while also keeping costs affordable for working families,” Rouse said.

Unfortunately, Rouse said, early education and day care jobs pay low wages, which has created the workforce shortage.

“I think it’s so important as a country we make investments in our kids and families — they are the backbone of this country,” she said. “We need to put our money where our values are, and if we value families and our children, then we need to show that.”

Jane Elyce Glasgow, executive director of Minus 9 to 5 and assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said the bill is a huge step in the right direction.

And while she said the legislation would help create predictability in funding, she stressed that the child care issue is a multifaceted problem that can’t be fixed with one simple solution.

“We need to be focusing on things that will stabilize the entire early care and education system,” she said.

While the income limit has been increased to allow more families to qualify for subsidies, Glasgow said on the flip side, the number of subsidized spaces that child care providers are offering has not increased.

The kink in the system, according to Glasgow, stems from the early care and education workforce.

“We cannot get staff hired, and without staff in classrooms, centers can’t be opened,” she said. “I think one of the big solutions we need to focus on is how we as a community build the workforce.”

Minus 9 to 5 is working with Virginia Early Childhood Foundation on a hiring program called Fast Track Training for teaching assistants.

“That’s one piece, but there are a lot of different pieces to create the solution,” she said.

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Partnerships with business, community needed

Diane Umstead, executive director of Smart Beginnings Virginia Peninsula, said the organization is excited about the possibilities associated with the federal care directives, but also feels more is needed.

Umstead said that while public investment is necessary at federal, state and local levels, it will take partnerships with business, philanthropy and communities to solve the problem.

“The Virginia business community has been a longtime partner in advocating for increased access and affordability and recognizes the direct impact child care has on current and future workforce,” she said.

Umstead remains hopeful that under the current leadership and with the continued momentum, change will finally come to help future generations and the economy.

“While people know intuitively the importance of a child’s earliest years, our societal investments in cognitive, social and emotional growth of children under 5 are abysmal,” she said. “Thus, children are falling through the cracks.”

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com