Child Care for Connecticut’s Future coalition responds to inadequate funding proposed by Governor Lamont’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care, releasing coalition’s own recommendations on creating a system that guarantees equitable, accessible, affordable child care for all of Connecticut’s families
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care, tasked with developing a five-year plan for the state’s child care system, recently released its recommendations to Gov. Ned Lamont. In response to their proposal, a statewide coalition of organizations, providers, parents and advocates, Child Care for Connecticut’s Future, released detailed recommendations of its own (español) calling the Blue Ribbon Panel’s plan a strong start, but ultimately an effort that fails to comprehensively address the state’s child care crisis.
A video recording of Child Care for Connecticut’s Future December 20 public stakeholder meeting at which it presented its recommendations is available here.
Though the Panel’s five-year plan represents a welcome attempt at increasing the child care system’s functionality for parents, educators and providers, the coalition maintains several key legislative steps are missing that undermine the effectiveness of the strategy.
The Blue Ribbon Panel proposes that child care expenses be capped at 7% of annual family income but only for families who make at or below the state’s median income, which the state identifies as $127,443 for a family of four. This leaves a coverage gap that disadvantages thousands of children whose families do not qualify for the subsidy but for whom child care remains unaffordable. The Coalition proposes the state instead cap child care costs at 7% for ALL families.
The Blue Ribbon Panel proposes state-funded investments into the child care industry but fails to establish a consistent, dedicated, sustainable funding source, which is necessary for the state’s long-term health and economic success. This would mean children are healthy and learning, parents are returning to the workforce after having children, including through filling the state’s roughly 100,000 open jobs, and Connecticut is creating a high-quality workforce of the future. The Coalition recommends that $700 million be invested in early care and education to compensate the industry’s workforce and help all families, not just the 38% of the state who are low-income.
“While if implemented, the Blue Ribbon Panel’s recommendations would make child care more affordable for some parents, the Blue Ribbon Panel’s plan far from alleviates the child care crisis in Connecticut,” said Eva Bermúdez Zimmerman, Director of Child Care for Connecticut’s Future. “Providers, parents, educators and business leaders have consistently called for relief in the face of a mounting affordability and accessibility crisis, and the panel’s recommendations do not go far enough to save all families from being forced to make difficult decisions between what they can afford and what is best for their children.”
Added Allyx Schiavone, Co-Chair of Child Care for Connecticut’s Future and Executive Director of Friends Center for Children, a New Haven early child care provider, “The entire Connecticut economy rests on the shoulders of a broken early care and education system. Families are paying too much, educators are making too little, providers can barely survive, and businesses can’t thrive. The solutions presented by the Blue Ribbon Panel lack the urgency essential to solving this crisis; at the current rate of change, no child in Connecticut alive today will get to experience an adequate system.”
As coalition co-chair, Schiavone served as a member of an advisory committee to the panel, providing regular feedback on draft recommendations.
For almost a year, the coalition has engaged with the Blue Ribbon Panel, advising its members on concrete, actionable steps the state must take to truly invest in the early childhood care and education industry in a way that will ensure affordable, accessible child care for all Connecticut children and families.
Coalition Co-chair and Child Care Organizer for CSEA SEIU, Steffi Frias, earns above the Blue Ribbon Panel’s recommended threshold. “As a single mother of two,” she said, “I depend on family members to provide after-school care for my children. I work long hours, and always asking my family to care for my kids is stressful, but paying for child care would mean no food in our fridge or a roof over our heads. Sometimes, I ask myself, how in the world do other families do it? The Blue Ribbon Panel’s plan is a great start to fixing the child care crisis but lacks support toward after-school care or summer camps for middle-class families. Parents like me need help.
The coalition’s leadership is available to discuss the shortfalls of the Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations and the details of its own recommendations. Please contact Samantha Kupferman at skupferman@westendstrategy.com or 202-215-9260.
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Child Care for Connecticut’s Future envisions a Connecticut where every child can access high-quality, affordable child care, fostering optimal development and supporting working parents. Child Care for CT is a non-partisan coalition representing parents, providers, business leaders, advocates, and community leaders who want to transform how child care and early education are funded in Connecticut. We strive to build sustained public support through advocacy and education to achieve our transformative vision of an equitable system that supports the whole family.