Price of Service Cuts: Budget Impasse Could Close Childcare Providers, Putting Children At Risk of Being Left Alone or With Unsafe Supervision
August 12, 2009
Deep cuts to public services are being considered in Harrisburg as lawmakers and the Governor work to resolve the budget crisis. PBPC is tracking news reports on the potential impact of these service cuts, as well as the impact of the state's budget impasse on local communities across Pennsylvania.
Today, we look at how the absence of state childcare payments has forced two Philadelphia childcare centers to turn children away, while many other providers across the state worry they'll have to do the same.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported on August 12 that without state funding for subsidized childcare for the state's 130,000 low-income children, childcare providers have no means of paying their bills. Childcare providers and the Department of Public Welfare fear the public safety implications if many childcare providers across the state turn children away, forcing parents to leave children unsupervised or in unsafe supervision in order to go to work.
More information about how proposed service cuts will hurt Pennsylvanians can be found at PBPC's 30 Ways in 30 Days Service Cuts Will Hurt Pennsylvanians, which examines proposed cuts to public education, college costs, hospitals, children's health care, senior services, state police patrols, and agricultural programs, among other areas. Read more stories in PBPC's Price of Service Cuts series.
Read the Tribune-Review article below.
Impasse could end day care for many children
By Brad Bumsted and Debra Erdley
August 12, 2009
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_637860.html
Jody Van Varenberg isn't sure how she'll pay the bills this month at Today's Tot, her small child-care center in Washington.
The state subsidizes many of her children but hasn't paid Van Varenberg since June.
The skeleton budget that Gov. Ed Rendell signed last month hasn't changed her circumstances.
"I'm one of the people who still aren't getting paid," Van Varenberg said, adding that she wonders how long child-care operators like herself will be able to hang on.
There's no relief in sight yet for day-care centers across Pennsylvania.
Statewide, about 130,000 children from low-income families - a family of four earning less than $44,000 is eligible for assistance - spend their days in child-care centers such as Today's Tot. The state subsidizes their care so parents can work or attend school.
The Department of Public Welfare, which oversees subsidized child care, said two child-care centers in Philadelphia have informed parents they can't continue to care for children without payment in full.
"Being turned away is one of the biggest crisis parents can face. It is an absolutely dire situation. God forbid we have a parent who decides 'My child is old enough to be left alone,' or 'Joe down the street seems nice enough; I can leave the kids with him,' " agency spokeswoman Stacey Witalec said.
Budget negotiators in Harrisburg didn't meet Monday or Tuesday on a full state spending plan that's 43 days overdue. Republicans are championing a bare-bones budget. Rendell, a Democrat, wants new taxes to fund his commitment to spend more on education.
The governor approved part of a Republican-sponsored budget, Senate Bill 850, to pay state workers but vetoed $12.9 billion in line items that would pay for such programs as education and child care. He later said the move would give him leverage in budget negotiations.
Rendell's opponents say the lame-duck governor wants to leave office with a legacy of achieving his goals - regardless of the costs.
Senate Majority Whip Jane Orie, R-McCandless, said the possible closures of day-care centers is part of Rendell's plan to boost the state income tax and increase education funding by creating a crisis
"There is going to be harm caused," Orie said. "People are going to be hurt, but it's caused by him."
"The governor regrets the pain providers are experiencing," said Rendell's spokesman Ken Snyder, "but most understand he cares deeply about these programs and is fighting his heart out to prevent the deep cuts that have been proposed by those who voted in the Senate for S.B. 850."
Michele Scott, who operates Kids Count Child Care in Butler County, said lawmakers don't seem to understand the potential impact their inaction has on child-care providers and the families that rely on them.
"I think we should plan a field trip (to Harrisburg) and take all the kids to the governor's office and let him deal with them for a couple of hours - and tell him he is not getting paid, so he can deal with the stresses of taking care of 15 kids and know he is not getting paid," Scott said.
If child-care centers would close, "it's probably going to cause a ripple effect in the economy," she said.
Robert Kania operates eight child-care centers - five in Pittsburgh and three in Philadelphia - that care for nearly 1,000 children. He said he wouldn't be surprised if some smaller centers close. He said profit margins are so slim that it's hard to get by operating one or two centers.
Kania said he has relied on private investors and credit cards to make ends meet while subsidy payments are withheld.
"If people close, this is going to have a huge, huge ripple effect. The parents have obligations. They have to go to a job or job- training to maintain their (child-care) subsidies," Kania said.
House Democrats contend that Republicans, not the governor, are the root of the problem.
"The current crisis child-care providers are facing is a direct result of the Senate Republicans' complete disregard for the very real need that exists for these kinds of critical human services," said House Democratic caucus spokesman Brett Marcy.
In Washington, Van Varenberg said she is struggling to stay afloat.
"I see pictures of (Rendell) sitting outside the mansion, with his dogs in their pool. I read about him saying he may have to cancel his vacation because of this. My daughter's never had a vacation because I can't afford one," she said.
In Butler County, Scott said she faces this question: "Do I buy the groceries and feed the kids, or do I make the mortgage payment?"
