This Indiana Legislative session has been a roller coaster, and not in the fun way.
Back in December, the Family and Social Services administration brought back a wait list for Child Care Development Fund vouchers. This happened because lawmakers didn’t set aside enough state money long-term to support increases they made in late 2023 to both qualifying income levels for families, and reimbursement rates for child care providers. Instead, they used temporary Federal COVID-19 relief funds to add to the federal funds received annually. These funds ran out in September 2024, and the state did not plan ahead to replace them.
Then in January, we learned that Governor Mike Braun had submitted a budget that included $362 million over two years for the voucher program. This would not only erase the need for a wait list but would fund additional families and continue to support child care programs with increased reimbursement rates. Those in early childhood were encouraged and excited by that news.
Most recently, on February 14, we learned that the House has put together a budget proposal, slashing the voucher spending to again, nearly the bare minimum. The house bill includes just $155 million over two years. It won’t eliminate the wait list; in fact, with this funding the wait list will keep growing. The money is a “hold harmless” provision, which will hopefully prevent more families from losing their vouchers. It’s a start, but it’s simply not enough.
Right now, just a month and a half after it began, there are 3,328 children on the wait list. We know of several instances where families – often through no fault of their own – have lost their vouchers and are now waitlisted as the state struggles with the funding to keep the program afloat.
The stark reality of the situation is this:
- More parents will be forced to quit their jobs because they can’t afford child care. That weakens the economy, and decreases household income for families.
- More child care programs will end up closing. As they lose students who have vouchers, they will be losing the increased funding that has allowed them to continue to operate. That decreases the already limited supply of care available to working parents, so others may have to quit their jobs because there is no quality, affordable care available in their communities.
I recently met with an organization interested in opening a child care program, which is great! However, they are hesitant because of the uncertainty with the future of CCDF. Without it being fully funded, they – and others – might not choose to open. We know that defunding CCDF could cause some providers to close. We’ll be making the problem worse, not better.
Fully funding child care is about protecting our economic development, our working parents, and our employers. When we don’t everyone will feel the effects.
And let’s not forget the children. The 0-5 years are the most critical for brain development, and without quality early learning experiences in our child care programs that struggle to keep their doors open already, we will see decreased kindergarten readiness, declining social/emotional skills and even developmental or intellectual disabilities that are not identified until later in life.
We strongly urge everyone to contact their legislators in the House and Senate and ask them to consider the impact that the current proposed budget will have on working families and children. Governor Braun had it right in his initial budget, and we appreciate him for doing what is necessary to fully fund child care vouchers and protect our growing economy.