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  • Home
  • Benefits of Quality Care
  • Child Care Costs
  • Lack of Public Funding
  • Additional Resources
  • Child Care In the News
  • FAQ
  • About

Public Funding is insufficient to cover costs

Child care is a private market

Federal and State funds are very limited

Federal and State funds are very limited

Unlike the PreK-12 system, early childhood education lacks public funding, operating instead under a privatized system. This disproportionately affects working families with low income and those with children under the age of 4.

Federal and State funds are very limited

Federal and State funds are very limited

Federal and State funds are very limited

The federal government provides limited funding to provide a limited number of child care subsidies for working families with low-income. However, the amount of public funding is insufficient compared to the need: 

Source: Child Care & Development Block Grant in Texas

The need is greater than the supply

Federal and State funds are very limited

The need is greater than the supply

There are 23,706 children under age 6 in families with low income who could be potentially eligible for subsidies.

But Austin/Travis County, on average in 2023, subsidy funding supported only 2,303 children under age 6 per day. 

As a result, there are almost 2,000 children from birth through age 3 on the waiting list for child care subsidies in Austin/Travis County.

Source: TWC Child Care By the Numbers

Reimbursements do not cover costs

Our community lags behind state averages in access to care for families with low income.

The need is greater than the supply

Reimbursement rates to child care programs are too low to fund high quality care so many programs do not accept subsidy-eligible children or they do not meet standards for high quality.  


This is especially true for infants and toddlers who require higher staff ratios to meet standards:  Subsidy reimbursement rates are between  $5000-7000 per year BELOW the cost of teaching infants and toddlers.

Source: Subsidy reimbursement rates in Texas remain far below the true cost of providing child care

In Texas, the base rate for infant care is less than half the cost of providing care.

Our community lags behind state averages in access to care for families with low income.

Our community lags behind state averages in access to care for families with low income.

Infants are the most expensive children  to care for because of the need for low child-to-educator ratios. However, Texas reimburses child care programs less than half of the actual cost of care for children supported by child care subsidies. At the same time, most child care programs have high demand / long waiting lists for families seeking infant care  who are able to pay tuition rates higher than reimbursements. 

Source: PN3 Policy Impact Center

Our community lags behind state averages in access to care for families with low income.

Our community lags behind state averages in access to care for families with low income.

Our community lags behind state averages in access to care for families with low income.

As a result of lower reimbursement rates, child care programs often do not accept families that rely on subsidies. Austin/Travis County lags behind the state average in the supply of subsidized care. There are only 30 subsidized care seats per 100 children of working parents with incomes at / below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.  There are 11 zip codes considered Child Care Deserts.

Source:https://childrenatrisk.org/childcaredeserts/

The child care workforce bears the brunt of the insufficient child care assistance system

The child care workforce bears the brunt of the insufficient child care assistance system

The child care workforce bears the brunt of the insufficient child care assistance system

 Child care programs operate on razor thin margins. As costs increase and families can’t afford to pay more, The workforce is predominantly women, and disproportionately women of color. 

  • More than 50% of the workforce in Texas rely on public assistance.
  • The annual turnover rate in Texas is more than 30% annually. 

Sources: https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/

https://txicfw.socialwork.utexas.edu/2023-texas-quality-child-care/

Early Childhood Funding Pipelines

The child care workforce bears the brunt of the insufficient child care assistance system

The child care workforce bears the brunt of the insufficient child care assistance system

Learn about the challenges of the multiple early childhood funding pipelines that results in disparities. 

The Need for Equitable and Stable Early Childhood Funding

The child care workforce bears the brunt of the insufficient child care assistance system

The Need for Equitable and Stable Early Childhood Funding

Per child funding often lacks to cover the true cost of quality.  Learn about the impact of foundational or gap funding through contracts to cover the cost of quality. 

Universal PreK Can Help When Done in a Mixed Delivery System

What about Universal PreK?

Community based child care programs must be a part of any expansion of publicly funded pre-k.  If done in partnership, public pre-k programs for 3 & 4 year old children can increase the stability of the child care system, improve program quality, and ensure working families have access that works for them. Watch this  

ECE Consulting ATX

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