The Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program underspent by $20 million in the first year of the 2013-2015 biennial budget, according to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) website. The first year’s budget (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014) allocated $255 million for direct subsidy payments for child care services, but only $235 million was used, leaving $20 million unspent.
See child care expenditures by month data. The question is: Will the $20 million be invested in improving the quality of child care?
Analysis by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF) shows that child care payments continue to be significantly below child care market rates after a seven-year freeze. See The Impact of the Seven-Year Freeze of Child Care Payments.
Another analysis shows a decline in payments per child of 21% over five years. See Fewer Children Served, Payments Shrinking for Wisconsin Shares.
The pattern in the child care budget has been to reduce payments for child care services, and then move the funding to other programs. Over a five year period, the budget for child care subsidy has dropped over $100 million from $385 million in fiscal year 2009-2010 to $274.7 million in fiscal year 2014-2015, undermining efforts to help child care programs meet quality standards under YoungStar. In the 2013-15 budget, $31 million that had been budgeted for child care was shifted to other line items.
Wisconsin has been launching YoungStar, a system to improve early learning quality for low-income children. Wisconsin Shares provides the financial foundation to support low-income children participating in YoungStar. If YoungStar is to be successful in helping children get ready for school, Wisconsin Shares payment rates need to rise considerably. Without financial support, child care programs will not be able to sustain high quality early learning programs.
There are signs from the Joint Finance Committee and DCF that child care payment rates will be improved this fall. Let’s hope so. The declining payment rates are undermining the goals of YoungStar: higher quality early learning to help children from vulnerable backgrounds get ready for school and life.
