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In
Brief: Unstable Child Care Subsidies Hurt Low-Income Families Web-only Article
The further decentralization of child care subsidy programs in the 1990s increased states' authority over who receives subsidies, what types of providers are subsidized, and what portion of costs are paid by families. A recent study of child care subsidy use in five states found that this freedom has led to significant differences in the populations served and the services provided in each state. Unfortunately, one characteristic common to the states studied was a low level of continuity in subsidy assistance. Many families received child care subsidies for a few months, only to return to the system within a year. According to the report, it is unlikely that families who were qualified to receive child care subsidies had achieved a level of self-sufficiency after just a few months of assistance and no longer required subsidies. It is not clear whether short periods of subsidy receipt are due to the unstable nature of low-income families' employment (participation in short-term employment, turnover, and variable earnings may make it difficult to maintain continuous eligibility) or due to onerous application and recertification processes for receiving subsidies. In either case, the study's authors remark that instability in child care subsidy receipt is cause for concern. For parents, instability in subsidy receipt may make it difficult to keep a job. For children, instability in subsidy receipt most likely results in unstable care arrangements, which developmental experts identify as a risk to healthy socioemotional development. Source:
For
more information: Facts in Action, October 2002 |
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