The good news of help on the way for the child care sector, reported July 29, is worth celebrating. We have seen considerable progress in child care policy and local, state and federal funding. Thank you to our policy leaders for making a change in the right direction for child care.
On the local level in Anchorage, Prop. 14 was approved by voters and will create a $5 million boost to early education and child care in the Municipality of Anchorage. While work is still being done to set up the program, it is heartening that an identified priority is to address the low wages of child care professionals.
On the state level, the Legislature and governor approved two budget items and one major piece of legislation that will provide operational support for child care programs, make child care more affordable for families, and ensure that Head Start programs receive more of their federal funding match.
$7.5 million in one-time child care grants: This represents a critical investment in child care programs with grants that can be used for operational and wage support. We hope to see this as an annual appropriation next year.
$2.6 million Head Start appropriation: This helps the state receive more of its allocated federal funding and can be used to increase wages and expand capacity for dozens of programs around the state.
$9.6 million child care assistance increase and business tax credits: Senate Bill 189, which includes elements of House Bill 89, marks the first-ever child care legislation passed in Alaska. This bill allows the state to help programs get reimbursed based on the actual cost of care of delivering services, not a preset market rate that is artificially low, especially for infants and toddlers. This bill also makes child care more affordable for thousands of Alaska families by expanding eligibility to the Child Care Assistance Program and offers tax credits to businesses that spend money on child care for their employees.
On the federal level, Congress’ most recent budget, supported by all three Alaska congressional members, increased funding for the child care Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This annual increase means a $1.3 million increase to Alaska to help administer the child care Grants and child care Assistance programs.
While we are celebrating progress in policy and funding, the child care crisis in Alaska continues. Child care programs continue to close faster than new programs open, and workforce shortages and high turnover remain, creating a growing supply gap. Despite stopgap funding, child care needs more long-term solutions for a sustainable and thriving sector.
All in all, to offer child care stability to Alaska families, we need to give child care programs the fiscal stability they need. One-time funding from federal COVID-19 relief and the state has been an important Band-Aid for the child care system, but the adhesive has worn off. We must continue working toward long-term funding relief that reflects the importance of child care to Alaska families and our economy.
Even though our state has made historic investments in child care this year, programs will not see the benefit until next year, and more needs to be done to build on this success and stabilize our child care system. Let’s keep up the momentum of new policy and funding for child care.
Alana Humphrey is the public policy committee chair on the board of Thread, Alaska’s child care resource and referral organization. She was formerly the chief executive officer at Boy and Girls Club-Alaska.
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