This month, the Orleans select board voted to expand the town's child care grant program to include infants—not just toddlers and young children.
That's according to Jack Styler of the Provincetown Independent.
CAI's Gilda Geist spoke with Jack to learn more about the program expansion and its limitations when it comes to making child care more accessible to Orleans families.
Gilda Geist In the meeting where the Orleans select board made the decision to expand the town's child care grant program, several parents shared their own struggles trying to get child care in town. What did they have to share and what trends did you notice among the speakers?
Jack Styler All four speakers said that child care was very expensive. They said that it was both hard to find child care and that there were long wait lists at many of the child care centers that they tried to put their young children into, and that when they eventually did put their kids into child care and did get that spot, it was extremely expensive. One mother shared that she spent over $1,400 a month on child care, and that was in addition to her mortgage. And that child care was only three days a week from 9 AM to 3 PM. Another mother said that she was spending $960 a month for just 12 hours a week at a child care center for her two-year-old, Miles.
GG What's behind the high cost of child care on the Outer Cape, and how does that compare to child care costs nationwide?
JS I talked to two child care providers in and around the Orleans area, and they told me that there were a few factors that have made child care costs actually outpace inflation in recent years. One of them is a high cost of liability insurance. One of the child care providers told me that she was paying well over $100,000 per year just in insurance costs. It's also worth noting that there are high costs to keep in line with the state's own regulations in terms of child care. Now, both of the providers I spoke to said that these child care vouchers have been very helpful for parents, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they can provide cheaper child care or that their overhead was less. In fact, they both agreed that about a one percent profit rate is considered quite good for the child care industry.
GG In light of those high costs we were talking about, tell us about the reality check the assistant town manager gave everyone at the meeting after the board voted to expand the town child care program.
JS There was a real sense of jubilee, it seemed, in the actual meeting. There was a cheer when the Orleans select board decided to adopt this policy that would expand the early education voucher. However, what was perhaps lost was that that voucher was not fully funded through the rest of the fiscal year. So the assistant town manager did chime in and say that there was only about $45,000 in surplus funds that could be given out to parents until the fiscal year resets. And so that would only cover about six families at $7,000 per family. So in fact, some of the parents that I spoke to for the story, who also spoke at the public meeting, said that they had been waiting to see whether or not they would be able to actually receive the funds that they spoke about needing so desperately in front of the Orleans select board. And so far, I have not heard that they have heard back.
GG What does the future look like for people seeking child care in Orleans?
JS Starting in the new fiscal year, which resets in July, all parents who have children from infants to four years old will be eligible for a child care voucher. That voucher will be $7,000. Previously, it was $10,000 to families with four-year-olds and $5,000 for families with three-year-olds. Now, all children will be eligible for a voucher up to $7,000 if they have enough money to fully fund the program.
