Children First for Oregon

Lawmakers Failing Working Families

Ian, a single father of five, was on welfare when he decided to go back to school in order to better his life and support his children. Today, he holds a rewarding full-time job as a social worker. Cameron and her three children came to Oregon three years ago “with nothing.” But today, Cameron takes pride in her successful nonprofit career and in providing her children with “a nice roof over their heads and decent meals.” What Ian, Cameron, and more than 7,000 other Oregon families have in common is that their success has been made possible through a state program called Employment Related day Care (ERDC). ERDC provides a sliding-scale subsidy to low-income working families who need assistance paying for child care. But ERDC is in trouble and so are the families who rely on it to be able to afford to work.

With the current freeze on ERDC funding—and talks from the legislature about making cuts to the program, the stories pouring in from parents and childcare providers around the state have an entirely different ring to them. Like Valerie, who recently left her husband because he was abusing drugs. Although Valerie works full-time making airplane parts to support her three young children, she struggles to make ends meet while she sits on an ERDC reserve list with nearly 2,700 other families. Garnet will be forced to quit her job as a full-time administrator; Shelby and Jean—both childcare providers—will have to close their doors if their clients lose the ERDC subsidy that enables them keep their children enrolled; and the only option for Lashaunda, a nursing assistant, would be to leave her two sons home alone at night.

As parents, we all understand how important it is to have safe arrangements for our children when we can’t be with them. Quality day care allows us to do our job with the peace of mind that our children are in good hands. Children who receive quality care early on develop better cognitive and social skills, which help them achieve greater success later in school. But we also know how costly child care can be. Coverage for two children at a child care center can cost parents an average of $20,000 a year. This is more than a single working parent makes at minimum wage in a year.
A recent survey done by Oregon State University and University of Oregon found that nearly 100% of ERDC recipients would be unable to afford to work without the help they receive from ERDC. This is the last thing we need in an unemployment crisis. Last year, the legislature recognized that helping families afford child care meant helping parents keep their jobs and provide their children with financial stability. So they promised to fund ERDC for 10,000 Oregon families. But at the end of the year, the governor and the legislative budget chairs issued a freeze on enrollment and now the money promised to working moms and dads is up for grabs.

Because we fight for the well-being of children and we believe in a parent’s right to be able to work and support his or her family, Children First for Oregon is organizing an advocacy day in Salem on February 7th in support of ERDC. Please join us at 9:00am in room 350 of the Capitol Building to tell legislators to keep their promise to 10,000 Oregon families.

Or if you can’t make it to Salem, write your state representative and tell them you believe that funding ERDC is critical to the success of Oregon’s children.