Daycare assistance faces looming cuts, local providers worried
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Glen Beeby, KPIC News
ROSEBURG, Ore.—With the state facing a $3.5 billion shortfall, assistance programs for working families could be on the chopping block.
Back in August of 2010, KPIC News told you about local people who had received letters from the state saying they were losing some or all of their employment related daycare.
After hearing the concerns of voters, the state extended the benefits, hoping that congress would give them the extra money. It never passed during the last session.
Now, daycare providers are worried about the children they look after. Kelly Heichel, who runs a local daycare center, said, “If they (parents) were to lose their employment related daycare, they wouldn’t bother to work. They would quit working and then do who knows what. Daycare is expensive, and when you are a single dad working minimum wage, you don’t make enough money to pay for daycare.”
Back in August of 2010, KPIC News told you about local people who had received letters from the state saying they were losing some or all of their employment related daycare.
After hearing the concerns of voters, the state extended the benefits, hoping that congress would give them the extra money. It never passed during the last session.
Now, daycare providers are worried about the children they look after. Kelly Heichel, who runs a local daycare center, said, “If they (parents) were to lose their employment related daycare, they wouldn’t bother to work. They would quit working and then do who knows what. Daycare is expensive, and when you are a single dad working minimum wage, you don’t make enough money to pay for daycare.”
Kelly says five of the kids that she takes care of are on the ERDC program, and if they leave her daycare center, she might have to lay off some of her employees.
Erica Pennington, who works at the daycare, says this is the only assistance she receives, and it helps keep her employed full time. “What it means for me, is that I am able to keep my job, because if I didn’t have it, there is no way I could be here, because my kids would need me 24/7,” said Pennington. “It’s a great program, and it is basically keeping a lot of people in the job market.”
Child advocate groups are trying to find a way to keep the program going in Oregon, but even they understand the hard task the legislature faces with the budget shortfall.
The extension for families currently on the program will last until the end of June.
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