WEST FORK, Ark. — Since the pandemic, Congress has allocated $24 billion towards childcare programming through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), but now the money's been cut off, and we've entered what many are calling 'The Childcare Cliff,' impacting the lives of childcare providers and children across the nation.
The Century Foundation (TCF), a politically progressive think tank out of New York City, predicts that 70,000 childcare centers across America might close because of this change in finances.
They believe that could affect 3.2 million children whose families will need to find a new place to take them or stay home to take care of them.
Devin Dunham says her four-year-old son Noah has thrived at the Friendship Community Care Center in West Fork since he was an infant, and she says the cliff could "affect us big time," since Noah's enrolled with the help of income-based state funding.
"I'd probably have to stay at home for good. We would struggle for a while," said Dunham.
"If these funds disappear, parents wouldn't be able to work. And their children wouldn't get the services that they need. They wouldn't develop like they need to develop. On top of that, their parents won't be able to work to put food on the table or keep the house a roof over their heads," says Renee Philpot, owner of the Friendship Community Care Center.
While the pandemic-era federal funding is disappearing, there are still some state programs that support childcare centers like hers.
One of those programs is the Arkansas Better Chance Program.
Out of 48 children at the center, 20 receive state funding through it.
Centers that received monthly payments through the federal Child Care Stabilization program in addition to state funding will have to make some significant changes. Philpot says the federal money was much needed at her center, and was put to good use. "We've been able to replace all the worn-out furniture, puzzles with missing pieces, and stuffed animals while buying art supplies and things we otherwise would never have had the funding to."
Philpot predicts the end of the federal monthly payments will result in many centers throughout Arkansas laying off staff in an already struggling industry. "Just today, we had a phone call from a parent looking for childcare. And we had to tell her that we don't have enough staff to add any more children to our program right now. And that's only going to get worse if the federal funding disappears."
Democrats in the House and Senate proposed a bill to extend the Child Care Stabilization Program through the Child Care Stabilization Act. That law would provide an additional 16 billion dollars in funding over the next five years, but the law is unlikely to pass in the GOP-controlled House.
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