Readers aren’t concerned about the ‘child care cliff.’ But child care providers already feel the pinch.
“Even with the grants, we have been dipping into our savings,” a child care provider told Boston.com.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is set to expire on Sept. 30 and the drop in funding could lead child care programs across the state to shutter, leaving thousands of Massachusetts families without care.
ARPA was passed in 2021 to deliver immediate relief for American workers and included $39 billion in emergency funds toward stabilizing the country’s child care sector.
Of the more than $510 million in ARPA funding allotted to Massachusetts, $17.7 million was put toward early education and child care to help with operational costs like wages and benefits; rent and utilities; program materials and supplies; and cleaning and sanitation.
According to an analysis from The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, more than 56,000 children in Massachusetts are set to lose their care and more than 1,800 child care programs are at risk of closing.
We asked our readers if they were concerned about the “child care cliff” and rising costs due to the expiration of ARPA funding. Of the nearly 90 readers who responded to our poll, the majority (66%) said they were not concerned, saying they managed to get by before the pandemic-era funding, and will get by after. Thirty-four percent said they are concerned about child care costs once the funding deadline hits.
Even though readers might not feel the pinch, some child care providers here in the Bay State say they certainly do.
“Even with the [ARPA] grants, we have been dipping into our savings to provide tuition assistance for several families, which is something the Co-op feels very strongly about,” Celia Green, the administrator at the Corner Co-Op Nursery School, told Boston.com.
The school is a cooperative preschool in Brookline that serves children ages 2 years 9 months to 5 years old. Green said the ARPA funds have been “critical” to keeping the school afloat, especially since COVID.
“It’s been a lot of work to get our enrollment numbers back up to where they were, in terms of keeping the Co-op up and running,” she said.
The school offers rolling admission throughout the year, meaning the number of students — and costs — are likely to go up as the year progresses, Green said. But an increase in enrollment doesn’t necessarily equal a corresponding increase in income from tuition “at least in the short term. We’ll see what happens going forward,” Green said.
“It’s so critical for us to be able to support these families that we would just continue to dip into our savings. And then hopefully at a later date, we would be able to replenish them, whether it’s through other grants or fundraising,” she said.
With the expiration of ARPA funding, the school will rely on C3 grants issued by the state’s Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to cover operational costs. The grants support early education and care providers’ day-to-day operational and workforce costs, according to the EEC’s website.
“We have certainly been heartened that Massachusetts seems to be moving in the right direction in terms of continuing to provide these grants for the fiscal year,” Green said. “But it is tricky.”
Teachers’ salaries were supplemented by the ARPA funding, and as the deadline approaches, the school is in limbo waiting to see what their future holds.
“We are waiting to see what the landscape is so that we can make decisions. Our hope is that we will never stop providing [child care] assistance to families. This is so important to us,” Green said.
Read below to see what Boston.com readers had to say about the looming child care cliff.
Some responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Parents: Are you concerned about child care costs once the “child care cliff” hits?
No
“Time for us parents to get on with our lives and accept that the pandemic funding needs to end.” — Rose, Dorchester
“Childcare facilities existed before the pandemic funding arrived and they will exist long after the pandemic funding ceases.” — Stu M., Sudbury
“We got by before COVID and we will survive just fine.” — Dave, Marlborough
“We need to return to ‘normal’ spending before we explode our deficit even further causing terrible effects to the economy and life we are handing our children.” — Rich, Dorchester
“Child care is not the responsibility of the government — whether it’s federal, state or local government. Child care is the responsibility of the parent(s) and family. The public school system already takes up a substantial portion of a state and local government budget, and I am not willing to pay more tax dollars to support government-sponsored child care.” – Peter, Woburn
Yes
“As a regional workforce board director, the top barriers to not working are childcare, language, and transportation. This would affect the economy and working people in ways that will be damaging to the economy.” – Frank B., Lawrence
“The ripple effect of the lack of consistent, quality childcare services is not just economic. Children not having access to early learning centers have long-term impacts on their academic growth. Sensing that the communities already disadvantaged would be more severely impacted, this perpetuation of economic disparities and structured inequities will exacerbate certain parts of our community stuck in a cycle of poverty.” – Daphne G., Boston
“Childcare is already expensive and underpaid staff are already overburdened.” – Melissa, Milton
“It is just unaffordable, especially if you are a single parent. It’s sad.” – Becky, Tyngsboro
Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.
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