Caught in the Gap: CCCAP Cuts Impact Colorado’s Highest Needs Families
It’s a fundamental truth that child care is an essential resource for working parents. However, between the rising cost of care and the limited number of spots available, child care is quickly becoming a rare commodity – especially for low-income families. According to The Denver Post “[Colorado] is ranked among the most expensive [states] in the nation to find someone to watch your child while you’re at work. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor acknowledged that the cost of child care in this country is ‘an almost prohibitive expense’”.
Today, a single parent with one child will face an average child care bill of $25,000 annually; that’s more than families receiving services at CWEE earn in an entire year, and doesn’t include food, housing, transportation and all other monthly expenses. The reality is that it is nearly impossible for low- and moderate-income families to access childcare without assistance. That’s where the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program comes in.
When it comes to addressing child care needs, the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) has long been a crucial resource for thousands of Colorado families. CCCAP helps families whose household incomes are well below the poverty line by making quality childcare more affordable as they work, search for employment, or attend school. CCCAP helps families access reduced-cost childcare at licensed facilities or with qualified, unlicensed providers.
The support CCCAP provides is a lifeline for countless low-income Colorado families as they strive to exit poverty. Now, that lifeline is no longer available to families in need. Colorado’s waiver to comply with federal child care regulations is expiring and, while the new rules of the program are of great benefit to both providers and families, converting Colorado’s current system to meet these federal requirements will come at a cost of an estimated $60 million dollars.
Colorado will struggle to rise to this urgent financial need, as the state is in a budget crisis brought on by our constitutional strictures around how much revenue the state can spend and how much must be returned to taxpayers. As a result, available funding to meet these new regulations is extremely limited, and a freeze has been placed on the CCCAP enrollments in 21 counties across Colorado until more funding becomes available or families roll off the program as their children age out or move on.
Families in Colorado’s largest counties, including Denver and Arapahoe, must wait until families who have children currently enrolled no longer need it. This freeze will decrease the total number of families receiving care overall. The CCCAP freezes in 21 Colorado counties have resulted in more than 5,700 children from low-income families losing access to subsidized child care. Statewide, CCCAP serves approximately 29,000 children, but projections indicate that up to 64% fewer families will be served, leaving around 18,500 children without assistance. In Denver County alone, the program currently supports 3,200 children, but funding limitations mean only 2,000 can continue receiving subsidies (reported by Early Milestones Colorado and Colorado Sun).
Experts predict this freeze will remain in place for 3-5 years, unless the budget situation changes dramatically, which is highly unlikely. Lack of access to child care will prove a daunting challenge to families, child care providers, and society’s structures at large.
For families who cannot access care, the effects are serious and immediate. “When care is unavailable or unaffordable, families face impossible choices: leaving kids in unsafe situations, turning down promotions, or working fewer hours. Children miss out, too — on the early learning experiences that set the foundation for lifelong success. The challenges are especially stark when families begin earning just enough to lose eligibility for programs like TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), but not enough to cover child care costs on their own. It’s a fragile tipping point that can trap families in poverty. Quality, affordable child care isn’t just support — it’s a springboard for economic mobility and long-term stability, helping both parents and children thrive.” –says Aya Takemoto, the Employer Engagement Director at Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC), an organization that recognizes the role of employers in supporting child care solutions on a community-wide level.
For CWEE participants, this freeze is particularly impactful, as nearly all of them receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. TANF requires that all recipients participate in a work activity, which can include job search, an internship, or educational programs. Work activities can also include making progress on goals to prepare for employment, such as searching for stable housing or childcare. Herein lies the difficult irony of the situation: families can search for child care as an eligible work activity through TANF, but even if they find it, they will not receive any assistance paying for care, for potentially 3-5 years. With TANF benefits limited to 5 years of lifetime assistance, it is possible a first-time parent and TANF recipient may spend more than half or even the entirety of their eligible months unable to make progress toward their goals because they do not have access to child care.
Further complicating the issue for CWEE participants and other TANF recipients, CCCAP assistance is dependent upon the status of their TANF case. If a CWEE participant’s TANF case closes for any reason, for example moving into an apartment across county lines, their CCCAP case will automatically close and they will lose access to child care. Dora Esparza, the Director of Business Services & Community Development at Denver’s Early Childhood Council, recognizes the impossible situation facing TANF recipients. “If their case gets closed, they’re starting all the way back at the start line, and the line is not moving.”
At Denver’s Early Childhood Council, Dora and her colleagues see the effects of the child care freeze not only for the families they work with, but also for the child care providers they support. Dora says “Under the new regulations, providers’ rates will increase, but they haven’t increased enough to make up for the lack of families receiving CCCAP. If you only receive a dollar more per child, it’s not enough to negate the total loss. The providers who are in areas that serve low-income families have been hit hardest because they’ve set up a system to serve these families, and they can’t make up the revenue they’re losing due to the CCCAP freeze.”
A multi-year freeze could mean trouble for child care providers. 3-5 years is a significant amount of time to endure sustained revenue loss. Right now, there is no simple solution to help providers return to a sustainable model and address this complex issue. If providers cannot remain open due to funding constraints, even fewer child care spots will be available whenever the freeze is lifted, rendering care even more scarce and difficult to obtain.
Lack of child care is not just an issue for families and providers – it’s an issue for our entire community.
Child care is the invisible machine that keeps our communities moving. When parents can’t access child care, they can’t clock in for their shifts working a register at the grocery store, driving the RTD trains, or teaching kindergartners in a neighborhood elementary school. There is an inevitable domino effect when parents cannot find someone to watch their child while they work. “Everyone relies on someone who relies on child care” says Maureen Reid, Denver’s Early Childhood Council’s Chief Program Officer. “Even for those who do not have children, or their children are grown, if a community loses access to affordable, reliable child care, everyone will begin to see the effects when parents cannot make it to work.”
If child care is an essential element of a strong, successful community, then it is up to that very community to find ways to ensure families have the care they need so everyone can succeed. At CWEE, we’re proud to be working alongside our community to address this essential need. We have partnered with colleagues across our Denver community who are invested in this critical work to form a Child Care Coalition. This Coalition has collected data about child care needs, analyzed the information gathered, and is now actively working on innovative solutions to support our community’s needs. To accomplish this innovative work, we are partnering with EPIC (Executives Partnering to Invest in Children).
EPIC partners with employers, organizations, and community leaders to step in and support working families. This includes helping organizations and communities explore and implement options such as child care stipends, on- or near-site child care, partnerships with local providers, flexible scheduling policies, and shared investment models.
By equipping these leaders with the tools, data, and strategic guidance they need to take action, EPIC is helping to build a stronger, more resilient child care system – one where business and community leaders are part of the solution. In this moment of uncertainty, EPIC’s efforts are ensuring that child care remains a top priority not only for public systems, but also for the private sector, which has a growing stake in the availability and affordability of care for Colorado’s workforce.
Our partners and fellow coalition members at Denver’s Early Childhood Council (DECC) are leading with innovation and purpose to meet the immediate needs of families and child care providers, while also looking ahead to longer-term, sustainable solutions. This year, DECC is pivoting from their annual event and encouraging folks to donate in lieu of attendance, highlighting the immediate impact of their gift. They’re also building awareness of how essential child care is for the success of our entire community, and championing the Friends, Family and Neighbors (FFN) community of care. Reliance on FFN providers will be absolutely crucial throughout the CCCAP freeze. FFN is the unsung hero of child care, providing care that is safe, trusted and flexible, without having to rely on child care facilities with limited available spots.
Right now, CWEE is seeking to help fortify our families’ use of FFN care and build networks of support to rely on throughout the next five years as they seek the opportunity to return to school or work and, at the same time, ensure their children are well cared for in a safe and trusted environment.
Maureen of Denver’s Early Childhood Council says, “It’s going to take creative solutions to help solve this issue. There need to be bold moves being made, and not just by the big players, but by dozens of organizations and businesses in our community.” At CWEE, we could not agree more. Over the next several months, we will continue to chart new paths into child care solutions to ensure our participants have the support they need to succeed. We invite you to join us in this important work! Make sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with the critical work we’re doing in this space. We are so grateful for your partnership in our endeavors thus far, and for all you continue to do to champion CWEE participants and their families.