Muy pocos niños tienen acceso a programas de educación infantil de alta calidad
DOYLESTOWN, PA (February 10th, 2014) – PCCY’s latest report “The Bottom Line is Children: Early Care and Education in Bucks County” finds that because of a lack of state investment, only about a third of low and moderate income children have access to high quality early learning programs. More than 5,000 additional seats are needed to fill the gap.
El informe también señala:
- Less than 20% of licensed child care programs are considered high quality.
- 96% of all children under five do not attend a highly rated private child care program.
- Nearly three quarters of Bucks County families depend on child care because both parents work.
- Only a third of hard working families are getting assistance to help pay for child care.
Las investigaciones muestran que los niños de bajos ingresos y clase media que participan en programas de educación infantil de alta calidad tienen más probabilidades de graduarse de la escuela secundaria y obtener trabajos bien remunerados.
“Quality counts when it comes to early education programs for our children,” said Shawn Towey, Child Care Policy Coordinator for PCCY. “Unfortunately only about one in five licensed child care programs in Bucks County are considered high quality.”
State budget cuts have made it difficult for a majority of low-and-moderate income Bucks County families to enroll their children in high quality programs. PCCY’s report says “state cuts made to the child care subsidy program reduced the number of slots available in Bucks County by 21% or 395 children in the last five years.”
“It is unacceptable to deprive our children of quality early learning programs they need to prepare for school,” said Stacy Helton, Director of Tabor Children’s House. “Our lawmakers must listen to the decades of research and increase investments in early childhood education.”
For Bucks County families who are not eligible for child care subsidy, the costs associated with child care can make up a considerable amount of the family budget. The median cost of child care for a typical family of four with two young children is $23,449. A high quality center can cost significantly more. The median cost of care is similar across southeastern Pennsylvania.
“Families should not have to break the bank to provide high quality early care for their children,” said Nancy Morrill, President of the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition. “With the costs of child care now rivaling the costs of college, changes need to be made to take the burden off hard working parents so their children can get the start they need in life.”
The good news for Bucks County is families eligible for child care subsidy have trended away from using unlicensed, relative/neighbor care. Since 1997, the use of such care has dropped from 25%, to only 4% today.
“It is great that an overwhelming majority of Bucks County children are enrolled in regulated programs,” said Pat Miiler, Bucks County Quality Child Care Coalition Coordinator. “However, the State must do much more to provide access to high-quality care for all our kids.”
To improve early care and education for Bucks County children, PCCY recommends County leaders:
- Apoye la campaña Pre-K for PA con el objetivo final de proporcionar un preescolar de alta calidad para cada niño de 3 y 4 años en Pennsylvania.
- Cree una campaña en todo el condado para mejorar la calidad del programa que ayude a los proveedores a cubrir los costos únicos y a largo plazo de las mejoras de calidad.
- Brindar incentivos a los colegios comunitarios y otros programas para impulsar las ofertas para los adultos que trabajan en campos de atención infantil para mejorar la calidad.
- Crear un fondo común de subvenciones / préstamos a partir de los recursos de desarrollo económico del condado para ayudar a las instalaciones de cuidado infantil con gastos de capital para ayudarles a mejorar la calidad de los servicios para los niños.
- Forjar una sociedad con otros condados para abogar por que el estado aumente el subsidio de cuidado infantil para todas las familias trabajadoras elegibles y reduzca los tiempos de espera a 30 días o menos.
PCCY’s report, “The Bottom Line is Children: Early Care and Education in Bucks County,” is the final report in a four-part series looking at issues affecting children in each of Philadelphia’s suburban counties. PCCY’s previous reports on education, family economic security, and child health can be viewed at www.childrenfirstpa.org/bottomlinecountyreports