According to a press release today out of Boston College, “Child Care Choice Can Make Difference For Low Income Kids Later In School, New Study Finds," the study’s co-author Eric Dearing, an associate professor at BC’s Lynch School of Education, states:
"'[E]ven minimal exposure to higher quality child care protects children from the harm done by living in poverty. […] When it comes to early child care, quality matters more for children in poverty than for affluent children in promoting the long term academic achievement of the former up to similar levels as the latter.'"
I was reminded of a post by N.S., “Why Can’t I Get a Daycare Voucher?” that raised many of the dilemmas low-income families face when seeking child care. Not only are child care vouchers difficult to come by, but many families are faced with staggering waiting lists.
I’ve witnessed firsthand many families who get a job, qualify for a voucher, and, unable to find child care in time before their first day at work teeter on the edge of termination before they even begin. If a family was lucky to have the resources to place the child with a family member until a spot in the daycare opened up, they were very lucky indeed.
Many others are not so lucky. With so many Massachusetts families on child care waiting lists, many are forced to take what they can get when a slot opens up lest they lose their employment or have to delay of drop out of education/training programs to care for their children.
According to the press release, the new study concludes that
“Children who spent more time in high-quality child care in the first five years of their lives had better reading and math scores in middle school, according to researchers from Boston College, the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Samford University, who studied 1,300 middle school students.Looking deeper, researchers found that low income children who received high-quality child care achieved at similar academic levels as their more affluent peers, even after taking into account factors such as levels of parental education and employment.”
I hope the findings in this study will put a renewed focus on the importance of preschool care and education. For many low-income families faced with a short supply of child care options, it’s difficult to find a placement let alone ensure that one’s child is placed with a “quality provider.” And, paying out of pocket for a provider is completely out of reach, especially when child care fees can often cost more than market rent! (See CWU’s Self-Sufficiency Calculator)
The bottom line is that often those “quality providers” that this new study prove beneficial to low-income families are out of reach for low-income families and more must be done to increase their availability and affordability.
The full study will be published in the September/October 2009 issue of the journal Child Development.
Kirsten Athena Blocker
Coordinator of Marketing & Communications
Crittenton Women’s Union
1 comment
There is some hope...
I am so glad a blog was written NOW about this issue. Child care has become one hot commodity that can seem impossible to get. Recently because of all the state budget cuts the Department of Early Education and Care had to eliminate the homeless voucher which provided homeless families not participating in work/training/education to access child care for three months. This voucher gave families time to job search, look for housing, get into an educational or trianing program, etc. Also, the homeless voucher was accessible to families that were homeless but not receiving cash benefits and therefore could not get a DTA/TANF/Employment Service Program voucher (this seems to be called different all different names by various people but is child care offered through DTA to families receiving cash benefits who are working/in school/in a training program or some other approved work activity).
NOW, many families who had vouchers will no longer. Here is where there is hope: If a family is receiving TAFDC (Massahcusetts verson of welfare) and working or in school they ARE ELIGIBLE to get a voucher through DTA. Please contact your caseworker about this!
ADDITIONALLY, if families are working/in school/work activity and have been off TAFDC for less then two years they might be able to access the DTA voucher mentioned above. IF a family isn't getting TAFDC but is homeless they get priority on waiting lists at Head Starts around the state. Also, they can get priority on waiting lists for low-income contract slots through Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies such as Child Care Choices (Boston's local agency). Low-income families (who aren't homeless) can also get on waitlists at local CCR&R agencies in order to try to access child care for their children.
Horizons for Homeless Children is a great resource for these issues!
http://www.horizonsforhomelesschildren.org/