PORTLAND- Concerns are rising that cuts in child care subsidies will end up forcing more people to depend on state money for living expenses rather than save the state money.
Currently the Employment Related Day Care program covers 11,000 people in the state of Oregon, providing child care subsidies to low income individuals so that the parents can continue to work.
Due to Governor Kulongoski’s allotment reductions, half of those receiving ERDC benefits will be removed from the program. Effective December 31, only those who have recently been receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits will be allowed to receive the day care benefits, dropping those that have never taken TANF.
One local day care owner, Mistee Thomas, has stressed her concerns with the cuts, being skeptical of how much money will actually be saved.
“These parents are low income enough that they qualify to have the state help them with their day care costs,” said Thomas. “They will not be able to continue to pay for day care. Therefore they’re going to have to stay home with their children which means they’re going to have to lose their jobs which at that point would put them onto the TANF program.”
The TANF program is used by many recently unemployed and low income families to get employment and cash assistance while the families “strive to become self-sufficient.”
“We’ve heard a number of people that are in that position,” said Gene Evans, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Human Services Adult, Children, and Families Office. He added a common dilemma he’s heard is, “I’m working and trying to pay daycare at the same time. Without this daycare subsidy, it’s going to be impossible for me to continue working.”
Thomas has heard from many of her clients, that in order to be able to pay for child care, the parents will need to quit their current jobs to get on the TANF program. Following their participation in the TANF program for 45 days, the parents plan to then find a new job which would allow them to, once again, receive the child care subsidies.
“You have to be on TANF for 45 days, so during that time you are being supported solely by the state of Oregon,” said Thomas.
“With the cuts that the Governor has ordered and with the recession that Oregon is in, there were a number of tough choices that had to be made, and this was one of them,” said Evans.
Thomas stated that she thinks there could have been better ways to budget and “trim” programs rather than make such drastic cuts.
“Those types of programs that are fully funded by the State of Oregon, I think are getting abused,” said Thomas, who gave the OCDC program which provides childcare and education to children of migrant workers, as an example.
The OCDC program, Thomas says, has rented out extravagant buildings to care for and feed migrant children for only 6 weeks out of the year, which she feels is caused by that program not being as careful with budgeting as others are forced to be.
Thomas ended by saying the cuts to the ERDC program don’t make sense to her.
“It’ll cost the tax payers much, much more,” she said, adding that she thinks the budget cut is having the opposite effect it was intended to have.
When my children were young and we didn’t money for babysitters; we would exchange babysitting chores with others. No money was exchanged - just hours! It worked great! Frankly there are not enough taxpayers to support paying for other people’s babysitting!
When my children were young and we didn’t have money for babysitters; we would exchange babysitting chores with others. No money was exchanged - just hours! It worked great! Frankly there are not enough taxpayers to support paying for other people’s babysitting!