What’s New?

Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak with you today. My name is [Your Name] and I am a child care director for [Name of Program], located in [Name of Town]. I first want to thank Governor Murphy and his administration for their commitment to families with young children as reflected in his proposed FY 2024 budget. The COVID-related investments that have been made in child care are commendable and without this support, the future of this essential industry would have been in question.

Even with the support, this industry and consequently, the children and families with whom we care for and educate, are struggling. Our businesses cannot afford to compete with other businesses in other industries in attracting and retaining staff, because of the low wages we can afford to provide. As a result, we cannot find staff to work for the wages we can offer, leading to empty classrooms and long waiting lists.

Below are three issues that you can highlight:

• Continued child care subsidy payments based on enrollment
  As a child care provider who accepts children whose families are eligible for the child care subsidy, I am very [relieved/happy] that the subsidy payments will continue to be based on enrollment and not return to being based on attendance at least until the end of this fiscal year. This COVID-related policy change has provided me with one steady source of income and has allowed me to spend that money on [XXXX (Examples could be “to pay for increased costs in running my business” or “increase the wages of my staff,” etc. However the provider used the funding)]. While this funding solves one short-term problem, it does not solve the bigger issue of sustainability. If subsidy payments return to being based on attendance, [Describe how your program will be affected, such as “I may have to close my doors,” “I will have to close classrooms, impacting the care of the children in those classrooms and their working parents, etc.] A long-term subsidy funding solution is necessary.
• Additional $12.8 million for wage increases for child care providers
  I recognize that this funding demonstrates that the Governor has heard the appeal of child care providers, like me, for the state to take steps that address our inability to provide competitive salaries for retaining and recruiting staff. This amount, which the Governor stated was to "help child care providers keep pace with the minimum wage,” will not address our staffing problems because the minimum wage is not relevant to our ability to successfully find staff.[Give an example of how offering the minimum wage is not enough of an incentive to attract and retain staff, as they can go elsewhere.]

• Additional $300/child monthly child care supplementary payment for children on subsidy
  As a child care provider who accepts children whose families are eligible for the child care subsidy, I am very [relieved/happy] that the subsidy payments will continue to include the $300 supplementary payment at least until June 2024. This COVID-related policy change has provided me with a financial life-line and has allowed me to spend that money on [include a list (examples such as “to pay for increased costs in running my business,” “increase the wages of my staff,” etc.)] If subsidy payments no longer include the $300 supplementary payment, then [describe who and how your program will be affected, such as, “I may have to reduce or stop accepting children on subsidy,” “ I will likely have to pass this cost on to parents who already are struggling to pay the costs of care,”  “I may have to close my doors,” “I will have to close classrooms, impacting the care of the children in those classrooms and their working parents, etc.] A long-term subsidy funding solution is necessary.

It is critical that we find a long-term subsidy funding solution to ensure the sustainability of child care programs like mine. As a child care provider, I understand firsthand the importance of affordable, accessible child care for working families, I am grateful for this opportunity to advocate for a more sustainable and equitable child care system that reflects the importance of this public good.