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Child-care providers tell committee grants must be sustained to keep local centers open
Summary
Child-care operators and city officials testified that the private child-care business model requires ongoing public support; they asked the House Finance Committee to retain child-care grant funding in the operating budget and make it sustainable.
Juneau — Child-care operators and a Juneau deputy city manager told the House Finance Committee on March 14 that existing state child-care grants are vital to sustaining local providers and asked that the Legislature include stable, ongoing grant funding in the operating budget.
Robert Barr, Juneau deputy city manager and a board member of THRED (Alaska's statewide child-care resource and referral agency), said the "business model for local, private childcare doesn't work without external support" and thanked lawmakers for including grants in last year’s budget. Barr urged that grants be made predictable so businesses can plan.
The nut graf: Witnesses said child-care grants are infrastructure that enable parents to work and help local economies; in higher-cost communities, ongoing grant support has prevented extensive facility closures. Tracy Schaefer, who works in Kotzebue and operates one of two licensed child-care centers in the off-road system, said, "It's almost impossible to operate with the cost of living here," and called grant funding essential to recruitment and retention.
Ending: Testimony asked the committee for continued and stable inclusion of child-care grant funding in the operating budget so providers can maintain services and plan for growth.
