DELC: ERDC caseload doubled since 2022; long wait list and funding constraints cited

Department of Early Learning and Care officials told the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services on Tuesday that employment-related day care (ERDC) enrollment has nearly doubled since December 2022, and that a wait list activated Nov. 4, 2023 now contains more than 96,100 families seeking subsidized child care.

"ERDC subsidizes the cost of child care by making payments to a family's chosen childcare provider on their behalf," Dorothy Spence, interim early learning programs director at DELC, told the committee as staff described program design, eligibility and recent trends.

DELC said ERDC moved into the standalone department on July 1, 2023 and now combines federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) dollars with state general funds. CCDF imposes federal requirements, Spence said, including that states set co-pays at no more than 7% of family income and provide at least 12 months of protected eligibility. DELC staff noted collective bargaining sets provider rates at a percentage of the market-price study; currently ERDC rates are set at 80% of market. Spence said entry into ERDC is generally at 200% of the federal poverty level, with exit at 250%.

Agency data presented to the committee showed the program grew from about 9,000 families in December 2022 to more than 16,000 families after the 2023 legislative expansions. TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) households now make up about 40% of the approved ERDC caseload; DELC reported a 425% increase in ERDC childcare for TANF families since July 1, 2023. DELC noted that 75% of approved families are "active" (connected to a provider and receiving services) while 25% remain approved but not yet connected to a provider.

Spence and other DELC staff outlined barriers keeping some approved families from connecting to providers: providers without open slots, hours or schedules that do not match family needs, provider location and transportation, and incomplete or outdated provider listings in the Find Child Care Oregon database. To reach unconnected households, DELC said it will begin an opt-in outreach in January: families approved for ERDC who are not connected to a provider will receive a text offering a warm handoff to a 211 child-care specialist (with family consent); DELC also plans to partner with ODHS family coaches for warm referrals and qualitative feedback from TANF families.

DELC said its wait list is currently operating on a first-come, first-served basis through the "1 eligibility" application system; families who meet narrow bypass criteria (reapplicants, certain contracted slots, specific child-welfare referrals, some TANF categories and other limited groups) may skip the wait list. The agency plans a wait-list "refresh" starting in March to contact families on the list longer than 12 months (about 23,100 families at that point) and confirm whether they still want to remain on it. If funding becomes available, the system will invite families off the wait list in order and give them 45 days to complete an application and enroll.

DELC officials repeatedly told legislators the primary constraint on serving more families immediately is available funding, not eligibility. The agency said while provider capacity and local availability are barriers in some areas, the statewide limit on active enrollments that can be funded is the rate-limiting factor for inviting families off the wait list.

DELC also described near-term policy changes: eligibility expansions in 2025 and 2027 to include additional child-welfare-impacted families, teen parents, families escaping domestic violence, and unhoused families with child-care needs; alignment with new CCDF requirements for provider payment policies; and an update to provider rates tied to the market-price study and collective bargaining with family-provider unions (next rate-setting activity noted for 2026). No formal votes occurred at the informational meeting.

DELC staff provided a public ERDC data dashboard (English/Spanish) and offered to return for deeper, joint briefings on the "1 eligibility" system and on specific data requests, including regional provider-type breakdowns. Lawmakers pressed for more detailed budget estimates to determine how many waitlisted families could be served under different funding scenarios; DELC said it would follow up with estimates and additional analysis.