Kansas Action for Children report calls attention to child care concerns

Infographic from KAC showing how child care
assistance corresponds to child poverty rates. 

We know that all parents are challenged by the task of finding affordable child care, but consider the compounded challenge for a family in need of child care for a child with developmental disabilities.

As rewarding as raising a child with a developmental disability can be, it can also be daunting and exhausting. There are many appointments to keep. Finding and funding the needed child care and support services can easily overwhelm families of any income level.

According to a recent Kansas Action for Children article, State lawmakers and policymakers have been engaged in philosophical debate over the past year about how to best help low-income Kansans escape the cycle of poverty. The article points out the arguments in favor of increased public supports explained how cash and child care assistance gives families the boost they need to stop the cycle, while others suggested public supports promote government dependency and discourage people from working.

Whatever your philosophy on the subject of poverty, it is difficult to ignore how access to child care impacts a family's ability to find and maintain employment.

In the past 10 years, the number of Kansas children receiving child care assistance has declined significantly. According to the Kansas Department of Children and Families, in the 2015 fiscal year an average of 12,779 children were served each month, compared to more than 19,000 in 2006.

Today, eight percent of the 211,000 eligible children receive child care assistance from the state.

How has this decrease in access to child care assistance impacted poverty? Not surprisingly, as child care assistance declined - child poverty increased. 

Kansas Action for Families shared their thoughts on this trend:

"The 2016 legislative session will offer a unique opportunity to strengthen child care assistance in Kansas as part of the implementation of the reauthorized Child Care and Development Block Grant. Policymakers say they want to help Kansans who rely on public assistance transition to meaningful and rewarding work. Given that, we expect overwhelming support for making child care assistance more accessible to Kansas families in 2016.

Child care assistance helps Kansas parents get back to work or enables them to go look for work. It is a critical step in helping low-income families get off welfare rolls, onto payrolls, and out of poverty."