BARRIERS

The day-in and day-out little hassles of getting out of the door with one's self and children ready for the day are familiar to many. For low-income parents, issues of parenting and child care cannot be fully understood without examining the experience of single motherhood and poverty (Eden and Lein, 1997). The concerns about child care are compounded by additional worries about finances, work stability and maintaining the delicate balance of keeping one's life on track. The inevitable events of life such as illness and automobile breakdowns can be overwhelming to already too full daily routines. Barriers discussed here are related to child care and are to be considered in the broader context of a family's life circumstances.

Travis County parents seeking child care services had these concerns:

• 69% worried about the quality of child care
• 48% had difficulty affording the quality of care they wanted
• 65% were unaware of quality indicators for child care
• 71% experienced some type of difficulty (affordability, availability, quality, or accessibility)
• 18% had difficulty with transportation to child care

Source: Austin Families, Inc. - interviews with 1,536 Travis County parents seeking child care services

Information regarding barriers to early education and care resources and gaps in services was obtained from a number of local sources in addition to available literature. The Success by Six Planning Task Force convened a number of provider and expert focus groups in mid- 1999 with the primary function of determining gaps in services, groups being under served, and barriers to optimal early education and care. Individuals in focus groups were asked for input on what was working well, what would improve existing services, and what best practice models they recommended. In addition, a Parenting Resources Survey created in Fall 1999, specifically for this assessment, was sent to providers requesting their input regarding parenting education resources in the community. Additional input from parents was gathered by Austin Families, Inc. Input from these resources was utilized in identifying barriers to early education and care.

The following is a description of the three main types of barriers to early education and care: concerns about quality, problems accessing care, and affordability concerns. Barriers to quality pertain to education and care both in the home and outside of the home, while affordability and accessibility issues pertain to care obtained outside of the home.

QUALITY

Much of the research on parenting focuses on the predictive role of parenting style and interventions for extreme outcomes such as child abuse and neglect and later juvenile justice involvement of children.

"No job is more important to our nation's future than that of a parent, and no job is more challenging."

Source: Carnegie Corporation, 1994

For example, parental stress and anger expression are correlated with the potential for child abuse (Rodriguez and Green, 1997), and poor parental child-rearing practices have been found to predict delinquency (Reiss and Roth, 1993). Consequently, parenting interveyntions have often been associated with the notion that they are for 'bad' parents. Despite the finding that most parents report needing parenting information and support, providers of these services commonly report having difficulty attracting parents to classes labeled as "parenting classes."

Frequently expressed is the observation that within Austin/Travis County there are numerous services and resources for parents and families provided by various entities, but they are not well coordinated. Because there are no consistent funding streams for parenting education and support, programs struggle to find, and often compete for, limited funding. Connections Resource Center serves as a centralized information resource for parenting, but does not serve in the role of fully addressing the coordination of parenting services. In short, despite community-wide support for accessible parenting education and support services, there is no mechanism to ensure that there are consistent, available, appropriate resources for parents and families.

In addition to the lack of coordination and availability of parenting services, concerns exist regarding early education in the home. Some very preliminary data indicates that many low-income parents do not consistently read to their children. The BABAR Survey (Before and After Books And Reading Survey), developed by pediatric researchers at Boston Medical Center, is a brief survey administered to parents aimed at determining the extent to which parents read to their children. The BABAR is being administered to clinic clients in conjunction with the initiation of the Reach Out and Read (ROR) pediatric literacy program through Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department. From early findings, it appears that about two-thirds of parents surveyed, read to their children at least sometime during the week. Only 30% of families read to their children daily. For most families, reading is not part of a regular routine, and only half state that reading to their child is an activity they do to help prepare their child for success in school. Furthermore, preliminary results support prior findings that in families where Spanish is the only language spoken, reading to children is not a regular activity.

In addition to quality early education in the home, high quality child care and close relationships with teachers result in improved cognitive and social skills for kindergarten children (the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study). In many cases, this improvement extends into second grade (NCEDL, 1999). An additional key finding is that children from relatively poor families and those traditionally at risk for not doing well in school are affected more by experiences of quality child care when compared to other children (NCEDL, 1999; Hamburg, 1990.)

The accreditation of a child care facility is one marker of quality child care. However, accessing accredited care is not an easy task. Determined from figures presented in Table 8, there are a total of 4,076 children enrolled in accredited care in Travis County. While this figure may appear large, if one considers the estimated 23,141 children (from Table 3) needing enrollment in child care facilities, only a small percentage (17.6%) are receiving accredited child care.

Table 8
Number of Children Enrolled in Accredited Full Time Child Care Slots¹, 1999

Source. City of Austin Health and Human Services Department
1Enrollment numbers and capacity may differ. Schools are rarely at full capacity due to staffing shortages. Capacity numbers are reported when enrollment numbers are unavailable. These numbers are an approximate reporting of available childcare slots.
2 Some part-time enrollees are included.

Other markers of quality child care include staff to child ratio, licensure, frequency of staff turnover, recommendations of other parents, cleanliness, appearance of environment, and type and condition of equipment and toys. More subjective indicators are also relevant and include responsiveness of staff to the child and amount and quality of attention and interactions. Data on these markers was not available at the time of this report.

RETURN TO TOP

ACCESSIBILITY & CAPACITY

In addition to the barriers to locating quality child care, finding care that is reasonably close to one's home or place of employment that has slots available for the age of one's children, and is open during the hours that the parent is working, is a challenge.

As stated earlier, the need for child care has grown steadily. This is true for both full and part-time child care. While estimates of need for child care can be calculated, determining the actual capacity of available child care is more difficult. Licensed capacity is based upon the size of a facility, but it does not take into consideration such complicating factors as:

• The impact of staffing shortages.
• The varying demands of children at different ages and special needs.
• The demand for child care during non-traditional hours (evening, nighttime, and weekends) to accommodate work schedules.

Shortages of Slots at Accredited Centers:

• 43% of registered family homes and licensed centers in Travis County maintain waiting lists
• 97% of accredited family homes and centers have waiting lists - the average time for remaining on the list is 14 months
• 14% of facilities that maintain lists charge a fee to parents to be on the waiting list

Source: Austin Families, Inc.

In addition to difficulties in determining licensed capacity, it is difficult to determine how many unlicensed child care slots exist. While a complete comparison of need to capacity has not been possible, glaring shortages in child care are still evident. There are waiting lists at registered family homes, licensed child care centers, and accredited family homes and centers. Shortages are most severe for infants, children with special needs, and for those needing evening, weekend and night-time care (Austin Families, Inc.).

Most experts agree that child care capacity has been severely impacted by the difficulty to attract and maintain staff. Since 1997, more than 100 Travis County child care providers have closed their doors (Austin Child Care Council, 1998). In the summer of 1999, for example, the First Baptist Church Day School in central Austin, licensed to serve 120 children, closed because of the inability to retain qualified teachers.

To some degree, issues of accessibility vary from parent to parent depending upon one's particular needs. For some parents, convenience means care is close to home, for others, it means care is close to the workplace.

For parents relying on public transportation, accessibility of care becomes far more complex. If child care is not available near one's home, riding the bus to both the child care site and then to the work place requires a great deal of time and coordination.

Parents' Preferred Location of Child Care:

• 59% wanted care close to home
• 41% wanted care close to work

Source: Austin Families, Inc.

A number of Austin area employers have recognized that there are advantages to providing family-friendly benefits to employees. Such policies include flex-time, paid time off, and assistance with child care (Lein, Robinson, Steiner, and Lewis, 1998). Some benefits are more feasible for larger employers to offer than for those with few employees and vice-versa. For example, arranging or subsidizing on- or near-site child care is reasonable for larger employers while smaller employers may be more apt to allow employees to bring school-age children to work on school holidays.

Table 10
Results of Employer Collaborative Survey, 1999

Source. The Austin Area Employers Collaborative

In early 1999, the Austin Area Employers' Collaborative conducted a survey of Austin area public and private employers to determine the extent to which such family-friendly benefits are offered. Results are shown in Table 10.

The main reason students at Austin Business College fail to complete their classes is related to problems with child care. During a recent session, more than 20 women dropped out of classes due to their inability to maintain reliable child care. Nearly all students completing the Associates and Certificate programs at Austin Business College succeed in finding jobs at living wage levels; yet, many do not complete either program. When family members providing care become ill or there are interruptions in child support payments, a parent's priority must be to stay home with his or her child.

Source: Austin Business College staff, 1999.

In general, larger employers are more likely to offer practices supportive of families with children. As is shown, most employers offer at least some family-supportive services. Very few employers, however, regardless of size, offer child care on-or near-site or provide subsidies to pay for care for low-income employees.

RETURN TO TOP

AFFORDABILITY

Assuming quality care outside of the home could be found, the cost of child care is still the most obvious barrier to obtaining child care. Based on Capital Area Workforce Development Board (CAWDB) rates, the cost of full time licensed child care ranges from about $522 per month for center-based care for an infant to $372 per month for full time care for a toddler in a Licensed Group Day Home. A single mother of one child making $6/hour has an annual income of $12,480 and will take home around $10,000. If she pays the minimum cost for toddler care, $372 per month ($4,464/year), the cost amounts to nearly 45% of her annual take-home income. Because of the relative cost, few low-wage working single mothers can pay the market rate for child care (Edin and Lein, 1997). As a result, care is usually either subsidized or provided by relatives or friends at reduced rates or for no cost.

To qualify for subsidized care, a parent must fall into one of several eligibility categories including 150% to 185% of poverty and, as of September 1999, up to 85% of the State Median Income. Once a parent no longer qualifies for subsidized care, the cost burden can increase dramatically while wages increase only slightly. Many of the calls received by Central Texas Child Care Management Services (CCMS), for example, are from parents who are not eligible for the program because they are not currently working, or because their income exceeds the eligibility. Of the 2,700 children served by CCMS, 292 (11%) are children of TANF recipients participating in welfare to work programs. TANF recipients receive priority for CCMS funding and are placed immediately in childcare slots. Other groups prioritized for voucher funding are children in the Child Protective Services system, children of teen parents, and children with disabilities.

As was stated previously, even when an individual is eligible for subsidized care, there is often a long waiting list for child care. The CCMS waiting list has grown rapidly and had reached 1,300 by October 1999. Children being enrolled in October had, on average, been on the waiting list for about 7 months. Finally, once parents receive assistance, the services are typically time-limited.

The Child Care Management System (CCMS) receives as many as 100 calls per day from parents seeking child care subsidies.

Louise C., 38 years old and with three children, began receiving assistance through the SafePlace Child Care Voucher Program. She entered the SafePlace shelter for protection against an abusive husband. The short term child care subsidy offered during her shelter stay has allowed Louise to find work with a temporary employment agency while she searches for a permanent position. The cost of child care for three children is approximately $1,200/month during the summer and $700/month during the school year. She currently receives assistance through the Passages Program, a comprehensive case management program serving the homeless which has a child care subsidy as a supportive service. This subsidy will last approximately one year during which she will be searching for alternatives for assistance.

Source: Austin Families, Inc., names and identifiers changed.

Options for child care increase as family income rises, but costs of care continue to be a major budget item. A study compiled by the Texas Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (TACCRRA), released in October 1999, found that costs for child care in Travis County are higher than in many areas in the state and substantially exceed the state average costs.

The cost of care, especially when there is more than one child needing care, is a burden for the majority of families. As noted in the Report of the Austin Child Care Council to the Austin City Council (1998), "Families now actually spend more on the early care and education of their children than they contribute to the public university education of those children."

RETURN TO TOP