Funding needed to support child care programs

Have you played the game of Monopoly? How would you like to play this game without getting $200 each time you pass go?

Wouldn't you complain that this isn't fair, that you'd have a much harder time than the other players to "buy" Boardwalk or Park Place?

Well, you'd be right. As Americans and as Arizonans, we believe that self-reliance and personal responsibility are important qualities. We also believe that the doors of opportunity should be open to us all.

For the past 30 years, the child care subsidy program in Arizona has kept those doors open for tens of thousands of children living in working families by making licensed child care affordable for families earning $25,000 or less. State and federal funding for child care has provided parents with opportunities to keep working to support their families without turning to welfare or placing their kids in unsafe places. This has helped level the playing field for children to succeed.

Yet, beginning in March 2003, due to state budget decisions, thousands of children have been turned away from affordable child care. Today, there are more than 1,000 children who are left out. If our state lawmakers don't act, that number will multiply tenfold by the end of next fiscal year.

Who are these kids? They are the children of a mom who has graduated with an AA degree and has been offered a job as an administrative assistant in your company, but can't take the job because she can't afford child care. They are the children of the father who has been working part time and going to school, whose wife has just died of cancer, and who has no family to help. They are the children of the mother who is a victim of domestic violence and is fleeing her abusive husband to give herself and her kids a fresh start.

Some of them manage to get by. Their parents cope by patching together neighbors and friends to care for them, and, if they're very, very lucky, they have a grandparent or a relative that takes on the responsibility. But for far too many families, these options simply don't exist.

Thousands of Arizona's youngest citizens, from hardworking families, find themselves shuffled around without any security. And other families have to give up on their jobs and their quest for economic independence and turn to welfare instead. Both options undermine the stability of families and leave children without that $200 they need to have a fair start.

There is an answer. Arizonans can make our state a place where children have a decent chance to succeed. Increased state funding is needed to stop turning away thousands of children and to keep up with our growing population. We need to convince our policymakers they should level the playing field with their child care budget decisions.

There is no higher value in our state than the idea of opportunity for all. And child care brings this value to life by helping parents keep working and stay off welfare; keeping kids safe and nurtured; giving parents choices; and, ideally, laying the foundation for success in school. We should end the child care "waiting list" because children's lives can't be put on hold. They need a fair start beginning today.

Carol Kamin Ph.D., is president and CEO of Children's Action Alliance.

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