Study reveals wide shortage, huge cost of child care in Orange County - OCRegister

It remains to be seen how the coronavirus pandemic will affect child care needs in Orange County, but a new study shows the issue was a problem even before the virus.

Initial findings from an analysis from First 5 Orange County, the local Children & Families Commission, show that before COVID-19 the county suffered from a profound shortfall in affordable, licensed child care.

A particular gap was found in the kind of care that could help working parents with young children, from infancy to 2 years old.

For every licensed child care slot in Orange County, there are 21 infants and toddlers. Even if only one-third of those young children needed out-of-home child care (an assumption based on the idea that two-thirds of the children have a parent or other caregiver at home) just 14% of the kids would have access to it, according to the First 5 analysis.

But beyond availability, the study also found that the cost of child care is an impossible hurdle for many in Orange County.

Full-time, center-based child care for an infant or toddler runs an average of $15,650 a year, while the annual cost to care for a pre-schooler is $10,000. That means a family with two young children in full time care spends an average of $26,150 a year.

The suspicion is that coronavirus will only widen long-standing gaps in the local child care system.

Called “The Orange County Child Care Landscape Analysis,” the first part of the First 5 report uses data gathered over a six-month period that ended in February, right before COVID-19 created a new set of child care problems for many families.

The emphasis is on understanding the types of care available for young children and the public funding that helps pay for child care vouchers and early education programs. The study also looks at key providers and partners in the local child care system.

Specifically, the research — conducted for First 5 by consultant NP Strategies — has found:

• Nearly 22% of Orange County’s population of 227,278 children ages 5 and under are infants or toddlers.
• Some 60% of parents and other potential caregivers in households with children ages 0-4 are working.
• The biggest demand is for full-day care. Parents also need flexible hours.
• There are licensed child care slots for only 5% of the county’s infants and toddlers and 70% for preschool-age children (3- and 4-year-olds).
• The economics of caring for infants/toddlers is a disincentive for providers.

Using information retrieved from the state’s Child Care Licensing Program, and by calling around, researchers found that nearly half of the county’s licensed providers — about 2,400 programs — were closed from the middle of March into early June. Providers that have reopened now typically operate at reduced capacity in order to meet social distancing guidelines.

Licensed programs in the county are divided about evenly between center-based child care and home-based, or family, care. The big unknown is what is happening with more informal, unlicensed care provided by relatives and acquaintances, the sector of the child-care system that covers the most kids.

“Family, friends and neighbors; that’s where the moving and shaking is and that’s where most of our kids are,” said Kim Goll, president and chief executive officer of First 5, which oversees allocation of Prop. 10 tobacco tax funds in Orange County for services to children ages 0 to 5 and their families.

The other unanswered question: How many licensed child care providers will remain out of business after the pandemic eases?

While she believes it’s important to offer more child care options for families with infants and toddlers, Goll said it is also important for that care to be effective. Such care, she said, should provide the kind of intellectual stimulation that’s essential to early childhood brain development.

Goll expects the three-phase study to be completed by June, and First 5 plans to hold webinars to share and discuss the report’s findings. Those webinars will include a variety of stakeholders, including families, child-care providers, school districts, civic leaders and community organizations.

Much of the initial research came from third-party data, such as demographic figures and Census projections, as well as information from such sources as state and county departments of education, federally-funded school and social service programs, and state licensing. Child care providers also were contacted directly.

One family child care provider in Anaheim that operates nearly round the clock is quoted as telling researchers that most of the parents contacting their business are seeking infant care and non-traditional hours of care, such as overnight or on weekends — something that child care centers typically don’t offer.

“We are not open on Sundays,” the home-based provider is quoted as saying, “but we consistently have a lot of demand for the weekends.”

The second part of the analysis will look at how child care needs — and shortages — affect local employers and the county’s economy, as well as emotional and financial effects on working parents and caregivers. That research will involve interviews with child care providers, businesses and families. First 5 is working with the Orange County Business Council to reach and survey employers.

The study will wrap up with recommendations on how to meet the challenges that working parents and providers face as they try to care for children.

Goll declined to discuss what those recommendations might be, saying more research is needed. But she said the shakeup caused by the pandemic might be providing a chance to reshape a local child care system that’s struggled for years.

“This might help guide the rebuilding of child care,” Goll said. “We might actually be able to learn how to make investments in this system in a way that it won’t be so vulnerable next time with whatever comes our way.”

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Study reveals wide shortage, huge cost of child care in Orange County - OCRegister
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