Portland Metro Area Child Care News

Many families depend on state subsidized child care assistance to work in the state of Oregon.  Without this, thousands of families will not be able to pay for child care, and would then loose their jobs.  Think about it, with the unemployment rate as high as it is, why would we purposely make it worse?

In 2005, assistance was provided through 13,826 providers to over 21,300 children in 10,700 families per month. Approximately 78 percent of the children were served in family home settings, meaning Registered and Certified In-Home Child Care Providers. 

Imagine over ten thousand families suddenly loosing their jobs causing over ten thousand Registered and Certified Child Care Providers to go out of business and join the unemployed population.

This is what Governor Ted Kulongoski is proposing in his budget.  We all know that funding is short everywhere, and cuts have to happen somewhere, but our economy would be mortally wounded if the ERDC (Employment Related Daycare Program) is cut.  Other programs that are on the table for huge cuts are TANF(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ) , and the JOBS program.

Picture a single mother struggling to pay for daycare, rent, and bills.  Without EDRC, she would have to come up with hundreds of extra dollars per month to keep even one child in daycare.  Imagine if she has three.  It would be impossible for her to come up with the extra money, and without a job, she couldn’t pay rent or bills, and her family would become homeless.  There are literally thousands of families in this situation right now, less than one paycheck away from homelessness.

Now picture this.  Tens of thousands of people loose their jobs over the next few weeks because they can no longer pay for daycare.  Suddenly, the already struggling food banks are empty, and children play in the local homeless camps because shelters are full.  It sounds like the scene from a “Save the Children” commercial shot in a third-world country, but the reality is that without this subsidy, scenes like this would pop up all over the state.

People won’t be able to afford to work who have children.  Literacy would plummet while crime skyrockets.  Businesses would go under.  More people would loose their homes.  Services would no longer be available.

Even if you can afford to pay for daycare on your own, what if the daycare your child goes to relies on that subsidy to stay full?  Daycares are already closing at an alarming rate.  What do you do if it happens to yours?  Hundreds of daycare centers and Registered In-home Providers depend on this as their income.  That would add to the amount of people loosing their livelihoods and homes.

What can you do?  Stand up; make some noise, shout it from the rooftops that the Governor’s proposed budget cannot go through as it stands without doing irreversible damage to our already faltering economy.  This is bigger than just cutting some daycare assistance money.

How do you make some noise?  A meeting will be held at Becky Goodman’s home.  Becky is a Certified Childcare Provider in Gresham who has offered to invite you into her home to find out more about what how you can help.  The meeting will be Friday, January 16^th 2009 at 6 p.m. at Amazing Minds Learning Center by Goodman Family Childcare LLC 1241 SE 212^th Ave, Gresham, OR 97030, (503)665-0825.

For more information, go to AFSCME Local 132 Child Care Providers Together’s website at www.oregonccpt.com, or contact Faye at 503-370-2522, 800-521-5954 X30, or shoot her an email at faye@oregonafscme.com.

You don’t have to be a provider to come to this meeting.  If you or anyone you know receives ERDC, TANF, or is in the JOBS program, these changes will affect you immediately.

Family child care subsidies for low income families are on the verge of being cut.  What does that mean for you?  If you are a daycare provider who cares for children of low income families who receive help from DHS to pay their tuition, the money you receive from DHS will be cut.  Your income will be cut.  Families who depend on that money to pay for tuition will suddenly have to make up the difference, causing them to be unable to work and keep their families afloat any longer.  In this already faltering economy, we can’t afford to cause people to loose this help.

Right now, the rates that DHS pays providers for low income children is in the 75^th percentile.  AFSCME Local 132 brought providers together and worked tirelessly to get this rate, because child care providers in Oregon had not received an increase in 12 years.  We need their help again, just as they need ours.  We can’t afford to let the Governor cut the funds that providers bargained and fought to get.

What can you do?  If you are a Child Care Provider, become a member of AFSCME today.  Become part of the voice for children, and fight for better quality care.  Recruit your friends, family members, your local grocer, your child’s teacher, your boss, and everyone you come in contact with to help make phone calls, write letters, sign letters to the editor, and send emails.  AFSMEf also needs people to testify in legislative hearings.  Also, providers who attend legislative hearings need back up care while they are there.  It takes such little time, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if enough people speak up, the Governor will hear us loud and clear.

The extra money from these daycare subsidies make it possible for families to afford daycare and their bills.  If families can’t afford quality daycare, more children will become latch key kids, or be left with unsafe unregistered providers just to save money.  Studies show that for every dollar DHS subsidies pay for a child to be in a safe and nurturing environment, taxpayers save two dollars, because that child has been given a stable foundation and is less likely to become incarcerated later in life.  We can’t afford to loose this funding.

For more information on what you can do to help, or to join AFSME , please contact Fay at 800-521-5954, 503-370-2522, or send her an email at faye@oregonafscme.com

The cost of health insurance in 2008 was phenomenal, and it’s expected to go up in 2009 with coverage going down.  What is a family supposed to do when it’s hard enough to make ends meet?  Help has arrived.

 The Oregon Prescription Drug Program is now available to all Oregonians.  Many people who use this coverage state that it saved them more than their private health insurance coverage would.  The best part is that it’s free.  Yes, you read that right, the Oregon Prescription Drug Program is free to all Oregonians, and there are no age or income restrictions.  Parents, Providers, the rich, the poor, and everyone in between can benefit from this program.

Under this program, all prescription drugs are eligible for the discount, but you can save up to 60% on generics, and you can look up drug prices before going to your pharmacy.

There is no paperwork or testing required.  Either call 1-800-913-4146 or go to www.opdp.org in the web.  Registration for your entire family only takes a minute, and you won’t be turned down.  Just give the information for each family member, and your card(s) will be in the mail and in your hands in roughly one week.

With the cost of everything around us going up, it’s comforting to know that the medications you and your family may need to survive can be purchased without breaking the bank.  Don’t waste any time, call or go online and get your cards today, and stop paying astronomical prices for life saving medications.