Since 1996, the booming economy and welfare reform have further increased the number of working mothers.  One estimate places the number of additional preschool-age children in child care settings as a result of welfare reform at 1 million (Fuller and Kagan, 2000).

Although child care is a concern for all working families, lower-income families clearly face more difficulties.  Affordability is a barrier; child care costs constitute a much greater percentage of family income for lower-income families than for higher-income families.  In 1993, a family with an income of less than $14,400 spent 25 percent of that income on child care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).  Availability is another barrier.  Working poor families are more likely than higher-income families to have nonstandard working hours and inflexible work schedules, both of which make child care more difficult to find.  Center-based care is frequently scarce in low-income neighborhoods.  For families with infants and toddlers, children with special needs, or school-age children, accessing child care is often problematic.

Why is child care a critical support for self-sufficiency? The cost, quality, and supply of child care play an important role in the employment decisions and outcomes of families.  Studies have consistently found that the cost of child care affects a mother’s decision to work (Lemke et al., 2000; and Ross and Paulsell, 1998).  Subsidy policies attempt to address this issue by making child care more affordable.  The quality and reliability of child care arrangements also are important, perhaps even more than the cost of child care.  A study in Massachusetts found that quality and reliability are more significant than cost in affecting the probability of work (Lemke et al., 2000).  Other research has shown that formal arrangements (e.g., center-based care) tend to more reliable than informal arrangements (e.g., care by friends and relatives) and lead to longer periods of employment for parents (Wood and Paulsell, 1999; and Rangarajan, 1998). A subsidy may be one way to help parents afford higher-quality care.

High-quality child care also is critical to the healthy growth and development of children, particularly low-income children.  Studies have found that children from low-income families are more responsive than children from higher-income families to the quality of care they receive; they are more likely to exhibit gains from high-quality care, but also are more likely to be negatively impacted by low-quality care (Peisner-Feinberg et al., 1999).

Are families accessing child care subsidies?  Recognizing the importance of child care as a work support, state and federal investments in child care have grown considerably since the passage of PRWORA.  Funding for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is $3.6 billion in fiscal 2000.  States also have been spending Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds on child care. In fiscal 1999, states transferred $2.43 billion in TANF funds to the CCDF and spent nearly $2 billion in TANF funds--both federal and state maintenance-of-effort funds-- directly on child care.  States also spent an estimated $1.7 billion on child care program supplements (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1999).  Investments from other programs, including Head Start, the Social Services Block Grant, and the Dependent Care Tax Credit, may also improve the affordability and availability of child care.  Yet, despite these considerable investments, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report on child care subsidies found that in 1998, only 10 percent  of the 14.7 million children eligible for child care assistance under federal guidelines received them.

A review of state “leavers” studies by the Center for Law and Social Policy found that less than 50 percent of families leaving welfare for work were receiving child care subsidies and, in most states, the proportion was less than 30 percent.  Researchers offer several possible explanations for why families leaving welfare are not accessing child care subsidies:

• states may have waiting lists for child care subsidies, which may discourage parents from applying for assistance; 
• families may not know they are eligible for child care subsidies;
• families may prefer informal child care arrangements for cultural or other reasons;
• families may face administrative barriers to applying for child care subsidies, such as a complicated application procedure, a time-consuming application process, and language barriers;
• families may feel there is a stigma associated with receiving public benefits; and
• parents concerned about sanctions for not working may make hasty, informal child care arrangements so they can quickly take an available job.

Why is outreach important? Significant public attention has focused on similar trends (e.g., low uptake rates or even declining enrollment) in food stamp and Medicaid participation. Many advocates, researchers, and policymakers have expressed concern that working poor families may not be accessing the supports they need.  (For more information, see the Welfare Information Network (WIN) publications “Children’s Health Insurance Program -- Outreach and Enrollment,” available at http://www.welfareinfo.org/chipissuenotes.htm, and “Food Stamp Education and Outreach Working to Provide Nutrition Benefits to Eligible Households,” available at http://www.welfareinfo.org/foodstampout.htm.)

Many states are striving to design child care policies that meet the needs of low-income families.  The State Policy Documentation Project, a joint project of the Center for Law and Social Policy and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, recently released an analysis of state child care policies as of October 1999.  Thirty-five states report that they provide a child care guarantee for TANF families.  Twenty-seven states report that they have a transitional child care guarantee for certain families that become ineligible for cash assistance (transitional child care assistance used to be guaranteed by federal law).   State policies on low-income working families vary; Rhode Island is the only state to statutorily entitle child care assistance to all working families with incomes below a certain level.

Yet, for child care policies to be successful, families need information about how to apply for and receive assistance.  Evidence indicates that as families leave TANF, they are not always well informed about their eligibility for supports such as food stamps, Medicaid, and child care assistance.  Even before welfare reform, parents were not always aware of their eligibility for child care subsidies.  Pre-welfare reform studies show that most families did not know about child care subsidies and, therefore, did not use these subsidies.  A Children’s Defense Fund survey revealed that state officials did not believe all eligible families were informed about child care subsidies (Adams et al., 1998).

Welfare reform has pushed many welfare offices to change their culture.  Instead of simply determining eligibility and benefits, the focus has shifted to helping clients find employment.  Some observers worry that too much emphasis is being placed on reducing caseloads rather than on connecting people to work supports such as food stamps, health insurance, and child care.

In addition, many working poor families have left TANF and, therefore, may no longer have any contact with the public assistance system.  Other families may never have received cash assistance and, therefore, may never have had contact with the welfare system.  Without these connections, such families may have difficulties finding out about child care assistance.

What outreach strategies are being used to inform parents about child care options?  A lack of awareness of subsidy eligibility is one explanation for limited subsidy uptake among families leaving welfare.  Some advocates are concerned that state welfare agencies are not forthcoming about the availability of child care subsidies.  States are required to describe in their CCDF state plans how parents will be informed of the availability of child care services and of available child care options, including where and how applications can be filed.  For the period October 1, 1999, to September 30, 2001, outreach efforts described in these state plans include distributing brochures, posters, and resource guides; using resource and referral agencies; making information available through community organizations, local public assistance or human services offices, job training programs, child care providers, local child care offices, schools, medical centers, colleges, universities, and public libraries; conducting public information campaigns that include publications, newspaper articles, web sites, radio and television broadcasts, videos, and newsletters; and partnering with other entities such as early childhood agencies and Head Start programs.

Child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agencies play a key role in informing parents about their child care options.  They often work with the lead state agency to provide outreach to parents, and about half of them administer subsidies.  More than 600 local CCR&Rs operate in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and there are statewide resource and referral networks in 41 states.

It is important to note the connection between outreach and the availability of funds for child care subsidies.  States may understandably be reluctant to engage in outreach activities when they know there is a waiting list and funding is not sufficient to serve all eligible families.  (For more information on child care financing strategies, see the WIN publications “Financial Resources for Child Care,” available at http://www.welfareinfo.org/Issuechild.htm, and “Financing School-Age Out-Of-School-Time Programs with Welfare-Related Funding,” available at http://www.welfareinfo.org/financingschoolissuenote.htm; or contact The Finance Project at 202/628-4200.

Research Findings

Many studies confirm the importance of child care as a work support.  Not only must child care be affordable for parents, but it must be care upon which they can depend.  Studies that have attempted to assess the types and quality of care accessed by parents leaving welfare for work have found much variation among states.  This is not a surprising outcome, given the broad discretion that states have to design child care policies for low-income families and the differences that exist among states and local communities in labor markets and child care supply.  A national study by the Urban Institute found that low-income children are less likely than higher-income children to be in center-based child care and more likely to be in relative care and parent care (Capizzano, Adams, and Sorenson, 2000).  Children from both income groups were almost equally likely to be in family child care.  However, the study found no consistent pattern across states for either income group.  Researchers from the Growing Up In Poverty Project looked at former welfare recipients in California, Connecticut, and Florida and found that the types and quality of child care differed significantly among those states (Fuller and Kagan, 2000).

The Center for Law and Social Policy (1999) analyzed studies of families that have left welfare and found that most leaving welfare for work are not receiving child care subsidies, partly because of a lack of awareness of this assistance.  The researchers also found that families using subsidies were more likely than families not using subsidies to have placed their children in center-based care.

Other research has shown that formal child care arrangements are less likely than informal arrangements to break down and that formal arrangements contribute to longer periods of sustained employment for parents (Wood and Paulsell, 1999; and  Ross and Paulsell, 1998).  One study examined the impact of the child care market and policies on the probability and hours of employment among current and former welfare recipients.  It found that increased funding for child care subsidies increases the probability that current and former welfare recipients will work.  The analysis also revealed that the quality and reliability of child care are more important than the cost of care in a mother’s decision to work (Lemke et al., 2000).  Given that a subsidy may improve a parent’s access to more stable, higher-quality child care, which then may increase the likelihood of sustained employment, these research findings highlight the need to ensure that eligible families know about and have access to child care subsidies.

Innovative Practices

Numerous innovative outreach practices are occurring at the state and local levels to inform parents about child care subsidies.  Brief descriptions of some of these practices follow.

Reaching Out Directly to Eligible Parents.  Many states offer a toll-free number for parents to call and receive child care information.  In a few states, including Alaska, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin, and Vermont, parents can access information about child care subsidies, eligibility guidelines, and application procedures online.

In collaboration with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to reach families that had not previously received cash assistance, food stamps, or Medicaid, Nebraska developed a child care subsidy fact sheet for parents.  This fact sheet was mailed to all licensed child care and preschool programs across the state in a format that can easily be photocopied for parents whose children are enrolled in licensed child care and preschool programs.  Nebraska also sends a yearly mailing to all parents of children enrolled in public schools across the state. The mailing informs parents of the free and reduced school lunch program and, since 1998, it has included information on the eligibility requirements for a child care subsidy and the toll-free number parents can call to get more information.  These efforts have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of children receiving subsidized child care and in the amount of child care subsidy expenditures.  For more information, contact Pat Urzedowski, child care administrator, at 402/471-9431.

A partnership in North Carolina called Family Ties involves families in designated neighborhoods to identify low-income families with young children that are eligible for but not receiving child care or child development services.  Parent volunteers share information with these families about existing community resources and programs.  This program builds local leadership capacity while getting services to some of the families most in need.  For more information, contact Karen Ponder at 919/821-7999.

Since February 2000, New Jersey has been sending an outreach mailing to all families that have left TANF.  A flyer is sent to all cases that have been closed during a two-month period to inform families they may be eligible for transitional supports, including child care, child support, food stamps, and health care.  For more information, contact Joe Koziupa, New Jersey Division of Family Services, at 609/588-2164.

Building Strong Resource and Referral Networks.  Local resource and referral agencies play a critical role in informing parents of their child care options.  They employ numerous outreach strategies, including:

• placing ads in newspapers, on the radio, and on the Internet; distributing flyers to parents, providers, and businesses; and creating “palm cards” with key child care information for parents;
• conducting training sessions for child care providers and imparting child care information to parents at college and university financial aid offices, social and health services agencies, and public schools; during childbirth education classes; and in new baby packets given out at area hospitals; and
• providing employers with child care information to share with their employees and creating linkages with one-stop workforce centers.

About half of all resource and referral agencies also administer child care subsidies. They can play an important role in providing parents with consumer education.  Child Care Resources Inc., the resource and referral agency in Charlotte, North Carolina, provides resource and referral services and manages the child care subsidy program for the county.  The agency reengineered its processes to create a “one-door” model.  All families seeking information on child care subsidies first receive consumer education from the referral department.  This process seeks to ensure that at-risk families have access to information to make informed decisions about their child care choices.  Families are given preliminary eligibility screening for child care and other assistance, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), food stamps, and SCHIP.  Providing parents with more consumer education helps promote continuity of care.  For more information, contact Janet Singerman at 704/376-6697.

In Minnesota, CCR&R agencies have employed capacity-building specialists to recruit and retain child care providers.  These specialists work with employers in their regions to make them aware of child care needs.  Employer orientations include information about the availability of state-subsidized child care.  Some CCR&R sites have begun brown-bag discussions for employees at several companies on child care services and needs.  These specialists also have worked with some counties to develop and implement child care needs assessments in light of the increased demand for child care as a result of welfare reform.  For more information, contact Karen Juola Pitts at 651/582-8428, or Ofelia Lopez at 651/582-8401.

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) has developed software, called NACCRRAware, that can aid CCR&Rs in determining eligibility for subsidies and making immediate referrals to service providers.  For more information on child care resource and referral, contact Yasmina Vinci, NACCRRA, at 202/393-5501; or visit http://www.naccrra.org

Creating Partnerships. Many state child care and/or TANF agencies are partnering with other state and local agencies to inform parents of their child care options.  States have formed partnerships with local coalitions; state departments of employment security, rehabilitation services, economic development, transportation, labor, education, public health, and mental retardation; colleges and universities; Head Start and other early education programs; and local school readiness councils.  In addition, many states, including Arkansas, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas, have placed child care outreach workers at one-stop workforce centers.  (For more information on one-stop centers, see the WIN publication “One-Stop Centers: Recent Developments,”  available at http://www.welfareinfo.org/resourcesonestopcentersrecentdevelopments.htm.

In Minnesota, the state child care agency worked with multiple state and local agencies to develop a brochure that provides child care assistance program information and other useful information to families with young children.  The brochure contains information on child care resource and referralservices, how to choose a child care provider, immunizations, provider complaint procedures, early childhood screening programs, the state’s school readiness initiative, state early childhood family education programs, Head Start, MinnesotaCare, 1st call for Help, and additional sources of child care assistance available for college students and families with social services needs. For more information, contact Karen Juola Pitts at 651/582-8428, or Ofelia Lopez at 651/582-8401.

Community organizations can also offer information and assistance to parents and providers.  In Los Angeles County, California, the Human Services Alliance created palm cards explaining child care assistance eligibility and application procedures.  Between 40,000 and 50,000 cards were distributed to parents through a network of 1,600 social services agencies.  The alliance also conducted a convention on child care for parents that drew 500 attendees.  Recently, it has reached out to licensed, family-based child care providers to offer information about the subsidy system and how providers are reimbursed.  For more information, contact Sam Mistrano at 212/202-5920.

Collaborative efforts can help make information about or access to subsidies more available, even when their explicit purpose is not outreach.  For example, in Kansas City, Missouri, community leaders have integrated funding streams to support out-of-school-time programs throughout the school district.  Community leaders began to examine eligibility requirements for school meals and for child care subsidies and found that in virtually every case, if a child qualified for free school meals, he or she would also qualify for a child care subsidy.  They streamlined the application process for families eligible for both programs so parents only need to complete one application form.  In its first year of operation, the before- and after-school child care program operates in 44 of the 53 elementary schools in the district and serves between 6,000 and 6,500 children. The program is financed with $4 million in child care subsidies, which are funded at the state level with TANF dollars, as well as with federal food funds, Title I funding, contributions from the philanthropic community and local corporations, and parent fees.  For more information, contact Gayle A. Hobbs, executive director, Local Investment Commission, at 816/889-5050.

The Child Care Partnership Project is another collaboration that seeks to improve the accessibility and quality of child care.  The effort, involving The Finance Project, the Families and Work Institute, and the National Governors’ Association, provides information and technical assistance to state child care administrators as they work with businesses, philanthropic organizations, and other groups to build and sustain partnerships.  For more information, contact The Finance Project at 202/628-4200, or the National Child Care Information Center at 800/616-2242.

Reaching Out to Employers.  Another innovative approach is to encourage employers to provide information on child care assistance to their employees.  Employers have an incentive to facilitate employees’ access to dependable, affordable, quality child care to decrease turnover and absenteeism.