Owner Janna Rodriguez with kids at Innovative Child Care Corp in...

Owner Janna Rodriguez with kids at Innovative Child Care Corp in Freeport in 2021. Credit: Morgan Campbell

I work about 100 hours a week providing top-notch education and development at the home-based child care facility I own and operate. But I’ve gone without a salary for four months straight.

This is the true cost of a woefully underfunded child care system, a cost my business and Long Island families can no longer afford. 

I participate in New York’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). That means we accept low-income families who receive state assistance to help them pay for child care.

I made that decision because as an early education professional, I’ve made a commitment to uplift and inspire all children regardless of income level, what they look like, or what neighborhood they live in. All children deserve access to high-quality care. 

But as a business owner, it’s not always a financially sound decision to take on CCAP families.

That’s because the program’s child care reimbursement rates for providers are either so low or come so late that they often don’t cover operating expenses, let alone living wage salaries with good benefits. This isn’t just bad for our small businesses, it also disempowers families who depend on New York’s program to afford child care. 

When the state fails to pay child care providers participating in the CCAP, we are forced to either cover those costs or drop families in the program. That can leave families feeling stigmatized as a burden to already-struggling child care businesses. 

The ripple effect is that those parents then have trouble finding day care slots that will accept them, which can cause them to miss out on work and earning potential. It’s no wonder that in 2022 alone, our economy suffered $122 billion in lost wages and economic activity because of our child care crisis.

We have to end this cycle and make investments to fund the true cost of care, in New York and across the country. My facility will be one of many nationwide to host a Day Without Child Care event on May 8 to help destigmatize aid for low-income families and advocate for more funding.

Emergency pandemic money for child care has been the last thread holding our industry together, but it's running out. Before everything unravels, I’m asking our Long Island congressional delegation to stand with us and support increased funding for our child care system. 

President Joe Biden’s budget proposal calls for investing in child care and universal pre-K, but members of the House Republican majority have threatened brutal cuts that could force the elimination of at least 170,000 Head Start and 105,000 child care slots nationally.

That would be detrimental to New York and the entire country, especially women who are small business owners like me.

Our delegation does not have to follow that lead. Just as some of them have publicly committed to “never support cuts” for programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, they should do the same with child care.

I talk to parents every day. They don’t want our representatives to ban books about history or exclude children based on their identity. What they want is healthy, happy, educated kids who have an equal opportunity to thrive. We won’t get there without long-term funding for our child care system.

Our congressional delegation must commit to ensuring not only that parents feel supported, but that we’re supporting our children and our small business owners, who are the backbone of a thriving economy.

This guest essay reflects the views of Janna Rodriguez, owner and operator of The Innovative Day Care Corp., a home-based child care facility in Freeport.

This guest essay reflects the views of Janna Rodriguez, owner and operator of The Innovative Day Care Corp., a home-based child care facility in Freeport.

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