Providers say subsidy too low for child care

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Child-care providers in Kansas and Missouri say they are being squeezed by inadequate state payments that fail to cover the complete cost of caring for the children of low-income families.

States pay rates according to the hours of care provided. But those payments generally are lower than the market rate paid by people who don't receive state subsidies.

"The true cost of care is not covered by what the states pay," said Dean Olson, vice president of children's services at Heart of America Family Services. "The child is always subsidized by someone, most often the child-care provider."

For instance, Missouri child-care centers providing full-time infant care are paid $25.75 a day in Jackson, Platte and Clay counties. According to a survey conducted by Heart of America Family Services, the average market rate charged by Missouri child-care centers in those counties is about $30 a day for infants.

In Johnson County, Kan., the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services pays child-care centers $4.48 an hour for infants. But a survey by the Midwest WholeChild Development Group in Overland Park found the average market rate for infants in Johnson County to be about $4.65 an hour.

Deborah Scott, director of the Office of Early Childhood Development at Missouri's Department of Social Services, agreed the state's reimbursement rates were low.

"It's nothing we're proud of," Scott said. "There's only so much money in the pot."

$59.5 million a year

Missouri provides child-care subsidies for an average of 47,147 children a month at a cost to the state of nearly $59.5 million a year. Kansas subsidizes an average of 17,000 children a month at a cost to the state of about $55 million a year.

Parents who qualify for state subsidies often pay a sliding fee for child care, which creates affordability problems, providers say.

"The state may say, 'We'll pay $15 a day,' but my rate may be $19 a day. That leaves the parent paying $4 a day, $20 a week for each child," said Iretha Antwine, director of Little Scholars Preschool & Daycare in south Kansas City. "Most can't afford that. They've had their utilities turned off. They can't pay rent. They don't have money. I have parents struggle with two jobs, they are trying to do right."

Kansas families will take a hit next year when budget cuts caused by the state's fiscal crisis change income guidelines, reducing eligibility. The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services expects 1,200 families to be eliminated from the program as a result.

"It's always hard to take out families who need the help," said Sandra Hazlett, the director of Economic and Employment Support at SRS. "We try to pay about 65 percent of the market rate, depending on availability of funds. Because of funding, we can never pay 100 percent."

To date, Missouri's Department of Social Services has not been asked to reduce eligibility requirements in its child-care program.