A Brief Overview of Child Care in Wisconsin Wisconsin Child Care Summit October 22, 2013 Dave Edie Policy Analyst Wisconsin Council on Children and Families 1

Major Trends in WI Child Care Growth in regulated child care: Response to surge in working parents Welfare reform and WI Shares Launch of YoungStar & Cost Saving in WI Shares

1. Growth in Regulated Care Child Care Licensing: 1949 Law Purpose: to protect and promote health, safety and welfare of children Certification began in the 1970s for programs not required to be licensed but received child care subsidies: to protect children’s health and safety 3

Surge in Working Parents 1970: about 40% of children under age 6 had working mothers Huge shift: now 73% of children under age 6 have all available parents in the work force 4 th highest in the country 4

Licensed Child Care Over 34 Years 5

Recent drop in licensed family child care 6

Dramatic drop in Certified care 7

2. Welfare Reform and WI Shares From 1949 to 1970: few subsidies Licensing was only major public involvement in the private child care market By 1970s & 1980s, child care subsidies began to grow, primarily for children at risk WI Shares: Big surge with welfare reform in the mid- 1990s, helping working families Now 48,000 children served per month, an increase of 30,000 8

Key early efforts to improve quality Quality efforts : TEACH scholarships and REWARD wage supplements Helping programs get accredited Centers of Excellence Training and TA Child Care Resource and Referral 9

Child Care Food Program By 1996 over 4,000 family child care programs were participating in the child care food program May have been the peak for participation 10

Launch of YoungStar & Cost Saving in WI Shares Launch of YoungStar/ 3. Launch of YoungStar/ Cost Savings in WI Shares Last 5 years: Surge in focus on improving child care quality via YoungStar Major reductions in WI Shares 11

YoungStar: A quality rating and improvement system Vision: 5-star rating, based on quality indicators All programs receiving WI Shares must participate Higher pay for higher quality Supports to help programs improve: – Scholarships, training, TA, micro-grants 12

YoungStar Progress YoungStar finally passed in the budget, and continued in the Walker administration Huge effort: 4,500 programs participating serving over 45,000 children Major shift to quality: – New focus on quality – Fast progress: already 65% of WI Shares children in 3-5 Star programs 13

Recent Trends in WI Shares Fraud scandals & program integrity Key cost-saving measures: – Frozen rates since 2006 – 5% cut for 2-Star programs under YoungStar – Pay for attended days only: for family child care and increasing for group child care centers – Budget has dropped over $100 million per year Frozen rates now unthawed, with modest increases in

Implications for CACFP These and other factors have contributed to a significant decline in family child care participation in the food program Public policy: struggle between restraints on spending and promoting a healthy start for kids 15