Financing Child Care in the United States - Ewing Marion Kauffman ...

ALLOCATING PUBLIC REVENUES EDUCATION
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
• A+ was established by the administration of former
Governor John Waihee (D) prior to his final term in
office. The initiative was led by former Lieutenant
Governor Ben Cayetano (D), who succeeded Governor
Waihee in 1994 and has continued to provide strong
leadership and financial support for the program.
• A+ was initially established without the approval of the
legislature. While this move may have initially angered
some members of the legislature, it allowed rapid
program start–up. Strong public support made it easier
to gain legislative approval for the program the
following year.
• A+ has continued to receive strong public support.
Focus groups and surveys indicate high parent
satisfaction.
• The A+ Program is running well and has reached most
of the children it was designed to serve.
• The decision to house A+ in the public school system
was a pragmatic one and provided the infrastructure
necessary to establish the program quickly. But school
sponsorship has also posed some barriers. For
example, allowing the A+ Program to follow a school
calendar and remain closed during school holidays and
vacations places additional stress on working parents,
who must scramble for alternative child care. In
contrast, private providers appear to be willing and
ready to provide care year–round.
• Staff development activities are limited. Site
coordinators, principals, teachers and parents—as well
as the evaluators of the program—have raised concerns
that A+ staff need more in–service training.
• The lack of separate space for the A+ Program has
been a significant problem. The cafeteria/auditorium
and playground are the spaces most frequently used
for the program. Site visits conducted as part of the
evaluation revealed that, even in very well managed or
small sites, noise levels are not conducive to doing
homework or engaging in quiet group activities. Access
to the playground also was limited in some sites. A lack
of adequate storage facilities is another problem.
• Concerns have been raised that the parent fee
structure is not realistic and that some parents could
afford higher fees.
• Reimbursement to contract providers is based on a
maximum cost of $70 per child (minus the co–payment
collected from parents) and has not increased since
the program began. DOE has generated additional
revenue for the A+ Program by increasing the fees
charged to parents. (Monthly fees were $25 per child
when the program began; the full fee is now $55 per
child.) For private providers, however, the fee increases
reduce reimbursement from DOE and do not result in
increased revenue.
OTHER SITES WITH SIMILAR STRATEGIES
Hawaii is the only state that makes after–school child
care universally available to all children enrolled in public
elementary schools and partially subsidizes its cost to
parents.
CONTACT
Joanne Swearingen, Educational Specialist
Hawaii Department of Education
641 18th Avenue, Building V, 2nd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96825
Phone (808) 733 9100
Fax (808) 733 9147
FOOTNOTE
1
Sibling discounts for families eligible for free and reduced lunch are
deducted in $1 increments. For two children the monthly fee is $8 per
child, for three children the fee is $7 per child, and so forth. Sibling
discounts for all other families are deducted in $5 increments. For two
children the monthly fee is $50 per child, for three children the fee is
$45 per child, and so forth.
93