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

FINANCING CHILD CARE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR PHILANTHROPY
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
• The difficulty of raising $3 million in community funds
to match the challenge grant offered by the Marin
Community Foundation was underestimated. The task
proved difficult and more costly than anticipated. The
original estimate of more than a 10 percent return on
investment for the CCSF also was overly optimistic.
The Marin Education Fund believes these difficulties
were due, in part, to the economic climate of California
and the county, which worsened dramatically between
the late 1980s, when the CCSF was conceived, and
the early 1990s, when the fund–raising began.
• The original design for CCSP in the late 1980s called
for supporting families with incomes between $15,000
and $28,000 at an average 50 percent subsidy over
the years until their children reached age 10. At that
time, it was estimated that between 600 and 700
Marin families would qualify. By the time CCSP was
launched and began making scholarship awards in
1993–94, the estimate of eligible families had soared
to more than 4,000, primarily due to economic and
demographic changes. Eligibility criteria were
redesigned to match the resources available, while
remaining true to the original intent of helping families
who were ineligible for public subsidies.
• The Marin Community Foundation was criticized when
the CCSF was announced because the CCSF was
promoted as “the answer” — the one best strategy to
address child care needs of Marin County families.
Previously, the foundation had made grants to many
local child care centers. Eventually, the foundation
resumed its community–based child care grant–making
at an annual level of about $500,000. The focus is on
child care improvement and expansion, especially in
relation to community development and the economic
self–sufficiency of families.
• The experience of the CCSF shows that a scholarship
fund is insufficient to address the full range of child
care issues in a community. Scholarship funds are a
valuable and important part of an overall strategy
designed to increase public and business concern
about child care and increase investment on behalf of
lower–income families. Strategies and resources also
have to 1) build the capacity of the child care
community to function more effectively and expand its
services and 2) build the civic constituency to support
child care as an integral part of a community’s
economic and overall planning. The underlying
message is that community health depends on good,
affordable child care services.
OTHER SITES WITH SIMILAR STRATEGIES
Although other community foundations fund child care
programs, this level of funding for scholarship assistance
is unusual.
CONTACT
Susan Badger, President
Marin Education Fund
1010 B Street, Suite 300
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone (415) 459 4240
Fax (415) 459 0527
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