AFC Policy Platform - Illinois Action for Children

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Lowering Child Care Co-paymentsfor ParentsBackgroundEvery family that receives child careassistance from the Illinois Department ofHuman Services (IDHS) is required tocontribute a co-payment toward the cost ofthe child care services they receive. In1997, IDHS implemented the existingsystem that uses a sliding fee scale basedon family income, size and number ofchildren in care to determine co-paymentamounts. Unfortunately, the amounts setby the current fee scale are so high thatquality child care is unaffordable for manylow-income families.While the current system requires asignificant co-payment from families at orbelow the federal poverty level (FPL),co-payments increase steeply for familiesabove the FPL. Families at the top ofthe income eligibility scale can beassigned a co-payment equal to 14% oftheir gross income—twice the amountthe average American family pays forchild care.The current co-payment system alsodiscourages families living in poverty fromenrolling their children in Head Start, aprogram created specifically to enhancethe school readiness of children in poverty.Although no co-pay is required toparticipate in part-day Head Start,programs that blend funding to offer fulldaychild care services (in order to meetworking parents’ needs) must chargefamilies living in poverty a hefty co-payment.Families that can’t afford requiredco-payments may have no choice butto place their children in lower-quality,unregulated care.Because the state’s reimbursement rate toproviders is so low (see: Increasing BaseReimbursement Rates for Providers), manyhigh-quality child care programs requireparents to pay the difference betweenthe reimbursement rate and their “privatepay” rate, creating additional costs forstruggling families.These flaws in the system discourageenrollment in high-quality child careprograms, particularly by low-incomechildren who are in need of the qualityearly learning that such programs offer.ResearchPrior to 1997, families in Illinois withincome at or below the FPL paid a tokenamount of $1 per month. Under thecurrent co-pay scale, deeply impoverishedfamilies at 50% of the federal povertylevel, with two children in care, pay $30per month. Families at the FPL ($15,260for a family of 3) pay $95 per month ifthey have two children in care. Familiesat the top of the income scale ($27,936 fora family of 3) with two children in carehave a co-pay of $321 per month —compared to $229 in Ohio, $191 inWisconsin and $119 in Minnesota. Illinoisgenerally charges the poorest familiesmore than our neighboring states and hasamong the highest child care co-paymentscales in the country.
ActionIllinois should reform its child care copaymentsystem to remove the exorbitantfinancial strain it places on impoverishedfamilies. Specifically, families living inpoverty should have no co-payment andother eligible, low-income familiesshould not pay more than 7% of theirgross income, the amount thatthe average American family pays forchild care. Through these chamges,IDHS could alleviate major systematicflaws and provide greater access tohigh-quality child care programs amonglow-income families.
Page 1: we believe that goodpublic policy m
Page 4 and 5: Creating a Universal Early Learning
Page 6 and 7: Increasing and Expanding the EarlyC
Page 10 and 11: Reauthorizing Great STARTThe first
Page 12 and 13: Increasing Base Reimbursement Rates
Page 14 and 15: Implementing a Tiered Reimbursement
Page 16 and 17: Promoting Professional DevelopmentT
Page 18 and 19: Addressing Health InsuranceBackgrou
Page 20 and 21: Improving the Child Care LicensingP
Page 22 and 23: Contacting Action for ChildrenMaria
Page 24: 4753 North BroadwaySuite 1200Chicag

AFC Policy Platform - Illinois Action for Children

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