child care in cook county - Illinois Action for Children

child care in cook county:elements of child caresupply and demand2010

2010child care in cook county:elements of child care supply and demandFY 2009 (July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009)an illinois action for children research report funded inpart by the illinois department of human services4753 N. Broadway, Suite 1200, Chicago IL 60640(312) 823-1100 • www.actforchildren.org

ContentsExecutive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Introduction: Families and Child Care in Cook County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Section I. Family Dilemma: Child Care Affordability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A. The Cost of Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6B. Trends in Child Care Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7C. What Percent of Income is Reasonable to Spend on Child Care? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8D. Helping Parents Meet the Cost of Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8E. Child Care Affordability with Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9F. The Use of Illinois Child Care Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Section II. Family Dilemma: Access to Available Child Care Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14A. Child Care Providers and Slots in Cook County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14B. Where are the Providers and Slots? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15C. Center Slots by Child Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19D. Referrals Given to Parents in 2009 by Child Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Section III. Family Dilemma: Finding Child Care that Matches the Family’s Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21A. Providers Offering Child Care During Non-Traditional Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21B. Referrals Given to Parents in Need of Non-Traditional Hours of Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Section IV. Family Dilemma: Finding the Right Provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23A. What Do Children Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23B. Special Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23C. Language Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Section V. Public Dilemma: Who Needs Child Care? Who Needs Support? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25A. Child Population, Poverty and Low Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25B. Children With All Working Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26C. Children Eligible For but Without Child Care Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Section VI. Child Care Choices of Cook County Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33AppendicesAppendix 1: The Six Cook County Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Appendix 2: The Demand for and Supply of Child Care—Basic Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Appendix 3: Sources for Data on Child Care Providers in Cook County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40© 2010 Illinois Action for Childreniii

Executive SummaryFinding child care has never beeneasy—our reports in previous years,as well as this one, have outlined theissue in great detail. However, childcare has taken on an even moreimportant and complex role in thelives of Illinois’ families as Illinois facesdramatic budgetary and economicchallenges.As such, it is important to look at boththe need for child care and the capacityof child care available in Cook County.Children of working parents spend asignificant percentage of each daywith a child care provider; as a result,a parent’s choice of child care providersis undoubtedly one of the mostimportant decisions they will make.For myriad reasons including but notlimited to: insufficient capacity, highcost of care and provider schedulesthat do not match a parent’s workinghours, many children end up with theprovider their parent(s) can find giventhose limitations rather than the highestquality child care available.In 2009, the child care picture for familiesin Cook County looked like this:• A family earning $46,069—the 2008Chicago median family income—would pay anywhere from 15 percent(for licensed home child carefor an infant or toddler) to 23 percent(for center-based care in Chicagofor an infant) of a Chicago family’stypical income. This makes childcare cost-prohibitive in many cases.• The cost of center care is rising atan alarming rate—much higherthan consumer prices are risingnationally. While consumer priceshave risen 25 percent since 2000,center rates have seen sharpincreases of anywhere from 32percent to 61 percent over thatsame time period. The only exceptionto this is in infant and toddlercare in Chicago, which has onlyseen costs rise by about 20 percentsince 2000.• As a comparison, the cost of infantand toddler care exceeds the costof college tuition and fees. At$9,452, these higher educationcosts would cover only 90 percentof infant care costs in Chicago andjust 79 percent of infant care insuburban Cook County centers.• For another cost comparison, thecost of infant and toddler child carein Chicago centers is equally asexpensive as the cost (in 2008) oftotal rent in a year for the typicalChicago family: $10,356.• Traditionally the fastest rising costsare those of before- and after-schoolcare. Since 2000, those priceshave increased by 61 percent to65 percent in Chicago centers andhomes, and 45 percent to 46 percentin suburban centers and homes.• Unlicensed home care—mostoften provided by a family member,friend, or neighbor—is still the onlyaffordable option for many families,particularly in this difficult economicclimate. This is often the onlyoption for middle-income familieswho are either already earningtoo much income to be eligible forChild Care Assistance or, for avariety of reasons, are no longereligible for assistance.• With a total of 4,503 slots, fewercare options exist for infants thanany other age group under schoolage; a similar situation exists fortoddlers. It is costly for centers toprovide care for these age groups,leading many families with infantsand toddlers to look to family childcare homes for care.• While the number of child carecenters offering evening or weekendhours is still scarce, the percentagehas increased in recentyears. Five (5) percent of childcare centers offer evening care,a noticeable increase from the 3percent that offered care in 2007.• Relatively low pay makes it very difficultfor child care centers to retainhigh-quality staff, particularly teachers.• Only 34 percent of families surveyedthat had no children with specialneeds reported that they had problemsfinding child care in CookCounty, as compared with 45 percentof families that had a child withspecial needs. Additionally, only 38percent of families with childrenwith special needs said they hadfound child care by the time of thesurvey, compared to 44 percent offamilies without children with specialneeds. Families that had childrenwith special needs were morelikely to still be undecided abouttheir child care arrangement.• In 2009, 10 percent of familiesusing Illinois Action for Children’sreferral service sought a providerwho could speak a language otherthan English, the predominant languagerequested being Spanish.• Of the providers who are on the IllinoisAction for Children Referral database,19 percent of licensed homeproviders reported they fluentlyspeak a language other than English,while 43 percent of centers said theyhave a staff member who speaks alanguage other than English.Illinois is at a critical moment whenit comes to supporting child care andearly education. State budget shortfallsthreaten the ability of the ChildCare Assistance Program (CCAP),Preschool for All, and other statefundedearly education and afterschoolprograms to serve Illinoisfamilies. It is our intention, throughthe data contained in this report, todemonstrate that child care is notsomething that should be cut from theState’s budget or its human priorities.1

I N T R O D U C T I O NFamilies and Child Carein Cook CountyMore than one million childrenunder the age of 13 live in CookCounty. A large proportion, andperhaps a majority, of these childrenreceive regular care from someoneother than their parents or guardians:from another relative, a friendor neighbor, a family child carehome, a child care center, or apark district or other after-schoolprogram.EXAMINING COOK COUNTY CHILD CARE BY REGIONThroughout this Report we divide Cook County into six regions to show howgeographic differences can affect parents’ success in finding child care.CHICAGOSUBURBAN COOK COUNTY1) North and Northwest 4) North and Northwest2) Central and West 5) West3) South and Southwest 6) South and SouthwestSee Appendix 1 for more detailed definitions of these regions.This 2010 Report of Child Carein Cook County examines the availabilityof child care to families indifferent parts of Cook County.We present the different settingsin which child care takes place,the number of children that can beserved in each type of care, andthe fees that parents pay to differenttypes of providers. We report theexperiences of some parents whoseek referrals to child care providersand examine the dilemmasthey face in choosing a providerand the compromises they makeas a result.Chicago and Suburban Cook RegionsNorth & Northwest Suburban CookNorth & Northwest ChicagoCentral & West ChicagoA NOTE ON SUPPLYAND DEMANDWest Suburban CookWhile we subtitle this report“Elements of Child Care Supply andDemand,” we want to caution readersthat the factors that determinethe supply of and demand for childcare are numerous and complex.We cannot simply compare thenumber of child care slots and thenumber of children in need of care.Appendix 2 provides a detaileddiscussion of the various elementsthat influence both child care supplyand demand and explains why anSouth & Southwest ChicagoSouth & Southwest Suburban Cook3

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook Countyeffective analysis of child care supplyand demand can be so complex.WHAT TYPES OF CHILDCARE ARE AVAILABLE?A family’s success in finding qualitychild care is based on many factorsincluding the family’s location, achild’s age, the hours of care needed,the amount the family can affordto pay, a child’s specific needs, andthe parent’s particular preferences.Assuming for a moment that familiescan access all types of child care,let’s look at the available options.First, many families only useparental care. Either one parentstays home to care for the children,or both parents stagger their sched -ules so one can care for the childrenwhile the other works, goes to school,or fulfills other responsibilities.Parents who need or want to lookbeyond parental care may find homechild care an appealing option.They may take their child to thehome of someone they know well,such as a family member, closefriend or neighbor, or someone theydiscovered through word-of-mouthor through a referral service. Theymay also choose a caregiver whocan provide care in the child’shome, as a nanny does.Many home-based child careproviders, especially those who providecare as an on-going profession,choose to become licensed. Thismeans the care provided in theirhomes is regulated by the IllinoisDepartment of Children and FamilyServices (DCFS) as well as theirlocal licensing agency, if one exists.Throughout this report, we refer tothese caregivers as licensed homeproviders, and we refer to thosewithout licenses as license-exempthome providers or family, friend, orneighbor care (see the glossary fordetailed definitions of these terms).License-exempt home child carecan be provided in the home of thecaregiver or the child.Parents also have the option of takingtheir child to a child care center.While most of these facilities arelicensed by DCFS, centers suchas those based in school or affiliatedwith religious groups are exemptfrom being licensed. Center caremay include all or part-day childcare programs, before- and afterschoolprograms (including thoseprovided by park districts andYMCAs), and full-day summerprograms for school-age children.Parents who may not need full-timechild care but wish to prepare their3- or 4-year-old child for kindergartenmay consider a part-dayor part-week preschool program.These programs include private,tuition-based programs as well asfree public programs such as HeadStart and Preschool for All (dataon public and private preschoolprograms are not included in thisreport).HOW DO FAMILIES FINDCHILD CARE?Families seek child care by askingrelatives or friends for referrals,looking at notices and advertisements,and visiting child care centersin their communities. The State ofIllinois offers a resource for familiesin the form of a referral service—Illinois Action for Children administersthis service for families in CookCounty through its Resource andReferral Program, maintaining adatabase of child care providerswho register voluntarily to bereferred to parents. Child careproviders supply detailed informationabout their programs so thatreferral consultants can help parentsfind providers that match theirneeds and preferences. Referralconsultants help educate parents onwhat constitutes quality child careso parents are more equipped toevaluate the programs they visit.WHAT IS THE TYPICALFAMILY EXPERIENCE?While many parents and guardiansare quite satisfied with the care theirchildren receive, many others findthe process of searching for anddeciding on a child care providerstressful. These parents frequentlyexperience frustration finding theright care at the right hours, rightlocation, and right price.Families search for child care undersuch vastly different circumstancesthat no one family’s story can beconsidered wholly representative.However, we will introduce several“typical families” in an effort toexplore the complex and oftendifficult decisions Cook Countyfamilies face in arranging child care.4

IntroductionGABRIELLE AND SHAWN HARRISAND THEIR 10-MONTH AND21-MONTH OLD DAUGHTERSCANDACE THOMAS AND HER2-YEAR-OLD, 4-YEAR-OLD,AND 8-YEAR-OLDALBERTA REYES AND HERTHREE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTERGabrielle and Shawn together earned$89,400 in 2009, more than thetypical family in Cook County, and toomuch to be eligible for the Illinois ChildCare Assistance Program (CCAP).The child care center they would liketo use would charge them $1,834per month for an infant and a toddler,or $22,000 annually, although the childcare tax credit would reduce that tojust $20,800—23 percent of theirincome. Since paying this amountwould stretch their budget, they mustdecide whether to settle for child caresomewhere other than the center, orwhether Gabrielle should work a longweekend shift of three overnights ata hospital so she can be home withher children during most weekdayswhile Shawn works. Her sister-in-lawhas offered to help with the childrenwhen needed and has asked if they,in turn, could help care for her childrenwhen she works.Candace’s three children are in carewith an inexpensive licensed familychild care provider. Candace works fora large retailer that recently gave hera promotion and sizeable raise. Thislifted her income to an annual salaryof $44,800, making her no longereligible for CCAP. Candace is nowstruggling to afford her child care butis reluctant to move her children toan even less expensive provider sinceshe and her children are very happywith their current caregiver. She hopesfor another promotion in a few monthsto help her with her higher child careexpenses. If that doesn’t happen,she is considering asking her employerto return her to her old position so shecan reapply for Child Care Assistance.Alberta is a single mother who worksat a distribution center four nightsper week, although sometimes she issent home when business is slow.She earns $7.85 per hour andreceives $200 each month in childsupport, giving her a total income of$16,138 in 2009. Alberta is in needof overnight child care between 6 p.m.and 6 a.m. Fortunately, her mother isavailable to watch her daughter in themorning so she can sleep.These examples do not represent actual families but composites of typical incomes and work schedules for families in Cook County.5

I. Family Dilemma:Child Care AffordabilityA.THE COST OF CHILD CAREEach year, the Illinois Action for Chil -dren Resource and Referral Programasks providers to report the ratesthey charge parents. Tables I-1 andI-2 present the average market ratesthat 729 child care centers and2,503 homes respectively charge inthe six regions of Cook County.Centers average between $138 and$280 each week to care for childrenunder age six, while home providerscharge an average of $119 to $202weekly, depending upon age andregion. The last rows of both tablesshow the rates that the Illinois ChildCare Assistance Program (CCAP)reimbursed Cook County providersin 2009. We will discuss these ratesfurther in Section I-D.Tables I-1 and I-2 indicate sharpdif ferences in child care ratesrelative to the region in which thecare occurs and the age of thechild. In child care, it is well-knownthat the younger the children, themore expensive it is to provide theircare, largely due to the additionalcare and supervision that youngchildren need.As in previous years, the Southand Southwestern regions of bothChicago and suburban CookCounty generally have the lowestrates. These regions also havelower average incomes and highernumbers of child care pro viders.[See Section II.] Private and publicsector entrepreneurs have been relativelysuccessful in building neededchild care capacity in many of thesecommunities, and this more plentifulsupply may serve to keep theiraverage rates lower.Table I-1. Child Care Center Full-Time Weekly RatesFY2009Source: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program2- 5- Before Schoolyear- 3- to 4- year- & After Age:Infant Toddler old year-old old to K School SummerCook Co. Average $229 $213 $185 $166 $161 $112 $148N & NW Chicago $238 $212 $185 $164 $158 $110 $145C & W Chicago $242 $229 $196 $172 $169 $114 $141S & SW Chicago $187 $181 $158 $140 $138 $99 $120N & NW Suburban Cook $280 $257 $228 $208 $201 $129 $197West Suburban Cook $228 $206 $187 $166 $162 $101 $150S & SW Suburban Cook $201 $190 $167 $150 $144 $109 $140IDHS Full TimePayment Rates$202.50 $171 $142.50 $71.25 $142.505 hrs./dayTable I-2. Licensed Child Care Home Full-Time Weekly RatesFY2009Source: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program2- 5- Before Schoolyear- 3- to 4- year- & After Age:Infant Toddler old year-old old to K School SummerCook Co. Average $144 $141 $137 $132 $127 $100 $121N & NW Chicago $164 $160 $156 $149 $144 $116 $147C & W Chicago $137 $133 $128 $123 $120 $100 $117S & SW Chicago $134 $131 $127 $122 $119 $97 $115N & NW Suburban Cook $202 $197 $194 $191 $184 $123 $167West Suburban Cook $150 $145 $142 $139 $134 $102 $127S & SW Suburban Cook $138 $135 $130 $125 $120 $94 $115IDHS Full TimePayment RatesWe find similarly low rates in thechild care homes of the West andCentral Chicago region, reflectingthat the majority of child care homesin this region are on Chicago’s westside, one of the poorest areas in thecounty. Child care center rates inthis region are higher, however, as$133 $128 $120 $60.00 $120.005 hrs./daythe centers are more evenly distributedbetween the poorer westernportion of the region and the wealthiercentral portion.The North and Northwest Suburbanregion stands out for having thehighest rates for both centers andhomes of all six regions.6

B.TRENDS IN CHILDCARE RATESLike most expenses, child care coststend to rise every year. But the costof center care has risen more rapidlythan consumer prices nationally.Table I-3 presents the aggregaterate increases of centers and familychild care homes for Chicago andsuburban Cook County. The dollarcolumns show the most recent ratesfor each age group. Next to eachrate is a column that presents thepercent increase over the nine yearsfrom June 2000 to June 2009.Increases ranged from 13 percent to65 percent. Over the same periodof time, all consumer prices roseabout 25 percent nationally. 1 Whilemost licensed home rates increasednear or below this average inflationrate, center rates for almost all agegroups far exceeded it.It appears, then, that Cook Countyparents—or those parents who canafford to pay for care—have a demandfor center care growing faster thantheir demand for home care, especiallyin the ages above toddler.Two important exceptions wherehome rates have outpaced those ofcenters are infant and toddler carein Chicago and before- and afterschoolcare in both Chicago andsuburban Cook County.While suburban child care costs moreon average than care in Chicago,Chicago has experienced more rapidrate increases over the last nineyears than has suburban CookCounty. This is the case for both centerand home care for all age groupsexcept infant and toddler center care.Across age groups, the slowest risingcenter costs were that of infant andtoddler care, particularly in Chicagocenters where the average cost ofinfant and toddler care increased 20percent and 21 percent respectivelyover the last nine years. Still, infantand toddler care remains the mostexpensive of all age groups.The fastest-rising costs were those ofbefore- and after-school care, risingmore quickly in Chicago than in thesuburbs. The average cost of beforeandafter-school care rose by 65percent in Chicago licensed homesand 61 percent in Chicago centers.C.WHAT PERCENT OFINCOME IS REASONABLETO SPEND ON CHILD CARE?The numbers are clear; child careis an increasingly burdensomefinancial responsibility for families.According to the U.S. Census, thetypical (median) income for familieswith children under 18 in CookCounty was $61,306 before taxesin 2008, and even lower for Chicagofamilies at $46,069. 2 Care for oneinfant in a Chicago child care center,at an average cost of $210 perweek, or $10,500 over a fifty-weekyear, costs 23 percent of a typicalChicago family’s pre-tax income.At $10,000 per year, toddler caretakes up 22 percent. Licensed homecare for an infant or toddler is moreaffordable at $6,800 to $6,950 peryear, but even this is 15 percent ofa Chicago family’s income.Table I-3. 2009 Average Weekly Market Rates, and Rate Increases Since 2000Source: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program. Rounded to the nearest dollar or percent.Percent Percent Percent PercentGrowth Growth Suburban Growth Suburban GrowthChicago Since Chicago Since Cook Since Cook SinceAge Centers 2000 Homes 2000 Centers 2000 Homes 2000Infant $210 20% $139 26% $239 32% $154 17%Toddler $200 21% $136 28% $220 34% $150 18%2-year-old $173 52% $132 27% $196 41% $146 17%3- to 4-year-old $153 44% $127 27% $176 39% $142 16%5-year-old $150 42% $123 26% $171 36% $136 13%Before & After School $105 61% $100 65% $116 45% $100 46%School-Age Summer $131 51% $120 39% $160 34% $125 26%Percent growth in consumer prices nationwide since 2000: 25%7

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyWHICH FAMILIES ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVECHILD CARE ASSISTANCE?GABRIELLE AND SHAWN HARRIS:WORKING PARENTS WITH ANINFANT AND A TODDLER.INCOME IS $89,400 A YEAR.The maximum income a family of fourcan earn to be eligible for CCAP is$42,408 per year. Gabrielle andShawn earn double this amount andare not eligible. Nevertheless , theyfeel they cannot afford to pay forquality child care.CANDACE THOMAS: WORKINGMOTHER WITH THREE CHILDREN.INCOME IS $44,800 A YEAR.Candace’s income exceeds theCCAP limit of $42,408 for a familyof four. She is not eligible for theassistance unless she lowers herincome by $200 a month.The median rent in Chicago in2008 was $10,356, according tothe same U.S. Census report. Bythis measure, infant and toddlercare in Chicago centers is justas expensive as rent for the typicalChicago family. Similarly, child careis more expensive than averagefees and tuition at State collegesand universities in Illinois. At$9,452, these average fees andtuition cover 90 percent of the costof infant care in Chicago centersand only 79 percent of the costof infant care in suburban Cookcenters. 3Is 15 percent or 23 percent of afamily’s income too much to pay foran infant’s child care? Is 30 percenttoo much to pay for an infant and aALBERTA REYES: WORKINGMOTHER WITH A PRESCHOOLER.INCOME IS $16,138 A YEAR.Alberta is eligible for CCAP. Thisopens more options to her, includingthe more costly care in child carecenters or licensed family child carehomes. Alberta will need to pay aco-payment of $25 per week. If shechooses a child care provider whocharges more than what CCAP pays,she may have to make additionalpayments. If she finds that her copaymentis too high, she may look fora provider, perhaps a relative orfriend, willing to waive part of her copaymentor to be more flexible withwhen she has to make her copayments.toddler? What is the proper proportionbetween child care expensesand income? There is no generallyaccepted level that everyone agreesis the “proper” percentage to pay.Most national studies since the1990s have found that averagetwo-parent middle-income familiespaid between 6 percent and 10percent of their income for childcare. 4 If we pick the higher 10 percentlevel as a rule of thumb foraffordability, a family in 2009 wouldhave to earn $105,000 for infantcare in a Chicago child care centerto be affordable. This family wouldneed to earn $181,800 to placean infant and a four-year-old in aChicago center and keep their childcare costs within 10 percent oftheir income. To meet the 10 percentrule of thumb in suburbanCook County centers, a familypaying for infant care would requirean income of $119,600, while centercare for both an infant and afour-year-old would require anincome of $207,700. 5D.HELPING PARENTSMEET THE COSTOF CHILD CARESeveral government-fundedresources exist to help familiespay for their child care costs, andchild care providers themselvesoften have tuition policies to assistfamilies who struggle to pay.The main source of financial assistanceto help Illinois parents withchild care costs is the Illinois ChildCare Assistance Program (CCAP).A family eligible for this programchooses a child care provider andthe State reimburses this providerfor his or her services. Parentspay a portion of the cost of care,a co-payment, which depends onthe family’s size and income. CCAPis available to families that earn ator below 200 percent of the federalpoverty level, or $42,408 for afamily of four in 2009. 6 Parentsmust work or participate in anapproved school or training programto be eligible. CCAP is primarilya voucher system administered inCook County by Illinois Action forChildren under contract with theIllinois Department of HumanServices (IDHS). Some child carecenters, however, have directcontracts with IDHS to serve familieseligible for CCAP.8

I. Family Dilemma: Child Care AffordabilityWHAT TYPES OF CHILD CARE CAN FAMILIES AFFORD?Assuming “affordable” means paying no more than 10 percent of the family income on child care, here are thetypes of care our families can afford based on the average cost of care.GABRIELLE AND SHAWN HARRIS:WORKING PARENTS WITH INFANTAND TODDLER. INCOME IS$89,400 PER YEAR.Since this couple is not eligible forCCAP, their options are limited. Budget -ing 10 percent of their income, theycould pay as much as $172 per weektoward child care or $745 per month.With that budget, few types of care areavailable to them. The lowest averagecombined price of regulated infant andtoddler care, $265 weekly, occurs inlicensed family child care homes inSouth and Southwest Chicago. At about15 percent of their income, even thiscare would be unaffordable by the10 percent standard.Affordable options for this coupleinclude continuing to stagger their workschedules so that they can care for theirchildren themselves (with the help ofShawn’s sister) and looking forinexpensive family, friend or neighborchild care.CANDACE THOMAS: WORKINGMOTHER WITH THREE CHILDREN.INCOME IS $44,800 PER YEAR.Candace earns just $200 a monthabove the annual cut off for CCAP.She can spend about $86 per week tostay within 10 percent of her income.But if she wants to use center care,that amount would not pay for any oneof her children, not even less expensivebefore-and-after-school care for hereight-year old, much less all threechildren.Like the family above, family, friend,or neighbor care is the only type of carethat might cost Candace less than 10percent of her income. Without CCAP,the licensed family child care that shecurrently uses costs her 28 percent ofher income, not a sustain able option.(A more typical rate for licensed homecare would take 40 percent of herincome.) If a raise does not comethrough, she might try to reduce herincome back below the eligibility cutoffso that she can receive CCAP support.ALBERTA REYES: WORKINGMOTHER WITH A PRESCHOOLER.INCOME IS $16,138 PER YEAR.To stay within 10 percent of her income,including child support, Alberta would beable to pay as much as $31 per weekon child care. If she receives CCAPsupport, for which she is eligible, shewill have to pay $25 per week for herco-payment. If Alberta is able to find achild care provider who accepts CCAPpayments and who expects nothingbeyond her co-payment, Alberta willhave access to both center and licensedhome child care.However, since the rates paid by theCCAP tend to be less than the averagerates charged by centers and licensedhome providers, these providers mightask Alberta to pay the difference. In thiscase, Alberta would be priced out ofaverage-priced center care except in theSouth and Southwest Chicago region.Licensed home care in the Central andWest Chicago region and the South andSouthwest Chicago and suburbanregions would be affordable for her. Inall other regions, she would only be ableto afford family, friend or neighbor care.Another state program that provideschild care assistance, but to a morespecific population, is the Depart mentof Children and Family Services (DCFS).DCFS provides child care vouchersprimarily to families with foster children.Beyond government-funded programs,a number of child care providers offertheir own forms of child care assistance.These include discounts forparents with more than one child intheir care, sliding scale fees based ona family’s ability to pay, scholarships,and negotiable rates. Some providerswill accept the CCAP reimbursementas full payment even though theamount they receive through the programmay be less than what theproviders typically charge.Both the federal and Illinois incometax programs offer some relieffor child care costs in the form ofmodest dependent child care taxcredits. These credits allow familiesto reduce their income tax bill by afraction of their child care expenses.9

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyFigure I-1. What Families Need to Spend on Child CareFamily Size of 4, 1 Child in Care, June 2009Percent of Family Income28%26%24%22%20%18%16%14%12%10%8%6%4%2%0%$10,000$15,000E.CHILD CARE AFFORDABILITYWITH ASSISTANCECCAP was designed to help workingparents afford child care. Child careadvocates and policy makers arekeenly interested in whether the programenables low-income parents inCook County to afford quality care.While Tables I-1 and I-2 above do notanswer this question completely, theydo suggest an answer. The last row ofeach table presents how much CCAPpays to Cook County providers for differenttypes of care. Rate increasesover the last two years have broughtthe amount CCAP pays to providersin lower-cost regions (South andSouth west Chicago and suburbs, andWest and Central Chicago in the caseof licensed homes) more in line withthe average amounts providers actuallycharge parents. In the remainingregions, however, CCAP rates fallbelow the average rates that centersand homes charge.$20,000$25,000$30,000$35,000$40,000$45,000$50,000TYPE OF CARE Center care for an infant Center care for a child age 2 Licensed home care for a child age 2 Neighbor care$55,000Family IncomeUnder the CCAP, parents must makea co-payment. They pay the provider apart of the CCAP rate listed in TablesI-1 and I-2 depending on the family’sincome. A family of three must pay atleast $1.00 per week and as much as$61.00 per week for one child in care(or up to $104 for two children). Insome cases, this co-payment can beas high as 16 percent of a family’sincome. In 2008, legislation to capCCAP co-payments at 10 percent offamily income was introduced but didnot become law. In the fall of 2009,co-payments have been temporarilycut as part of the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act (ARRA) tocounter the economic recession.Since the average provider in CookCounty charges more than what theAssistance Program will pay, parentsmay also have to pay that difference inaddition to their co-payments or convincetheir providers to accept a lowerpayment than they normally charge.$60,000$65,000$70,000$75,000$80,000$85,000$90,000$95,000$100,000$105,000$110,000$115,000It is fair to conclude that even afterreceiving CCAP support, a family’schoice of provider and the quality ofoptions can still be seriously limited.While we have hearsay evidencethat some providers do work withfamilies to determine an acceptablerate, many providers cannot afford toreduce their rates to meet a family’sability to pay.Figure I-1 develops the story ofCCAP and affordability in moredetail, in this case for Cook Countyfor a family of four. 7 It presents thecost of care for just one child as apercentage of different familyincomes ranging from $10,000 to$115,000. The chart’s four linesdenote cost, with the highest costline representing the high price ofcenter care for an infant and thelowest cost line representing themore affordable price of family,friend or neighbor care for an olderchild. The four kinds of child carecosts appear as percentages of10

I. Family Dilemma: Child Care AffordabilityFigure I-2. What Families Need to Spend on Infant Center CareChange from June 2005 to June 2009, Family Size of 428%26%24%22%20%18%16%14%12%10%8%6%4%2%0June 2005Percent of Family Income$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000$34,584$40,000$45,000Family Income$50,000$55,000$60,000$65,000$70,000June 2009Median Family Income 2008:$61,306 (latest available)Median Family Income 2005:$54,719each income level that is measuredon the horizontal axis. The chart isrealistic in the sense that it includesthe effect of receiving CCAP support,which is available to a familyof low income if all present parentsare employed. 8Figure I-1 shows Cook Countyparents can pay less than five (5)percent of family income (for informalneighbor child care) and asmuch as 25 percent (for infantcenter care) for one child, dependingon their level of income, the ageof the child and type of care theyuse. Note that Figure I-1 buildsupon average rates of care such asthose in Tables I-1 and I-2. Someparents might have to pay a higherrate than the average, while otherswill pay below the average. Placingmore children in care, moreover, willcost parents more.Beginning with a family with almostno income on the left and movingup to a family income of about$40,000, we see that a family offour would spend between 3 percentand 16 percent of its incomefor full-time care for one child,depending on the age of the childand type of care. It is CCAP alonethat makes it possible for child careto cost this little for working familieswith these low incomes. If theworking family’s income rises a littleabove $42,000, the family ceasesto be eligible for CCAP and mostchild care costs shoot up to a prohibitivelyhigh percentage of thefamily’s income (from 15 percentto almost 26 percent). This isknown as the “cliff effect.”Only unregulated family, friend, andneighbor care changes little as apercentage of income and remainsaffordable for families earning justover $42,000. Consider the exampleof 10-percent-of-income we usedearlier in this section to discussaffordability. Once a family’s incomerises above $42,000 and the family11becomes ineligible for Child CareAssistance, it takes an income of$68,300 before licensed home carefor a two-year-old returns to 10 percentof the family’s income. It takesan income of $114,680 before thecost of infant care in a center returnsto ten percent of the family’s income.Again, for a family earning less than$68,300, only informal family, friendor neighbor child care is affordableat 10 percent of family income.These higher incomes, needlessto say, are substantially above thetypical family income in Illinois.Trend in AffordabilityOver the years, the State of Illinoishas made a series of improvementsto CCAP, extending eligibility to abroader range of families and makingchild care more affordable formany other families.Figure I-2 illustrates this. The dottedline shows the affordability of child

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook Countycare for an infant in a center in Illinoisin June 2005. It takes into accountthe cost of child care and the valueof CCAP support at that time.First, look at the peaks of thelines—the points where child caretakes up the largest percentage ofa family’s income. To the left of thepeak are families who are eligiblefor CCAP, and pay less of theirincome for childcare. To the rightare families who are not eligible andwho may pay a higher percentage.The peak moved to the right from2005 to 2009, to families with higherincomes. The shift of the peak to theright, to higher incomes, indicatesthat families with somewhat higherincomes have become eligible forCCAP. That represents the expansionof CCAP eligibility.Next, notice that the 2009 line isgenerally below the 2005 line onthe left side of the peak, while it isabove the dotted line to the right ofthe peak. This indicates that CCAPhas generally lowered the cost ofcare for families who use assistance(those on the left of the 2009 peak),even though child care costs haverisen for ineligible families (those onthe right of the 2009 peak). To acertain extent, then, changes inCCAP have been successful.F.THE USE OF ILLINOISCHILD CARE ASSISTANCEDespite its limitations, CCAP supportedan average of 47,000 CookCounty families each month duringthe 2009 report year, while assistancefor foster care helped thousandsmore. To take advantage ofthis assistance, an eligible familymust first find a child care providerwilling to work with the IDHS orDCFS payment system. The IllinoisAction for Children Resource andReferral Program asks providers onits database whether or not they arewilling to accept children withCCAP or DCFS vouchers. In 2009:• Eighty-two (82) percent of CookCounty centers listed with IllinoisAction for Children said theywould accept children whosefamilies use CCAP.• Fewer centers (just 61 percent)accept DCFS assistance forfoster children.• Ninety-one (91) percent oflicensed home providers listedwith Illinois Action for Children(2,656 providers) reported thatthey accept children whosefamilies use CCAP. Sixty-one(61) percent reported that theyaccept children who haveDCFS vouchers.Providers themselves report theabove data to Illinois Action forChildren. CCAP has separatereports on the number of providerswho actually receive payment atany given time. In January 2009,for example, 1,147 child carecenters and 2,962 licensed homescared for Cook County childrenapproved for CCAP.Referrals Given to FamiliesEligible for Child Care AssistanceIn 2009, Illinois Action for Childrenreceived calls from 8,239 familiesin search of child care referrals.Of these families, 86 percent hadincomes at or below 200 percentof the federal poverty level, makingthem income-eligible for CCAP.Note: In Section V we return tothe topic of CCAP and report onthe total number of children eligiblein Cook County and the numberof eligible children not being served.In Section VI we report on the typesof child care used by families receivingCCAP support.12

I. Family Dilemma: Child Care AffordabilityWHY DOES CHILD CARE IN CENTERS COST SO MUCH?Child care centers are an expensive option for Illinois families.On average, center tuition in Illinois ranks 8th highest amongthe states for infant care and 10th highest for care of afour-year-old. As a percentage of typical family income, twoparentfamilies in Illinois pay 13.9 percent of their income forinfant care and 10.3 percent for four-year-old care. aCenters charge so much for child care because they payso much for salaries and benefits, which generally accountfor more than half of a center’s expenses. b Ironically centersalaries and benefits are high not because individuals earna lot—they do not—but because centers need to employ somany people to care for children. Licensing and accreditationstandards follow best practices for high quality centers inmandating high ratios of adults to children.SALARIES IN COOK COUNTYIt is no secret that individual child care workers generallyare not well-paid. In 2007 in Cook County, full-time centerteachers in full-year licensed programs earned an average of$12.02 per hour, while assistant teachers earned $9.00. cThis amounts to less than half of what public elementaryschool teachers earn (in a system fully subsidized by the publicsector). Elementary school teachers also are more likely tohave benefits such as health insurance and retirement plansthan are child care teachers.SALARIES AND QUALITYIn thinking about the high cost of child care, we need to beaware that staff compensation also affects the quality of thechild care supplied by centers and homes. One major aspectof quality, the relationship between provider and child, sufferswhen lower compensation makes it difficult to retain staff.Better trained, more experienced, and more skilled teachers,for example, will generally cost a center or home more tohire and retain than less trained, less experienced, and lessskilled staff.Low compensation rates in child care result in high turnoveramong staff. In Illinois, for every 100 early childhood teachersworking for centers in 2007, some 28 left their jobs in theprevious two years. For every 100 assistant teachers, 41 lefttheir jobs. A further consequence of this high turnover rateis a lower level of job experience: in 2007, half of teachersand assistant teachers had worked in their current child carecenters less than 4.0 and 2.3 years respectively. dSince inadequate compensation is one reason why child careexperiences such workforce instability, studies find that lowquality is generally correlated with low cost. On average, thecenter or home that pays below going rates for staff willoffer lower quality care. eChild care providers thus face a vexing dilemma. They mustkeep staff compensation low in order to stay in business, butneed to keep compensation high in order to maintain a highquality of care and pay a living wage.a National Association of Child Care Resource And Referral Agencies, The HighPrice of Child Care: 2008 Update, Appendix, Detail Tables 2,3, 7 & 8.Accessed, February 12, 2009 athttp://issuu.com/naccrra/docs/price_report_2008?mode=embed&documentId=080804140003-bbe790955515407da7e25ef36c3bdef1&layout=whiteb A study of Massachusetts’ child care centers found that 71 percent of anaverage center’s expenses go to salaries and benefits. The Cost and Qualityof Full Day Care, Year-round Early Care and Education in Massachusetts(A study prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Education by theWellesley College Centers for Women, 2001).c Illinois Salary and Staffing Survey of Licensed Child Care Facilities: FY 2007(A study prepared for the Department of Human and Community Developmentby Philip C. Garnier, May 2008.) Table 28.d Ibid., Tables 8 and 19.e Of course, this is true only on average, and not for all programs. Many skilledand dedicated teachers remain at very low salaries.13

II. Family Dilemma: Access toAvailable Child Care SlotsA.CHILD CARE PROVIDERSAND SLOTS IN COOKCOUNTYA family’s access to child caredepends on both affordability andavailability. Child care supply inCook County comes from a rich mixof entrepreneurs including individualproviders, educators, non-profit andfor-profit enterprises, and publicagencies. Appendix 3 discussessome of the factors that enter intothe supply of child care. This sectionexamines some critical elementsof that supply: the number ofproviders, their geographical distributionacross Cook County, and thenumber of slots they have available.Table II-1 shows the best count wecan provide of the number of childcare programs in Cook County,while Table II-2 shows the numberof child care slots provided by theseprograms. Each table divides theprograms into type of child caresetting. These types of child caresettings are defined in the Glossary.Appendix 4 discusses the datasources we use in more detail.These tables understate the actualnumber of providers in CookCounty and the children they canserve. Centers and homes that areexempt from licensing do not haveto list their slots with any officialsource, so many go uncounted. 9While a large number of licenseexemptcenters do list their programswith the Illinois Action forChildren Resource and ReferralProgram, our list of license-exempthome providers in Cook County isfar less extensive.Table II-1.Child Care Programs in Cook County*Source: Illinois Action for Children and DCFS, June 2009Type of Program June 2008 June 2009Child Care Centers & School Age Programs 1,404 1,456Child Care Centers 1,041 1,087School Age Only Programs 205 218Summer Only Programs 158 151Family Child Care 21,935 21,397Licensed Homes 3,965 3,946License-Exempt Homes 17,970 17,451Total Child Care Programs 23,339 22,853* See Appendix 4 for methodology.Note that the TOTAL row adds dissimilar homes and centers together and should be considered a totalonly for recorded child care establishments irrespective of size.Table II-2. Child Care Slots in Cook CountyIncludes daytime slots only.*Source: Illinois Action for Children and DCFS, June 2009Type of Program June 2008 June 2009Child Care Centers 117,994 120,005Child Care Centers 83,269 86,343School Age Only Programs 14,824 14,437Summer Only Programs 19,901 19,225Family Child Care 89,965 88,736Licensed Homes 29,309 29,349Licensed Homes—additional school age slots** 6,746 7,034License-Exempt Homes*** 53,910 52,353Total Spaces for Children 207,959 208,741* Licensed homes have the capacity to serve an additional 14,076 children during evening hours whilechild care centers provide an additional 1,874 evening slots. See Section III-A.** Licensed home providers with assistants may be licensed to care for up to four school-age childrenduring out-of-school time in addition to their regular day-time capacity.*** To estimate slots in license-exempt homes, we multiply the number of license-exempt homes knownthrough the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program by three children per home. License-exempthome providers legally can care for no more than three children unless all children are related.While this number reflects the potential capacity of license-exempt home providers, on averagethe actual number of children enrolled per provider is closer to two.14

In 2009, there were 1,456 full-timechild care centers offering 100,780child care slots during the full yearor school year, as well as 19,225full-time slots during the summermonths. Child care centers offeredmore than half of the total knownfull and school-year capacity inCook County.As of June 2009, DCFS had listed3,946 licensed family and groupchild care homes in Cook Countywith slots for 36,383 children. Eachprovider was licensed to care foran average of 7.4 children duringthe day, not including up to fouradditional school age children theymay be licensed to care for duringout-of-school time. However, onlyproviders with assistants can carefor more than eight children atone time. 10The tables also indicate the numberof known license-exempt homeproviders and their available slots.As mentioned, license-exempt homeproviders are a much more elusivegroup to gather statistics on. NeitherDCFS nor the Illinois Action forChildren Resource and ReferralProgram has significant informationon license-exempt home providers,although we learn more aboutthis group every year through theResource and Referral Program.We know most about those licenseexempthome providers who receivepayments from CCAP for providingchild care to low-income workingfamilies, so those are the ones wereport on here.In 2009, some 34,600 Cook Countylicense-exempt home providersreceived CCAP payments during atleast one month of the year, thoughfewer participate at any one time.In June 2009, there were 17,451license-exempt home child careproviders receiving CCAP payments.Home providers who have licenseexemptstatus may legally care foras many as three children who arenot their own. 11 While we provisionallyestimate 52,353 slots in knownlicense-exempt homes in Table II-2,the reader should be aware thatmany, though not all, license-exempthome providers do not offer childcare slots in the same way thatcenters and licensed homes do.Instead, many are relatives, neighborsor family friends who chooseto care for particular children forparticular periods of time rather thanoffer care to any child as part ofan ongoing business.B.WHERE ARE THEPROVIDERS AND SLOTS?Some parents will have a moredifficult time finding child carebecause of where they live. The120,005 spaces in child carecenters are almost evenly dividedbetween Chicago and suburbanCook County, though there aresome differences. School ageprograms are more abundant,or at least better reported, in thesuburbs, while summer-onlyprograms are more abundant,or better reported, in Chicago.Two-thirds of the 36,383 licensedhome spaces are located inChicago. Table II-3 shows howcenter and licensed home slotsare distributed throughout theregions of Cook County.Table II-4 presents the distributionof the 52,353 known license-exempthome slots. Again, these datarepresent only a portion of theactual number of license-exempthome providers—those servingfamilies using CCAP. We know,however, that license-exempt careis used widely across all incomes.Seventy-eight (78) percent of thelicense-exempt home providers15

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyTable II-3. Full-Time and School Age Child Care Slots inCook County RegionsIncludes daytime slots only.Source: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program and DCFS, June 2009N & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanProgram Type Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookChild Care Centers 11,625 12,116 19,228 18,610 7,738 17,026School Age Only Programs 1,676 1,487 2,005 6,056 1,128 2,085Summer Only Programs 3,700 3,115 6,735 3,177 665 1,833Licensed Homes 2,977 4,658 11,950 1,793 2,566 5,405Licensed Homes—additional school age slots 809 1,122 3,127 266 580 1,130Total Center andLicensed Home Slots 20,787 22,498 43,045 29,902 12,677 27,479Total Slots as a Percentof Children Under Age 13 12% 17% 17% 14% 13% 18%Table II-4. License-Exempt Home Child Care SlotsSource: Illinois Child Care Assistance Program, June 2009N & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanProgram Type Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookTotal 3,366 13,071 24,306 1,218 2,835 7,557Home of Non-Relative 621 2,097 3,879 228 459 1,314Relative’s Home 1,275 5,349 9,774 477 1,233 3,159Non-Relative in Child’s Home 558 2,442 4,662 183 411 1,272Relative in Child’s Home 912 3,183 5,991 330 732 1,812participating in CCAP are locatedin Chicago. The table shows thenumerical concentration of theseslots in Chicago’s South and South -western and Central and West regions,mirroring the distribution of lowincomefamilies who are eligible forCCAP. Of the suburban licenseexempthome slots, 65 percent fallwithin the South and Southwesternsuburban region.License-exempt home care canbe broken down further into careprovided by relatives versus nonrelativesand care provided in thechild’s home versus the provider’shome. Table II-4 shows the distributionof these four types of licenseexempthome care for the sixCook County regions.Maps 1 and 2 show how centerand licensed home slots addedtogether are spread among theindividual communities of CookCounty. License-exempt home slotsare not included here because thedata we have provide only a portionof a widely unknown supply andbecause the supply of licenseexempthome care is more variablethan licensed care as we explainedearlier in this section. 12 Whileproviders have more child careslots in Chicago than in suburbanCook County overall, the numberof slots varies substantially inindividual suburban communitiesand Chicago neighborhoods.16

II. Family Dilemma: Access to Available Child Care SlotsMap 1: Center and Licensed Home Full-Time &School-Age Slots in Cook County MunicipalitiesMap 1:Center and Licensed Home Full-Time & School-Age Slots in Cook County MunicipalitiesEast Dundee0Elgin200Barrington Hills0Inverness0Schaumburg3,108Palatine1,614Arlington Heights2,127Wheeling546Des Plaines1,468Northbrook1,123Glenview1,666Mount ProspectGolfHoffman Estates1,24801,555 Morton Grove370Evanston2,521Streamwood457Bartlett102Barrington185South Barrington40Hanover Park375Hoffman Estates1,555Roselle195Rolling Meadows262Buffalo Grove208Elk Grove Village1,266Prospect Heights270Rosemont140Schiller Park134Park Ridge416Niles1,510Northfield138Glencoe120Harwood Heights38Norridge393Winnetka87Wilmette214Skokie1,373Lincolnwood128Kenilworth0Full-time or and School-Age Spaces0 - 200201 - 700701 - 1,3001,301 - 3,108Chicago: 72,024 spacesLemont438Source: Illinois Action for Children Resourceand Referral Program, June 2009Franklin Park340 River Grove137Elmwood ParkNorthlake279169 Melrose ParkStone Park 61416River ForestBerkeley466Bellwood26Maywood Oak Park1,3041,601 1,988Hillside369Forest ParkBroadview 378Westchester440Cicero277 North Riverside 1,273Berwyn0La Grange Park982Riverside67 Brookfield 66107StickneyLyonsLa Grange141Western Springs193621Forest View334McCook0Countryside 0 Summit0200Indian Head ParkHodgkinsBedford Park060Burr RidgeJustice0154Willow Springs Bridgeview0114Hickory Hills274Orland Park1,005Tinley Park799Burbank160Oak Lawn592Palos Hills Chicago Ridge401 Worth389537Palos Park256Orland Hills30Palos Heights347Matteson940Alsip325Crestwood30Oak Forest547Hometown0Midlothian220Country Club Hills711Richton Park781Evergreen Park173Merrionette Park0Blue Island565Robbins296Posen87Riverdale1,102Dixmoor13Harvey1,283Olympia Fields268 Chicago Heights994Dolton1,279Markham947 South Holland1,332Hazel Crest965University Park17Flossmoor464Homewood675Calumet Park260Phoenix70East Hazel Crest7Thornton0Glenwood420Ford Heights248Steger238Burnham546Calumet City1,756Lansing605Lynwood303Park ForestSauk Village1,067 South Chicago Heights 21836017

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyMap 2: Center and Licensed Home Full-Time &School-Age Slots in Chicago Community AreasMap 2:Center and Licensed Home Full-Time & School-Age Slots in Chicago Community AreasO'Hare132Edison Park155Norwood Park313Dunning491Montclare157Forest Glen179Jefferson Park188Portage Park755Belmont Cragin1,555 Hermosa822Irving Park1,006Avondale785West Ridge1,178Logan Square890Rogers Park1,342North Park428Lincoln SquareAlbany Park 662970North Center324Edgewater594Uptown1,777Lake View1,117Lincoln Park1,083Austin5,238Garfield Ridge526Clearing189Humboldt Park2,450West Garfield Park500North Lawndale2,201West Lawn628West Town1,544East Garfield Park893Near West Side1,662Near North Side1,282Loop805Near South SideLower West Side766862Armour SquareSouth Lawndale296838Bridgeport Douglas301 205McKinley ParkOakland284183Brighton ParkGrand BoulevardArcher Heights249405New City1,0251,300West Elsdon329Kenwood845Fuller ParkGage Park188Hyde Park663Washington Park 527484EnglewoodChicago LawnWoodlawn8342,434972West Englewood1,173Greater Grand Crossing1,740South Shore2,302Full-time and school-age School-Age spaces Spaces81 - 500501 - 1,0001,001 - 1,8001,801 - 5,238Ashburn1,849Mount Greenwood96Auburn Gresham2,890Beverly876Washington Heights1,746Morgan Park1,037Chatham1,445Roseland2,417West Pullman1,423Avalon Park644Burnside81Pullman228Calumet Heights623South Deering417South Chicago1,556East Side326Source: Illinois Action for Children Resourceand Referral Program, June 2009Riverdale165Hegewisch17918

II. Family Dilemma: Access to Available Child Care SlotsTable II-5. Full-Time Child Care Center Slots in Cook County by AgeSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, June 2009N & NW West S & SW SuburbanN & NW C & W S & SW Chicago Suburban Suburban Suburban CookAge Chicago Chicago Chicago Total Cook Cook Cook Total TotalInfant 275 617 688 1,580 1,404 374 1,145 2,923 4,503Toddler 450 788 960 2,198 1,746 536 1,527 3,809 6,0072-year-old 1,334 1,538 2,889 5,761 2,680 882 2,221 5,783 11,5443- to 4-year-old 3,543 2,901 5,607 12,051 4,670 2,318 4,136 11,124 23,1755-year-old to K 2,341 2,024 3,966 8,331 3,523 1,528 2,794 7,845 16,176School-Age: Before or After School 2,929 2,393 3,280 8,602 7,122 1,551 2,830 11,503 20,105School Age: Summer Only 2,856 3,193 6,252 12,301 3,656 760 1,981 6,397 18,698Total 13,728 13,454 23,642 50,824 24,801 7,949 16,634 49,384 100,208C.CENTER SLOTS BY AGESome parents have more difficultyfinding child care because of theages of their children. This sectionexamines the number of children ineach age group that Cook Countychild care centers can serve. Homechild care providers have more flexibilityin the ages of children theycan enroll and the ages of childrenthey serve change frequently. Forthis reason we do not provide comparabledata for child care homes.In 2009, 1,207 child care centerslisted with Illinois Action for Childrenreported the number of childrenthey serve per age group. Table II-5shows the distribution of 100,208known slots in licensed and licenseexemptchild care centers amongthe different age groups in the sixregions of Cook County. 13 Overall,the total age-identified center slotsare split in a fairly equal mannerbetween Chicago and suburbanCook County regions.It is often noted that infant care andschool-age care are among themost difficult for parents to find.Table II-5 confirms this notion. Witha total of 4,503 slots, fewer placesexist for infants than any other agegroup under school age. The situationis similar for toddlers. Chicagohas only half as many infant andtoddler slots as suburban CookCounty; in Chicago there are moreslots for two-year-olds than forinfants and toddlers combined. Thislimited supply of infant and toddlerslots is not surprising, as it is costlyfor centers to provide care for thisage group. Many families withinfants and toddlers look to familychild care homes for this care; however,even family child care homes,understandably, are limited by law tocare for no more than three childrenunder age 2 at one time unless anassistant is present.Programs for school-age children,with a total of 20,105 before- andafter-school slots, have the lowestnumber of slots per age. There arealmost twice as many slots listed forjust three-year-olds through five-yearoldsas there are for the entire schoolagegroup, ages 6 through 12. The19situation is similar for school-agesummer care. The North andNorthwest suburban region doesparticularly well in providing beforeandafter-school slots compared toother regions. Note, however, thata significant number of school ageproviders are not licensed by DCFSand, if they do not list their programwith Illinois Action for Children, maygo uncounted.D.REFERRALS GIVENTO PARENTS IN 2009BY CHILD AGEParents looking for child care oftenseek referrals from Illinois Actionfor Children’s referral service.As in previous years, child carereferrals were most often requestedfor children under age 2—morethan one-third of all requests. Theproportion of requests for infantcare was particularly high in theNorth and Northwest Chicago andthe Central and West Chicagoregions. See Table II-6 for the break -down of referral requests by childage and region.

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyTable II-6. Requests for Child Care by AgeSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, FY2009N & NW West S & SW CookN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban Suburban CountyAge Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook Cook TotalUnder 2 1,315 792 1,452 495 438 374 4,86650% 45% 40% 39% 36% 30% 41%2-year-old 347 263 512 171 150 173 1,61613% 15% 14% 14% 12% 14% 14%3- to 4-year-old 445 321 703 326 289 305 2,38917% 18% 19% 26% 24% 25% 20%5-year-old & K 137 92 230 62 93 84 6985% 5% 6% 5% 8% 7% 6%School-Age 392 303 763 205 233 297 2,19315% 17% 21% 16% 19% 24% 19%Total 2,636 1,771 3,660 1,259 1,203 1,233 11,762100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%BEST AND WORST REGIONS FOR FINDING INFANT CARE IN 2009A family looking for infant care in a center or licensed home willlikely have the greatest success in finding care if they live in theSouth and Southwest suburban region of the county. This regionhas a low number of infants per infant slot, both in centers and inlicensed homes, making it easier for families to find care.The North and Northwest Suburban region also fares well ininfant center care. However, for a family priced out of thistype of care, there are relatively few licensed home optionsin the region.Infant care is most scarce in the North and Northwest Chicagoregion. Here center infant care is more than twice as scarceas in any other region, and licensed home care for infants isless abundant than almost all other areas.Families in South and Southwest Chicago will have an easiertime finding licensed home care than families in other regions,but will face some challenge finding center infant care.Number of Infantsper Center SlotNumber ofInfants perLicensed HomeProviderNorth and Northwest Chicago 60 44Central and West Chicago 18 18South and Southwest Chicago 27 12North and Northwest Suburban Cook 11 67West Suburban Cook 21 23South and Southwest Suburban Cook 9 14Note: The number of infants per region is from the 2000 Census anddoes not reflect population changes over the last nine years.20

III. Family Dilemma: Finding Child Carethat Matches the Family’s ScheduleMost child care programs areavailable only during the daytimeon weekdays, but half of part-timeemployees and one-third of full-timeemployees work non-traditionalschedules that include at least someevening, night, or weekend hours.Many also work schedules thatchange periodically, sometimes withlittle notice. Some of the most commonor fastest-growing jobs requirenon-traditional hours, includingretail, food services, office cleaning,hospitals, and nursing homes. Ingeneral, low paying jobs are morelikely to require parents to worknon-traditional schedules than betterpaying jobs. 14 These work schedulesgive rise to one of the most intract -able problems facing many parentsseeking child care: relatively fewprograms accommodate parents’needs for evening child care, over -night care, weekend care, or careon a variable schedule.A.PROVIDERS OFFERINGCARE DURING NON-TRADITIONAL HOURSTable III-1 shows the number andpercentage of centers and homesin Cook County available for IllinoisAction for Children to refer parentsto for evening child care, overnightcare, weekend care, and careduring rotating shifts.In the table, several facts stand outabout the availability of child careduring non-traditional hours. First,only five (5) percent of centersoffer care during evening hours,and even fewer offer overnight orweekend care. In terms of bothnumbers and percentages, morechild care homes than centers offernon-traditional hours of care. WhileTable III-1.Cook County Providers with Non-Traditional Care*Source: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, June 2009Percent of AllSuburbanListed CentersChicago Cook County Total or HomesCenters with Any Non-Traditional Care 88 139 227 20%Evening 27 29 56 5%Overnight 2 2 4 0%Weekend 12 9 21 2%Rotating Shifts 59 112 171 15%Homes with Any Non-Traditional Care 1,813 698 2,511 86%Evening 1,530 536 2,066 71%Overnight 101 41 142 5%Weekend 261 110 371 13%Rotating Shifts 679 299 978 33%*Here evening care is defined as care provided between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m., while overnight care is careprovided between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.more than two-thirds of homes arelicensed to provide evening care,as with centers only a small percentageoffer overnight or weekendcare. 15 More centers and homesaccommodate families needing careon rotating schedules.The fact that homes are morelikely than centers to offer nontraditionalhours of care confirmsthe commonly-held belief that childcare homes are more flexible thancenter programs in accommodatingparents’ work schedules. In addition,the availability of homes inmore geographic areas offersgreater flexibility for parents: the2,511 home sites in Cook Countyoffering non-traditional hours aremore convenient geographically forparents than the 227 center sites.Noteworthy differences exist betweenChicago and suburban Cook County:72 percent of homes offering nontraditionalhours of care fall withinChicago, while suburban CookCounty outnumbers Chicago in thenumber of centers offering careduring rotating shifts.Table III-2 breaks down the numberof evening slots by type of care andregion. The North and Northwestregion of suburban Cook County hasthe fewest number of evening slots,while the South and SouthwestChicago region has the greatestnumber. In recent years, licensedevening capacity has been growing.Between 2003 and 2009, the totalnumber of evening slots in licensedchild care centers increased 342percent from 428 to 1,890. Duringthe same period, evening slots inlicensed homes rose 268 percent,from 3,820 to 14,076. While moreproviders are being licensed forevening care in recent years, it isnot clear how many actually provideevening care and for how manychildren they do so.21

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyTable III-2. Evening Slots by Cook County Region*Sources: DCFS and Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, June 2009N & NW West S & SW CookN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban Suburban CountyType of Care Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook Cook TotalChild Care Centers 52 78 300 171 297 992 1,890Licensed Homes 1,212 2,319 7,297 151 573 2,524 14,076Total Evening Slots 1,264 2,397 7,597 322 870 3,516 15,966*Includes those centers or homes licensed for a nighttime capacity by DCFS (nighttime defined as the majority of care between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.)and those licensed-exempt centers listing an evening shift with Illinois Action for Children.ALBERTA REYES: WORKINGMOTHER WITH PRESCHOOLER.INCOME IS $16,138 PER YEAR.Figure III-1.Percent of Children in Need of Non-traditional Hours of CareSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, FY2009Each week Alberta works four10-hour shifts overnight, exceptoccasionally when business is slowand she is told not to come in. Wehave already learned that CCAPallows Alberta to afford a range ofcare types, including care in a centerand in a licensed child care home.018%13%Evening Care■ Chicago8%6%Weekend Care■ SuburbsHowever, Alberta’s work schedulepresents a barrier to using centeror licensed home care. Less thanone percent of centers and only five(5) percent of licensed homes inCook County offer care during herovernight work hours. As a result,family, friend, or neighbor careremains the most realistic optionfor Alberta.Despite growth in the amount ofcare provided during non-traditionalhours, families looking for childcare during these times have areduced pool of center and licensedhome slots available to them whencompared with families needingweekday, daytime care. Since nontraditionalwork schedules often gohand-in-hand with low-income jobs,families seeking child care duringnon-traditional hours are often challengedwith affordability issues aswell. It is not surprising, then, thatmany parents turn to relatives, friendsand neighbors to care for their children.These providers often offer amore flexible and affordable childcare alternative.B.REFERRALS GIVEN TOPARENTS IN NEED OFNON-TRADITIONALHOURS OF CHILD CAREParents sought child care referralsfor 11,762 children through IllinoisAction for Children in 2009. Sixteen(16) percent of these childrenneeded care during evening hours,and 8 percent needed child careduring weekend hours. Figure III-1gives the percentage of children inneed of evening and weekend carefor Chicago and suburban CookCounty.22

IV. Family Dilemma:Finding the Right ProviderFigure IV-1. Reasons Parents Chose Their New Provider, by Child AgeSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, FY200980%■ Birth to 2 ■ 3 to 5 ■ School Age40%23% 26% 28% 32% 33% 34% 34% 35%29%27%37%28%24%19% 18%68%44% 44%60% 59%0%9% 7% 6% 5% 7% 9%Affordability Clean and Educational Experienced Location Schedule Warm & Caring Small Group OtherSafe Environment Caregiver Environment SizeEnvironmentThe story of parents’ search forchild care goes well beyond criticalquestions of the parents’ workschedules, the region where theparents live or work, the child’s age,and the type of child care settingthat parents want for their child.Each child is a specific individual andhas individual needs that parentshope the right provider can meet.Figure IV-2. Types of Special NeedsSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, FY200920016810010178665775142A.WHAT DO CHILDREN NEED?We have limited data on the individualneeds that parents most seek toaccommodate. One good piece ofinformation about what parents lookfor in a provider comes from a surveyof parents who use the IllinoisAction for Children Resource andReferral program. As part of thesurvey, parents were asked tocheck the top three reasons whythey chose their new child careprovider. Figure IV-1 shows the topreasons of the 1,344 respondentsin 2009 based on their child’s age.The predominant reason for all agegroups was the location of care,followed by a warm and caringenvironment. An educational environmentwas important, particularly0Developmental Asthma/ Autism Physical Emotional/ Special OtherDelays Severe Behavioral HealthAllergiesNeedsfor children under age 5, as was aclean and safe environment for allage groups. About one quarter offamilies said they based their decisionon affordability of care.B.SPECIAL NEEDSIn addition to every child’s individualneeds, some children have specialneeds. In 2009, parents requestedreferrals from Illinois Action forChildren for 463 children with oneor more special needs. Of all childrenwith a special need, 36 percenthad a developmental delay and22 percent had asthma or severeallergies. Figure IV-2 shows thenumber of children with each typeof need.Illinois Action for Children askedparents what problems, if any, theyencountered while seeking childcare. Only 34 percent of familieswith no children with specialneeds encountered problemswith finding care as compared to45 percent of families with a childwith special needs.23

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyIn addition, 44 percent of familieswith no child with special needssaid they had found care, comparedwith 38 percent of families with childrenwith special needs. Familieswith children with special needs weremore likely to say they were stillundecided about the care they woulduse. Figure IV-3 presents the resultsof families’ search for child care.C.LANGUAGE NEEDSA parent’s ability to communicateeasily with his or her child careprovider is important, as parentsand providers need to shareinformation about a child’s health,well-being, and development. Acommon language is likely to fostera parent’s sense of trust of the childcare provider as well as a willingnessto become involved in thechild’s program.Fifteen (15) percent of the CookCounty population speaks limitedEnglish, with the majority of those(63 percent) speaking Spanish. 16In 2009, 10 percent of familiesusing Illinois Action for Children’sreferral service sought a providerwho could speak a language otherthan English, the predominantlanguage being Spanish.Figure IV-3. Follow Up Survey: Ability to Find Child CareSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, FY20097%5%34%32%44%38%Keeping Did Not Find Found No Decided NotFormer Care, Still Care Decision to UseCare Looking Child Care■ Families with no children with special needsIf families with limited Englishlanguagecapacity want to communicatewith their child care providerin their native language, their childcare options will narrow. Of theproviders who are on the IllinoisAction for Children Referral database,19 percent of licensed homeproviders reported they can fluentlyspeak a language other than English,while 43 percent of centers saidthey have a staff member who speaksa language other than English. Incenters, though, that particularperson may not be the staff memberwho cares directly for the child.8%17%3% 5%■ Families with children with special needs24

V. Public Dilemma: Who Needs ChildCare? Who Needs Support?The public sector in Illinois facesits own dilemmas in helping familiesaddress their child care needs,particularly in deciding how manyresources should be devoted tosupporting families’ child careneeds in comparison to other criticalneeds. In considering this issue, thepublic must decide who needs childcare, how much child care the publicshould support, what kind of careto support, and who needs assistancepaying for child care.The majority of data presented in thissection are from the 2000 Census,and over the last nine years populationsmay have shifted somewhat.These data should be used moreas an impression of where families,children, and poverty are in CookCounty in 2009, rather than as anexact count.A. CHILD POPULATION,POVERTY AND LOW INCOMETable V-1. Children in Cook County, 2000 CensusChildren Chicago Total Suburban Cook Total Total Cook CountyUnder 3 Years 131,472 101,662 233,134Ages 3 through 5 129,764 108,764 238,528Ages 6 through 12 302,221 260,216 562,437Totals 563,457 470,642 1,034,099Under 3, In Poverty 36,522 8,873 45,395% of Age Group in Poverty 28% 9% 19%Ages 3-5, In Poverty 37,557 9,773 47,330% of Age Group in Poverty 29% 9% 20%Ages 6-12, In Poverty 88,077 22,868 110,945% of Age Group in Poverty 29% 9% 20%Under 3, Income Eligible* 69,457 24,502 93,959% of Age Group Eligible* 53% 24% 40%Ages 3-5, Income Eligible* 70,824 26,619 97,443% of Age Group Eligible* 55% 24% 41%Ages 6-12, Income Eligible 166,957 61,200 228,157% of Age Group Eligible* 55% 24% 41%* Income-eligible for CCAP. The income limit is 200% of the federal poverty level based on family size.The work requirement for CCAP is not factored in here. Ages of children both in poverty andincome-eligible are calculated from the proportions of all children in different age groups.More than one million childrenages 12 and under reside in CookCounty. The first four rows of TableV-1 categorize children in Chicagoand suburban Cook County by agegroups based on the U.S. Census2000. As the table shows, morethan 54 percent of the children inCook County in 2000 resided inChicago. Potentially all of the childrenage 5 and under need childcare or early education. Similarly,many older children ages 6 through12 need before- or after-schoolcare. It is unrealistic, however, tosuppose that the parents of allthese children actually seek care.The next six rows of Table V-1 showlevels of poverty among children inCook County, indicating that up to29 percent of the children inChicago were living in poverty in2000. Chicago children were morethan three times as likely to live inpoverty than other Cook Countychildren. Because poverty rateshave risen since 2000, the rates forboth regions are now likely higherthan the table indicates.The final six rows of Table V-1 pre -sent the number of children living infamilies whose incomes make themeligible in 2009 for Illinois ChildCare Assistance (CCAP). In Illinois,a family’s income can rise 100 percentabove the federal poverty levelbefore the family is no longer eligiblefor assistance. Under this standard,slightly more than half of Chicagochildren under age 13 and almostone-quarter of suburban childrenin Cook County are income-eligiblefor CCAP. Note that in addition tothe income requirement, CCAP alsorequires that all parents present inthe family be in the labor force orin education or training programs.Working parents are discussed insection B below.Table V-2 breaks down the sameinformation on child population,poverty and low income for thesix regions of the county. Familiesin poverty and families with lowincomes tend to concentrate inthe western and southern parts of25

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyTable V-2. Children in Cook County by Region, 2000 CensusN & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanChildren Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookUnder 3 Years 44,551 31,292 55,629 47,193 22,465 32,004Ages 3 through 5 39,172 30,806 59,786 49,475 24,174 35,115Ages 6 through 12 87,102 71,408 143,711 117,634 53,412 89,170Under 3, In Poverty 7,331 11,887 17,304 2,569 2,562 3,742and % in Poverty 16% 38% 31% 5% 11% 12%Ages 3-5, In Poverty 6,729 12,142 18,686 2,676 2,886 4,211and % in Poverty 17% 39% 31% 5% 12% 12%Ages 6-12, In Poverty 15,682 27,800 44,595 6,475 5,671 10,722and % in Poverty 18% 39% 31% 6% 11% 12%Under 3, Income Eligible 17,870 20,173 31,414 8,253 7,135 9,113& % Eligible* 40% 64% 56% 17% 32% 28%Ages 3-5, Income Eligible 16,670 20,311 33,843 8,649 7,818 10,153& % Eligible* 43% 66% 57% 17% 32% 29%Ages 6-12, Income Eligible 38,408 47,987 80,562 20,089 16,406 24,704& % Eligible* 44% 67% 56% 17% 31% 28%* Income-eligible for CCAP. The income limit is 200% of the federal poverty level based on family size. The work requirement for CCAP is not factored in here.Ages of children both in poverty and income-eligible are calculated from the proportions of all children in different age groups.Chicago. The southern and westernparts of suburban Cook County alsohave more poverty and more familieseligible CCAP than the county’sNorth and Northwest regions. 17As much as 39 percent of childrenliving in a Cook County region areliving below the poverty line. Withrespect to incomes that make familieseligible for CCAP, as little as 17percent and as much as 67 percentof children in different age groupslive in families eligible for CCAP.B.CHILDREN WITHWORKING PARENTSPublic policy often supports workingfamilies in particular in terms of childcare. To estimate the demand forchild care in a region such as CookCounty, researchers often start withthe number of families with everyparent working outside of the homeand ignore families with at least oneparent not in the labor force. Thisapproach neglects the fact thatsubstantial numbers of parents whoare not in the labor force still seekchild care in order to attend schoolor for other reasons such as disabilityor illness. This also assumes thatall families with every parent in thelabor force must turn to externalsources for child care, neglectingthe fact that families might haveother relatives available to care forthe children and that many parentsstagger their work schedules so oneparent is always available to providecare. It is important to keep thesecomplexities in mind when reviewingthe data that follow on families withall present parents working.Of the approximately 472,000 childrenunder age six in Cook Countyin 2000, about 50 percent, or238,000 children, lived in familiesin which all parents present in thehome were in the labor force. Thismeans either the single parent in asingle-parent family or both parentsin a two-parent family were in thelabor force. 18 The percentage ofchildren in families with all workingparents in suburban Cook Countyis 56 percent while in Chicago it is53 percent. Table V-3 presents thenumber of such children in the sixregions of Cook County.26

V. Public Dilemma: Who Needs Child Care? Who Needs Support?Table V–3. Children With All Present Parents in Labor Force, 2000 CensusN & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanChildren Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookChildren Under 6 Years 41,778 26,678 56,394 51,614 23,105 38,38653% 49% 56% 55% 53% 61%Table V-4. Estimate of Unserved ChildrenChildren Eligible for Child Care Assistance But Not Receiving ItCalculated from 2000 Census and Illinois Child Care Assistance Program June 2009 dataN & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanChildren Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookUnder 3 Years 6,761 5,687 7,975 3,135 1,562 1,099Ages 3-5 5,645 5,016 7,804 3,052 1,560 926Ages 6-12 18,103 19,255 34,245 11,402 6,504 9,758Total: 30,509 29,958 50,023 17,589 9,626 11,783Cook County Total: 149,489C. CHILDREN ELIGIBLEFOR BUT WITHOUT CHILDCARE ASSISTANCEFor a family to be eligible for CCAP,every parent present in the homeneeds to be working, 19 and familyincome can be no higher than 200percent of the federal poverty levelfor a family of its size. We havelooked at children in families thatare income-eligible in Tables V-1and V-2 above, as well as childrenunder age 6 with all present parentsin the labor force in Table V-3 above.This section takes the analysis to itslogical next step: combining the twoto estimate the number of childrenin the six regions of Cook Countywho are eligible for CCAP but donot receive it. 20Table V-4 presents these estimatesfor the different age groups andregions. We estimate that in anygiven month, 14 percent of CookCounty children ages 12 and under(149,489 children) live in familiesthat are eligible for but do notreceive CCAP support. About20 percent of Chicago children arein this group of unserved children,while the suburban Cook Countyportion is 8 percent.Do all of these children have anunmet need for child care? Wecannot suppose that the parents ofevery eligible child would chooseto use CCAP even if it were offeredto them. Some parents might preferto have a relative care for the child(with little or no payment); someparents might not be able to find achild care provider to match theiroff-hour or changing work schedules;others might not be able toafford to pay a provider even if theyreceive Assistance; some parentsmay stagger their work schedulesin order to share caring for theirchildren; and yet others may haveenrolled children in an educationalprogram such as Head Start orIllinois Preschool for All and aresatisfied with those hours of care.The figures in Table V-4, then,should be seen as an upper endof a range rather than an on-targetestimate of unmet need for CCAPsupport. 21 We can say that asmany as 149,489 children in CookCounty eligible for CCA are notusing it.We should note that this estimatehas important limitations. The estimateis based on 2000 Censusdata on families and children. Itdoes not capture changes in childpopulation and family income (thatis, changes in eligibility for CCAP)over the last nine years.27

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyPUBLIC DILEMMASThe working mother of three children introduced earlier in this report, Candace Thomas, remains ineligible forCCAP. If she earned just $200 less, she would be eligible. Yet, the State of Illinois recently expanded thenumber of families eligible for CCAP and has room to expand further under the federal child care block grant.Should the state do this?Candace pays about $12,700 of her $44,800 annual salary for child care in a licensed home, more than28 percent of her income, while the national average spent on child care is about 7 percent.* Do Candaceand her children deserve child care support? If so, does she deserve as much as the $9,564 in CCAPsupport that would reduce her child care expenditure to 7 percent of her income? Does she deserve theadditional $22,000 that would put her children in high quality educational settings?Should the only realistic option available to the couple introduced earlier, Gabrielle and Shawn Harris, belicense-exempt care?Illinois policy makers, of course, face a dilemma in balancing funding for Child Care Assistance with fundingfor other items, such as improving education and health insurance for children. And within CCAP itself, theState must also balance two goals: increasing the number of families that receive CCAP support and increasingthe amount of assistance that goes to individual families already in the program.**While others may disagree, most child care advocates believe that the State of Illinois can contribute more toboth sides of the balance without threatening the public treasury even in hard times. Not only are expenditureson CCAP an effective economic stabilizer that helps prevent unemployment, but as an investment in a workingmother and her children, it helps her work to her full productive potential and prevents the social isolationof children that makes them more at-risk.Supporting working families and promoting early education strengthens our workforce and better preparesour children for success as adults.* Like many working parents, she may also be eligible for a very modest child care income tax credit.** Either way, an increase would go directly to a child care provider and affect the quality of care that provider can offer.28

VI. Child Care Choices ofCook County FamiliesThere is only limited informationon the type of child care used byfamilies in Cook County and thereasons behind parents’ choices.Much of what we do know comesfrom CCAP data and from familiesusing Illinois Action for Children’sResource and Referral program.The results presented in this section,however, cannot be generalizedto represent the entire population.Figure VI-1 shows the types ofcare used by Cook County familieswith CCAP according to the ageof the children in care. In each agegroup, the use of home care predominatesover center care. Theuse of license-exempt home careis especially high for school-agechildren. Sixty-two (62) percent of6- to 13-year-olds and 77 percentof children over 13 with specialneeds are cared for in licenseexempthomes. Children under age2 are also more likely to be caredfor in license-exempt homes thancenters or licensed homes.Center care is utilized most by3- to 5-year-olds; this is not surprisingconsidering there are morecenter slots available for this agegroup and center care is moreaffordable for this age than foryounger ages. Also, many parentswish to enroll their preschool-agechildren in more formal programsto prepare them for kindergarten.Figure VI-1. Type of Care Used by Child Age:Cook County Families with Child Care AssistanceSource: Illinois Child Care Assistance Program data, June 2009100%50%0%33% 30%39%44%27% 31% 51%31%20%21% 18%62%19%6%Under Age 2 Age 2 Ages 3 to 5 Ages 6 to 13 Over 13(special needs)■ Center Care ■ Licensed Home Care ■ Exempt Home CareFigure VI-2. Type of Care Used by Region:Cook County Families with Child Care AssistanceSource: Illinois Child Care Assistance data, June 2009100%50%0%56%25% 25% 25% 24%58%48%36%24%82%16%6%55%25% 27%77%33%19%N & NW C & W S & SW N & NW West S & SWChicago Chicago Chicago Suburban Suburban SuburbanCook Cook Cook■ Center Care ■ Licensed Home Care ■ Exempt Home Care56%Figure VI-2 presents differences inuse of center care, licensed homecare, and license-exempt home carefor the six regions of Cook County. 22In the North and Northwest suburbanregion, an overwhelming numberof families accessing CCAP,29

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyTable VI-1. Type of Care Chosen by Families Using Referral Program, by RegionSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource and Referral Program, FY2009N & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanChicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookRelative (license-exempt) 5% 6% 10% 10% 15% 10%Non-Relative (license-exempt) 8% 6% 13% 6% 15% 12%Licensed Home 36% 27% 34% 21% 36% 34%Center 52% 64% 43% 64% 35% 50%Totals per region exceed 100 percent because some families use more than one care arrangement.82 percent, utilize center care.The remaining suburban regions aswell as the North and NorthwestChicago region use center andhome care in roughly equal proportions.Families in the South andSouthwest Chicago region and theCentral and West Chicago regionhave the highest use of licenseexempthome care and the lowestuse of center care.Another source of information onparents’ child care decisions comesfrom the Illinois Action for ChildrenResource and Referral program.Parents use this service becausethey want or need to find a caregiverbeyond, or in addition to, a relativeor friend they already know. Datafrom this program represent parentswho seek mainly licensed homecare or center care, though theseparents may ultimately decide to uselicense-exempt home care.Illinois Action for Children asks allparents who seek child care referralsto complete a follow up surveyabout their search experience. In2009, 31 percent of familiesresponded to the survey.Table VI-1 shows the types of childcare chosen by parents receivingreferrals. In the North and Northwestsuburbs where home care is scarceand in the Central and West regionof Chicago, a larger percentage offamilies chose center care. Theopposite was true for the South andSouthwest region of Chicago wherehome care is more abundant thanin other regions. Home care alsowas predominant in the West suburbanregion. While 12 percent to 30percent of families chose licenseexempthome providers, includingrelatives, the majority selectedlicensed care.We asked parents what problemsthey encountered while searchingfor child care. Sixty-five (65) percentof families stated they had no problemsfinding care. Of familiesreporting one or more problems,the top issues they encounteredwere a lack of openings, high costs,the location of care and scheduleproblems. Of course, many of theseproblems are interrelated—a parentmight find no openings at the costthey can afford in the areas in whichthey are searching. Figure VI-4shows the frequency of problemsencountered. (See also Figure IV-3where we report on families’ successin finding care.)Figure VI-3Problems EncounteredWhen Seeking Child CareSource: Illinois Action for Children Resource andReferral Program, FY2009Not Experienced 2%Not Trained 2%OtherCould Not Accommodate 4%Did Not Take Subsidy 1%Quality9%8%17%Cost5%Type of CareLocationCurriculum 1%14%11%26%No Openings30Schedule

ConclusionFinding the right child care is oneof the most important decisionsthat a parent faces, and with moreoptions, the likelihood is greater thatparents will succeed in finding theprovider best suited for their child.But costs, schedules, and availabilitylimit parents’ choices—this is especiallytrue for low-income parents.Each individual child care programhas characteristics that parentsmay find attractive—perhaps anespecially warm and experiencedcaregiver, a well-developed curriculum,a caregiver with experiencewith a particular disability, or avibrant, visually appealing facility.Ideally, a family's child care decisionwould be based on the program'squality and its ability to meet thechild's individual needs.Unfortunately, limiting factors play arole in the decision-making process,particularly for middle- and lowincomefamilies. Most significantly,the high cost of center or licensedhome programs can prohibit familiesfrom using these types of care.While CCAP helps some familiesaccess these services, not all familieswho need assistance qualify forit, and sometimes even with assistance,these child care settings canstill be too costly.Many families are also limited bythe number of child care openingsin their community—we find thisparticularly the case for parentsseeking infant care. Other familiesfind that it is not just about findingopenings, but finding them at theright times. A growing number offamilies work outside the traditionalMonday through Friday daytimeschedule, yet most center andlicensed home settings do not offercare in the evenings, overnight, oron weekends.While many types of child careexist, the reality is that many familiesdo not have options. We hope thisreport will provide insight into therealities faced by working familiesand the types of support that thesefamilies and their child careproviders need.We hope this data on child caresupply and demand will guide advocatesand policy makers as theywork to improve the accessibilityof quality child care for all familiesin Cook County and the Stateof Illinois.31

Footnotes1 Consumer prices as measured by CPI-U by U.S.Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics;http://www.bls.gov/data/home.htm, accessedDecember, 2009.2 2008 American Community Survey, U.S. CensusBureau. This is the last year available at the timeof writing. The Census does not present data onsuburban Cook County as we do.3 Average annual tuition and fees paid for a 4-yearpublic institution in Illinois for the 2008-2009school year, from www.collegeillinois.com.4 See for example, the National Child Care Survey,1990 and Child Care Expenses of AmericanFamilies, Urban Institute, 1997. The CensusBureau finds that child care payments average7.0 percent for families with employed mothersand with children under 15. The average is higherat 9.0 percent for families with children under five.Having lower incomes raises the percentages.Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements:Summer 2006, U.S. Bureau of the Census,December 2009, Table 6.5 If we used 6 percent as a rule of thumb, theseincomes must be over $175,400 and $303,000respectively in Chicago and over $199,000 and$346,000 in suburban Cook County.6 Effective April 1, 2008, the amount a family canearn to be eligible for Illinois Child Care Assistancerose from 185 percent to 200 percent of thefederal poverty level.7 For details, see the following:http://www.actforchildren.org/_data/global/images/Cost_of_Care_1Child_Family_of_4_FY09.pdf8 In some cases, the parent(s) can be in schoolinstead of working. The chart assumes that parentsreceiving Child Care Assistance pay their assignedco-payment as well as the difference between theprice their child care provider charges and the ratetheir provider is reimbursed by the Child CareAssistance Program.9 Even when the number of slots is known, it isonly an estimate of the number of children served.Some providers might have empty slots, in whichcase the number of slots exceeds the number ofchildren in the care of these providers. On theother hand, two or more part-time children mightfill some slots, in which case the number of childrenin care exceeds the number of slots.10 A home’s operator might not want to provide carefor the home’s full legal or licensed capacity.11 If the children are all related, the provider can carefor more than three at one time.12 The fact that many, though not all, license-exempthomes do not strictly offer slots but have morepersonal and variable enrollment creates enormousproblems for estimating child care supply anddemand. A related but smaller problem is thatwhile centers and homes are legally licensed fora certain number of children, some restrict theiractual enrollment to a smaller number.13 These are slots for which an age is specificallymentioned. About 18,000 slots have no ageattached.14 Working Later in Illinois: Work Schedules,Incomes and Parents’ Access to Child Care,Illinois Action for Children, 2006.15 Data on the number of home providers offeringevening care are based on the hours a provideris licensed to provide care. Though 71 percentof homes are licensed to provide evening care,it is not clear how many actually provide it.16 2000 Census. Percent of the population age 5and over that speaks a language other than Englishand speaks English less than “very well.”17 Here low-income means below 200 percent ofthe federal poverty level. Of course, a closer lookat each region would find that some smaller areaswithin a region have more heavily concentratedpoverty and lower incomes than other areas.18 Technically the labor force includes unemployedpeople looking for work. We count these, sinceparents looking for work need child care. Another27 percent of children live in two-parent familiesthat have only one parent in the labor force.19 In Illinois, parents may be in training or school,but in practice relatively few parents, approximately12 percent, get approval unless they work outsideof the home.20 To arrive at the measure of children with apossible unmet need for child care assistance,we (1) combine information on income-eligibilityand work-eligibility to estimate the number of childrenwho are eligible for CCAP and (2) from thisnumber, subtract the number of children whoactually received that assistance in a recentmonth (June 2009).21 Of course, some parents who are currently ineligiblebecause they have higher incomes or whoare in training or in school might have a need forchild care assistance and would use it if they wereeligible. In this sense, our estimate undercountssome need.22 Since some parents use more than one type ofchild care while their case is active, percentagescan exceed 100 percent.33

A P P E N D I X 1The Six Cook County RegionsChicago and Suburban Cook RegionsChicago and Suburban Cook RegionsNorth & Northwest Suburban CookNorth & Northwest ChicagoCentral & West ChicagoWest Suburban CookSouth & Southwest ChicagoSouth & Southwest Suburban CookThroughout this Report we divideCook County into six geographicalregions: three in Chicago andthree in suburban Cook County.The map and tables on the next twopages of this Appendix define thesix regions.The most recognizable form ofChicago geographical units arethe Chicago Community Areas,which correspond to city neighborhoods.This Appendix places the77 Chicago Community Areas intothree Chicago regions: North andNorthwest Chicago; Central andWest Chicago; and South andSouthwest Chicago.The most recognizable Cook Countygeographical units are municipalities.The Appendix identifies the threesuburban Cook County regionsaccording to the Cook Countymunicipalities belonging to eachregion: North and NorthwestSuburban Cook County; WestSuburban Cook County; and Southand Southwest Suburban CookCounty.When presenting census datafor Chicago and Cook County inthis report, we built our aggregateunits from data for the individualChicago Community Areas andmunicipalities. Our aggregate data,therefore, may deviate somewhatfrom aggregate data provided bythe U.S. Census.35

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyNORTH ANDNORTHWESTSUBURBANCOOKArlington HeightsBarringtonBartlettDes PlainesEast DundeeElginElk Grove VillageElmwood ParkEvanstonFranklin ParkGlencoeGlenviewGolfHanover ParkHarwood HeightsHoffman EstatesInvernessKenilworthLincolnwoodMorton GroveMount ProspectNilesNorridgeNorthbrookNorthfieldNorthlakePalatinePark RidgeProspect HeightsRiver GroveRolling MeadowsRosemontSchaumburgSchiller ParkSkokieSouth BarringtonStreamwoodWheelingWilmetteWinnetkaWESTSUBURBANCOOKBedford ParkBellwoodBerkeleyBerwynBridgeviewBroadviewBrookfieldBurr RidgeCiceroCountrysideForest ParkForest ViewHillsideHodgkinsIndian Head ParkJusticeLa GrangeLa Grange ParkLyonsMaywoodMcCookMelrose ParkNorth RiversideOak ParkRiver ForestRiversideStickneyStone ParkSummitWestchesterWestern SpringsWillow SpringsSOUTH ANDSOUTHWESTSUBURBANCOOKAlsipBlue IslandBurbankBurnhamCalumet CityCalumet ParkChicago HeightsChicago RidgeCountry Club HillsCrestwoodDixmoorDoltonEast Hazel CrestEvergreen ParkFlossmoorFord HeightsGlenwoodHarveyHazel CrestHickory HillsHometownHomewoodLansingLemontLynwoodMarkhamMattesonMerrionette ParkMidlothianOak ForestOak LawnOlympia FieldsOrland HillsOrland ParkPalos HeightsPalos HillsPalos ParkPark ForestPhoenixPosenRichton ParkRiverdaleRobbinsSauk VillageSouth Chicago HeightsSouth HollandStegerThorntonTinley ParkWorthNORTH ANDNORTHWESTCHICAGOAlbany ParkAvondaleBelmont CraginDunningEdgewaterEdison ParkForest GlenHermosaIrving ParkJefferson ParkLake ViewLincoln ParkLincoln SquareLogan SquareMontclareNorth CenterNorth ParkNorwood ParkO'HarePortage ParkRogers ParkUptownWest RidgeCENTRALAND WESTCHICAGOAustinEast Garfield ParkHumboldt ParkLoopLower West SideNear North SideNear South SideNear West SideNorth LawndaleSouth LawndaleWest Garfield ParkWest TownSOUTH ANDSOUTHWESTCHICAGOArcher HeightsArmour SquareAshburnAuburn GreshamAvalon ParkBeverlyBridgeportBrighton ParkBurnsideCalumet HeightsChathamChicago LawnClearingDouglasEast SideEnglewoodFuller ParkGage ParkGarfield RidgeGrand BoulevardGreater Grand CrossingHegewischHyde ParkKenwoodMcKinley ParkMorgan ParkMount GreenwoodNew CityOaklandPullmanRiverdaleRoselandSouth ChicagoSouth DeeringSouth ShoreWashington HeightsWashington ParkWest ElsdonWest EnglewoodWest LawnWest PullmanWoodlawn36

A P P E N D I X 2The Demand for and Supply ofChild Care—Basic FactorsWHY DEMAND ANDSUPPLY?Many analysts believe that understandingthe demand for and supplyof child care is critical. Withoutsuch knowledge, we can neverknow whether a region such asCook County has enough child careservices. Nor can we understandwhy child care prices are rising orwhat the effects of rising rates are:for example, whether rising pricesprimarily drive working parents awayfrom using child care or primarilyencourage child care providers toexpand and provide higher qualitycare. Finally, understanding supplyand demand helps us understandways to influence child care prices,expand the use of child care amongworking parents and improve childcare quality. This Appendix discussesthe basic concepts of demand andsupply in child care and shows whyit is so difficult to speak about themauthoritatively.DemandFamilies with children who want andcan afford to place their children inchild care are the source for demandfor child care in Cook County. Theirdemand is simply how much childcare services they would buy at agoing price. In general, the size ofthis demand depends upon the num -ber of children of child care age inthose families, from infants to olderchildren needing before- or afterschoolcare. Demand also hasdeeper roots including these factors:• Whether family incomes aresufficient to pay for child care,especially in comparison to theprices of other necessities thefamily buys.• Whether families have access tochild care assistance programsto help pay for child care whenthey cannot afford to buy itdirectly. For example, workingfamilies’ access to CCAP since1997 has provided a powerfulstimulus to demand for childcare in Illinois.• Whether parents can afford tostay at home with children orreceive income from programssuch as the now-terminatedAid to Families with DependentChildren that allows them toremain home with children.• Whether families have availablesubstitutes to purchasing childcare, such as these:• Relatives who can care forchildren while parents work.• Alternative care that is availableand subsidized (HeadStart, Preschool for All, andso on).• Work schedules that allowparents in two-parent familiesto share care—one caring forchildren while the other works.• Parents’ preferences aboutletting others care for their children.This factor behind parents’demand often depends on thechild’s age.• Parents’ perceptions of the qualityof care available.How much child care Cook Countyfamilies will want to purchase dependson all of these factors. With thesefactors in the background, theamount of care families actuallypurchase and use depends on theprice and availability (or supply) ofthis care.SupplyIndividual providers, educators,non-profit enterprises, for-profitenterprises, and public agenciessupply child care services in CookCounty by mobilizing people, facilities,and materials for the purposeof caring for children. As Section IIof this Report demonstrates, childcare takes a variety of shapesacross Cook County, includingproviders in their own homes, caregiverswho go to the children’shomes, non-profit and for-profit centers,public and private preschools,after-school programs, and so on.Many child care program developersand directors also engage diverseagencies that finance, regulate zoning,license, and accredit child care.Finally, they recruit in labor marketsfor the child care workforce andcontract with suppliers of goodsand services, such as food, buildingmaintenance, and books.Child care supply is based upon thewillingness and ability of providersto bring people and such resourcestogether given the cost of theresources they need. Among thefactors that we expect to influencethe supply of child care services inCook County are the following:• The cost of resources such asfacilities, materials, equipment,supplies, overhead, and especiallyemployees.37

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook County• Public, non-profit, or donorsubsidies of child care, includingwage supplements if any exist.For example, if a religious congregationor a community agencydecides to supply space rent-freeor at a discounted rent, this willgenerally increase the supply ofchild care services in CookCounty.• Regulatory conditions includingbusiness, zoning, child careaccreditation, and licensingrestrictions. These conditionschange little from year to year,thereby not changing child caresupply much from year to year.They can, however, affect theoverall level of child care operations.And in some localities,zoning changes have seriouslyaffected providers.How much child care providerswant to supply in Cook County willdepend on all of these factors. Evennon-profit providers must cover theirbasic costs and respect these restric -tions on offering services. Theamount of care that they actuallyprovide at any given time dependson the income that providers derivefrom this care.USING SUPPLY ANDDEMAND ANALYSISIn economic theory, the price ofchild care services and the amountactually bought is determined bylevels of demand and supply. If thedemand for child care is greaterthan the amount supplied, the pricewill rise as parents seek scarceslots for their children. On the otherhand, if supply exceeds demand,providers may drop their prices toattract more children. That is the socalledlaw of supply and demand.To determine whether or not a childcare market actually works this wayin Cook County would require aspecial study. The key point wewant to underscore here is thatbecause so many factors affectdemand and supply, understandingthe total effect will be extremelycomplex.Supply and demand analysis mustincorporate this complexity in orderto be useful. It must primarily bebased on excellent knowledge ofall the factors identified above asinfluencing child care demand andsupply. Leaving out any factorcould spoil an analysis. Supply anddemand analysis must, moreover,weigh the effects of all the factorsinfluencing the child care marketsimultaneously. So complex is supplyand demand analysis, in fact, thatmost economists rely on sophisticatedstatistical and mathematical tools toperform it.Short of that sophisticated, comprehensiveanalysis, supply and demandanalysis will be very partial or onesided,and when we use it weshould acknowledge it as such. Forexample, suppose we know thatnew child care center licensingregulations will require child careteachers to have more educationcredits in college. We might predictthat salaries of these teachers mustrise to reimburse them for obtainingthe additional credentials, and thatwill increase the cost of providingchild care. Higher costs of providingchild care, in turn, will lower theamount of child care supplied, assome providers will leave the businessbecause they cannot afford topay the newly credentialed teacherswhat they demand. We can concludethat if nothing else is changingin the child care market, lower supplywill drive up the amount parentsneed to pay to find scarcer slots.Too frequently, however, analystsdo not acknowledge what we juststated in the italics above. Theyleave the impression that they havetold the entire story. We shouldalways acknowledge that otherevents in the child care marketmight outweigh the factor we arediscussing at any given moment.Perhaps teacher salaries will notrise that much, or the new credentialswill attract enough new childrento centers to cover the higher costs.Or perhaps in the next month, forexample, the State of Illinois willgreatly increase its subsidies tochild care providers. That will lowercosts and could even reverse theimpact of higher salaries on supply—ifnothing else is changing.38

A P P E N D I X 3Sources for Data on Child CareProviders in Cook CountyInformation on Cook County childcare providers in this report comesfrom three different sources:1. The Illinois Action for ChildrenResource and Referral Program,which maintains a database ofCook County child careproviders.2. The Illinois Department ofChildren and Family Services(DCFS), which lists programsthat it has licensed in CookCounty.3. The Illinois Child Care AssistanceProgram (CCAP), which hasinformation about providers whocare for children with child careassistance.The Illinois Action for ChildrenResource and Referral program ispart of a statewide network ofResource and Referral agenciesfunded through the Illinois Depart -ment of Human Services (IDHS).Illinois Action for Children inviteschild care providers to list theirprograms on our database and toprovide detailed information abouttheir programs such as the ratesthey charge parents, the number ofchildren they serve per age group,languages spoken, training and educationthey have received, and othercharacteristics that help referral staffmatch parents with providers.Illinois Action for Children supplementsits database by adding thoseproviders licensed by DCFS whohave not agreed to list their programon our database (these providers areonly added for statistical purposesand their information is not sharedwith parents). In this way, IllinoisAction for Children maintains themost comprehensive listing of childcare providers in Cook County,although we do not fully capturethe child care activity that is legallyexempt from licensing or the otherwiseillegal care.The third source of child care dataused in this report is CCAP, whichprovides the best count of knownlicense-exempt child care programsin Cook County.Table A3 provides details on who isincluded in each type of child carereferred to in the report.Table A3. Child Care Providers in Cook County in 2009: Who is IncludedType of ProgramChild Care CentersSchool Age ProgramsSummer Only ProgramsNotesAny child care center operating for the full year or the school year and offering some or all full-timecare for children under age 5. The center might provide school-age care as well. This category doesnot include private preschool programs or public preschools such as Head Start-only or Preschoolfor All-only programs. Park and recreation programs are included if their care is full-time and forthe full year or school year. Data are from June 2009.Any center that provides full-year or school-year care for children ages 5 and over only. Includesbefore and after school programs and part-day programs for children in kindergarten. Programsmay be center based, school based or at a park or recreation program. Data are from June 2009.Any center that provides care only during the summer months. Only centers providing full-time careare included. Ninety-one percent of these summer-only programs are park and recreation programs.Data are from June 2009.Licensed Homes Any family child care home that is licensed by DCFS as of June 2009.License-Exempt HomesIncludes license-exempt home providers participating in CCAP in June 2009. Note that thenumber of participating home providers varies from month to month just as the number of participatingfamilies varies. This category does not include the large number of unknown family, friend,and neighbor caregivers throughout Cook County.39

Glossary of TermsCCAP. See Illinois Child CareAssistance Program (below).Chicago Community Areas (CCA).Seventy-seven (77) formal designationsof Chicago neighborhoods.See Appendix 1.Child Care Center. When the term isused generally throughout the report itrefers to any child care program in afacility outside of the home that offersfull-time child care or before- or afterschoolcare. In tables II-1 through II-3it refers more specifically to any fullyearor school-year child care centerserving children under age 5 (asopposed to centers serving only schoolage children or centers providing onlysummer care). The term includes bothlicensed and license-exempt programs.Child Care Resource and ReferralAgency (CCR&R). There are 16 agenciesthroughout Illinois whose goal isto work with parents, business leaders,government officials and childcare providers to make high qualitychild care available to Illinois families.This includes supporting child careproviders, preparing individuals toenter the child care field, and assistingfamilies in locating child care andaccessing the Illinois Child CareAssistance Program (CCAP). IllinoisAction for Children is a CCR&R.DCFS. See Illinois Department ofChildren and Family Services (below).Family Child Care Homes (FCC).Child care located in providers’ homes.While there are roughly 18,000 knownlicense-exempt child care homes inCook County, sometimes the termFCC refers solely to the approximately4,000 licensed child care homes. Inthis report, it refers to both types ofchild care homes.Federal Poverty Level. Poverty guidelinesset by the Department of Healthand Human Services to determinewhether a person or family is eligiblefor assistance through various federalprograms.Illinois Child Care AssistanceProgram (CCAP). Program establishedusing the federal Child CareBlock Grant following welfare reformto provide child care assistance forworking families earning less than 200percent of the federal poverty level.Illinois Department of Children andFamily Services (DCFS). In thisreport: DCFS grants and enforceslicensing of child care centers andhomes. It also helps pay for child carefor foster children.Illinois Department of HumanServices (IDHS). Home of the Bureauof Child Care and Development whichadministers many of the State’s childcare programs, including the IllinoisChild Care Assistance Program, ChildCare Resource and Referral Agencies,and the Quality Counts program.Illinois Network of Child CareResource and Referral Agencies(INCCRRA). A member organizationconsisting of 16 regional Child CareResource & Referral (CCR&R) agenciesserving communities throughoutthe state of Illinois. Its goal is to makehigh quality and affordable early careand education opportunities availablefor families and children of Illinois.Income-eligible. A family whoseincome falls under 200 percent ofthe federal poverty level, making itincome-eligible for the Illinois ChildCare Assistance Program (CCAP).Income eligibility in Illinois dependsupon family size.Licensed Child Care Centers.Centers that have been certified bythe Illinois Department of Children andFamily Services as meeting certainhealth and safety standards and thatare subject to inspection by DCFS.Licensed Child Care Homes. Homesthat have been certified by the IllinoisDepartment of Children and FamilyServices as meeting certain healthand safety standards and that aresubject to inspection by DCFS.License-Exempt Child Care Centers.The Child Care Act of 1969 excludessome facilities from the requirementto be licensed. These exclusions fromthe licensing requirement may befound in Section 2.09 of the ChildCare Act of 1969 [225 ILCS 10/2.09]and are explained in Department rules89 Ill. Adm. Code 377, Facilities andPrograms Exempt from Licensure.Centers that are legally exempt fromlicensing include those run by a religiousinstitution, government program,school, college or university.License-Exempt Child Care Homes.Sometimes called “family, friend andneighbor child care” or “kith and kinchild care.” Child care in a homethat is legally exempt from licensurebecause the provider cares for fewerthan four unrelated children. In theIllinois Child Care Assistance Program,the provider receiving a payment mustcomplete a registration process andhave passed a background check.Non-Traditional Hours of Care.Hours of child care that fall outsidethe typical Monday through Friday daytime schedule (defined in this reportas 5 am to 7 pm). This includesevening, overnight and weekend care,as well as days and times that changefrom one week to the next.Reimbursement Rates. The paymentlevels approved for centers, licensedhomes and license-exempt homesunder the Illinois Child CareAssistance Program (CCAP). Theserates vary across regions of Illinois.Parents pay part of the rate toproviders as parent co-payments,while CCAP pays the remainder.Special Needs Child Care. Refers toa child care provider with experienceor training in caring for a child with anemotional, physical, developmental, orspecial health need or disability.40

4753 north broadway, chicago, illinois 60640312.823.1100 • www.actforchildren.org