child care in cook county - Illinois Action for Children

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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
Page 1 and 2: child care in cook county:elements
Page 4: ContentsExecutive Summary . . . . .
Page 8 and 9: I N T R O D U C T I O NFamilies and
Page 10 and 11: IntroductionGABRIELLE AND SHAWN HAR
Page 12 and 13: B.TRENDS IN CHILDCARE RATESLike mos
Page 16 and 17: I. Family Dilemma: Child Care Affor
Page 18 and 19: I. Family Dilemma: Child Care Affor
Page 20 and 21: In 2009, there were 1,456 full-time
Page 22 and 23: II. Family Dilemma: Access to Avail
Page 24 and 25: II. Family Dilemma: Access to Avail
Page 26 and 27: III. Family Dilemma: Finding Child
Page 28 and 29: IV. Family Dilemma:Finding the Righ
Page 30 and 31: V. Public Dilemma: Who Needs ChildC
Page 32 and 33: V. Public Dilemma: Who Needs Child
Page 34 and 35: VI. Child Care Choices ofCook Count
Page 36: ConclusionFinding the right child c
Page 40 and 41: A P P E N D I X 1The Six Cook Count
Page 42 and 43: A P P E N D I X 2The Demand for and
Page 44 and 45: A P P E N D I X 3Sources for Data o
Page 46: 4753 north broadway, chicago, illin

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