Bill would expand accessible child care to low-income

Members of the House Committee on Human Services and Housing heard from Speaker of the House Tina Kotek about a bill to expand access of employment-related child care to low-income families.

HB 2015 would make it so that working families who qualify for subsidy-based child care don't have to worry about losing it for a year if their job or salary changes. It also would make self-employed parents and parents who are enrolled in course work eligible for child care.

Kotek, D-NE Portland, and co-chief sponsor Sen. Steiner Hayward, D-NW Portland, introduced the bill to the committee Monday afternoon.

"We know a lot of parents out there are juggling home responsibilities," Kotek said. "Helping them with childcare is important."

A small group of people convened last year to discuss how to improve Employment-Related Day Care, or ERDC, which helps eligible low-income working families pay for child care, according to the Department of Human Services.

"Here we are moving out of the recession and the question is, what do we do now? How do we make it shine?" Kotek said.

"In the bill there is some language to empower the state to implement some new regulations."

One of the group's main concerns was stability of the program and providing continuity for the child.

Hayward pointed out that eligible families are required to recertify with the Department of Human Services every month.

"Asking them to recertify every month is unrealistic and unreasonable," Hayward said. "This change to 12-month eligibility will go a long way toward improving continuity, but also making sure the government doesn't put too much red tape on things."

Committee Vice-Chair Rep. Duane Stark, R-Central Point, clarified that if the goal is to keep families in longer, will that result in fewer families entering the program.

"That is the challenge. You'll have a lot more people staying in the program for longer," Kotek said. "It's a balancing act."

Bobbie Weber, faculty research associate at Oregon State University, said that research into the program shows that a family losing eligibility is just as much as issue for the child as it is the parent.

"Children need stable relationships with those who care for them and parents need to remain stably employed," Weber said. "Studies have shown unstable subsidy use associated with unstable child care arrangements."

Marrily Haas, executive director of the Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children, spoke in support of the bill.

"Parents choose the type of child care for several reasons based on their work hours, cultural values, the ability of the program to serve all their child care needs and access to transportation as well as out-of-pocket cost," Haas said. "By allowing the parent to have a lower co-pay for higher quality programs, it provides a further option for our lowest income families."

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