Dear Governor Lamont,
During your state budget address you declared that “rather than borrowing from the future, we are investing in the future.” Respectfully, the early childhood community takes great exception to this statement. Every day that the ongoing early childhood crisis is unrecognized, ignored, or considered solved, we are borrowing against the future of children and families. If we are not investing in the child care industry then we are not investing in our state’s economic recovery and future.

As a businessman, you understand that no business can be sustained with insufficient revenue, an unstable workforce and limited market, i.e., parents who cannot pay for the full cost of quality care. The cost of early care and education is the one of the largest dollar outlays for most families, and yet the out of pocket tuition from parents is not enough to support the small businesses providing care. The inability to compensate staff commensurate with their experience, education, and training has reached a critical breaking point. Your proposed budget offers no tangible relief to the business owners and providers who have been there for families and for our state.

Parent fees and current state subsidies cannot support competitive salaries, with staff leaving the field to work at entry level jobs, which now pay more than early care providers and often offer benefits. Competition exists at all levels with degreed staff leaving for the public school system.

Many don't understand that it is the whole field that needs support, not just the 20% of providers that are normally state funded. The entire child care sector is imploding with 1,300 open positions available and few applications. A recent poll demonstrated that:
89% of providers had difficulty with staffing needs
81% have staff vacancies
57% have closed classrooms due to staffing, a majority of these programs have a waiting list
62% are operating at below break even

A recent survey revealed Waterbury has 12 closed School Readiness classrooms resulting in 192 children without care. Hartford reports 15 School Readiness classrooms closed and an additional 6 child development center classrooms closed resulting in a total of 567 children without care.
This means that over 700 hundred children in two cities and thousands of other children in other cities across the state are not able to attend an early care program. Their parents, mostly women, can’t re-enter the workforce. It also means that programs which rely on tuition payments can't break even. As one center owner said in a video briefing with 400 providers and 40 legislators, “it feels like we’re in a death spiral.”

The deep disappointment and anger throughout the early care community is palpable.

Many have the impression that ARPA funds “saved” the early care system. This is not true. ARPA funding provided about six weeks of relief to providers. The OEC, under your direction, did a great job in getting funding out quickly to providers, and was a model for the country. We appreciate your public recognition of providers’ sacrifice during the pandemic, and ensuring federal ARPA funds were distributed quickly and equitably, but it will not keep the doors open. The funds filled a hole, paid some outstanding bills and gave staff minimal bonuses. It allowed a little relief, for a short time. Now months later, providers are worse off. They have depleted financial reserves, accumulated increased debt, and are now experiencing critical staff shortages because they cannot match wage increases in the rest of the economy.

It is assumed that federal funds through the Build Back Better legislation will be the magic wand to make this problem go away. Federal funds will be essential to reimagine an equitable system. But simply put, by the time the federal funding is here, the sector will be in irreparable shambles.

If we act quickly the present situation can be rectified, and this administration can lead the way. We are asking the state to make a substantial down payment on a stronger and stable system of early care and education; one that ensures providers can earn a living commensurate with their skills and responsibilities, and results in a high quality, stable, and sustainable business model that is affordable and available for families. Even with potential federal support, the State of CT must demonstrate that it values our children, families and early educators through investment in the industry.

We want to believe you when you state “Stay in Connecticut or move to Connecticut! We are the most family-friendly state in the country. The jobs are there and we are doing more than ever before to help you keep working and raise your family.”

However, we are not there yet, and every day we wait we are “borrowing against the future.”