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The ABC'$ of child care

The Record-Eagle - 9/9/2018

Sept. 09--TRAVERSE CITY -- High costs and long waiting lists in the Grand Traverse region plague parents in the workforce as they look for quality day care.

Elizabeth Sutherland became a stay-at-home mom after her second child was born about seven years ago.

"It wouldn't make any sense to go to work because paying for two kids I wouldn't have been making any money," Sutherland said.

She now watches many of her friends struggle with both finding and being able to pay for day care so they can work. She helps out by caring for one friend's 9-month-old baby.

"It's a major problem," Sutherland said. "It's impossible. They can't find day care and they can't afford day care. It's really hard out there."

A 2017 Child Care Market Rate Study done for the Michigan Department of Education shows that in Grand Traverse County the average child care rate for infants is $4.43 per hour, for toddlers is $4.48 per hour and for preschoolers is $4.05 per hour. The study includes care given in homes and at child care centers.

In a 40-hour week that equates to $177 per week for a family with an infant, or $8,860 per year based on a 50-week year. Add a toddler-aged child and the cost goes up to $356 per week and $17,810 per year.

In Antrim County, the average cost for the same two children is $19,680 per year, and in Leelanau County$15,840, according to the study. Rates for infants in Benzie County were not included and no rates were available for Kalkaska County in the study as fewer than three child care providers in each county responded to the MDE survey.

Child care that costs more than 7 percent of a family's income is considered unaffordable, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The median family income in Grand Traverse County for 2012-16 was $55,597, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making the average cost of care for one toddler-aged child about 16 percent of the median income.

NO VACANCY

Beyond the costs, the number of day care spots available for area children is woefully short of the actual need.

The Child Development Center at the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA has a waiting list of more than 200 children -- 101 infants and 102 toddlers -- that is growing every day. The only time there is an opening is when a child moves to a room in an older age bracket or a family moves away, said Director Courtney Kane.

"It's really hard when parents call and they're in a pinch," Kane said. "I've had families quit jobs because they can't find child care. It's a heart pull when you have to tell parents that the waiting list is so long."

Traverse City Area Public Schools cut back services in its preschool and extended day care programs and raised rates for the 2018-19 school year, leaving some parents in the lurch. The program will no longer offer flexible scheduling for preschoolers and a half hour has been trimmed off the end of the extended day program.

The Building Blocks Preschool and Child Development Center in Long Lake Township is licensed for 31 children per day.

"We've got every spot booked right now and a waiting list of about 20," said co-owner Amy Mayersky. "As soon as one spot opens we fill it. We hear how frustrated the parents are and that they've been waiting awhile."

It's the same story at every day care in the area, said Jamie Hendricks, whose 2-year-old daughter Jordyn was on waiting lists for so long that Hendricks eventually just quit her job. She half jokes that parents should get on a list as soon as they find out they're pregnant.

She finally found someone who offered day care in their home to take care of Jordyn, but it was expensive. It's also hard to find someone you can trust to take care of your child, whether that's in-home or at a child care center, she said.

"Day care was so expensive and it really wasn't working," Hendricks said. She now has a job working as a bartender while her husband, a disabled veteran, is home with their three kids, two of whom are in school.

Housing in Traverse City is so expensive that it compounds the problem, she said.

"To offset that you have to live way out of town, which adds to your gas and other expenses," Hendricks said.

PAYING THE CHILD CARE BILL

Home-based care is the least expensive option for parents, but they'll still pay $7,000 to $8,000 per year for a preschooler and even more for infants, said Mary Manner, the Great Start Collaborative coordinator for the nonprofit Venture North Funding and Development.

"Child care is expensive," said Manner. "It is true the people who can least afford it are those people who need it most."

Great Start works to ensure that families have a strong system of resources available to them, and that includes child care. Part of Manner's job involves promoting increased investment in early childhood.

Manner said a good economy is partly to blame for the lack of child care in the region.

"As the economy has picked up more people are entering the work force and for longer hours," Manner said, and the spots that are available fill up quickly.

There is also the fact that child care workers in the region average about $10 per hour, which is less than what most fast-food restaurants are paying these days, Manner said. The conundrum is that if workers are paid more, the cost of day care rises again, she said.

Families who make less money may qualify for a federal subsidy for child care. Families earning up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level -- or about $33,000 for a family of four -- qualify for the subsidy, though they still may have a co-pay.

Head Start programs also help. Parents are always looking for quality child care programs that aren't expensive -- and that's difficult to find, said Susan Duke-Taylor, a program support coordinator for the Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency.

The agency administers the free, federally-funded Head Start in the region, which can ease the burden for some families. But they are limited to low-income families and are structured for children 3 to 4 years old, delivering up to seven hours of classroom time per day.

"That helps out the parents," Duke-Taylor said. "Most of our parents are working."

THE BUSINESS OF CHILD CARE

Manner said the child care issue is a complex one. It is highly regulated and labor intensive, with high start-up costs and a low profit margin. People do it because they love kids, not because they are skilled in running a business.

"From a business model perspective it presents a lot of challenges," she said.

Those who run private centers in their homes often begin taking kids at 6 a.m., with some kids staying until 7 p.m. Then they have to do their paperwork, Manner said, which can add a couple more hours to their day.

Private centers often end up carrying debt because a family may have a bad week or two and can't pay their bill, she said.

"All of that stuff combines on the business side to make it very hard for people to stay in business," Manner said.

Some very successful area centers have been open for more than 30 years because they've learned how to run the business end, she said.

"They're high quality, they have waiting lists and they can be selective about which families they take," Manner said, which may mean they only take families who have the ability to pay.

When parents opt not to work because of expensive child care, that contributes to the region having unfilled jobs, Manner said. It also affects employers.

"They lose an employee of choice because that person can't find day care for their child."

Costs

The following figures include weekly and annual costs for a family with an infant and a toddler based on 40 hours of day care per week and a 50-week year.

Grand Traverse County:

Weekly -- $356.40

Annually -- $17,820

Antrim County:

Weekly -- $393.60

Annually -- $19,680

Benzie County:**

Weekly -- $178

Annually -- $8,900

Leelanau County:

Weekly -- $316.80

Annually -- $15,840

*Rates not available for Kalkaska County.

**Benzie rates not available for infants; number reflects costs for a family with one toddler.

Source: Michigan Department of Education Child Care Market Rate Study

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