On behalf of the Fairfax County Child Care Advisory Council I would like to thank you for this opportunity to provide comments on the proposed changes to state child care regulations (22VAC40-661).  The Child Care Advisory Council is an appointed board of ten members representing each of the nine Fairfax County magisterial districts and one at-large member appointed by the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.  The purpose of the Council is to advise the Board of Supervisors on programs and policies related to child care.

The Council considers the child care subsidy program a key strategy for helping working families in our community to remain employed and to ensure that children are cared for in regulated child care settings.  We believe that providing support to working families and promoting children’s school readiness and ongoing success through quality early childhood programming is a worthy investment for our community and for the Commonwealth.

The proposed child care regulations include changes that we believe impede the County’s ability to meet the needs of working families in our community.  We request that the proposed requirement to limit participation in the child care subsidy program and the removal of local alternate fee scales be amended to ensure that localities have the flexibility needed to successfully administer the program.

While many families participate in the subsidy program for fewer than six years, there are some families whose income does not increase sufficiently over time to enable them to afford the cost of care. If they are no longer able to participate in the program, families may not be able to continue to work, or may make difficult, unsafe choices for their children.  We are concerned that families who cannot afford child care may leave school age children home alone or depend on them to care for a younger sibling.  With the cost of child care in Fairfax County ranging from $8,000 and above for a preschooler, and $14,000 and higher for an infant, the loss of the child care subsidy may be untenable for a family with low income. 

The proposed regulations no longer allow for the use of local alternate fee scales.  As this Council has commented to the Department of Social Services before, we are concerned that the loss of the local fee scale will negatively impact the most vulnerable, at-risk families in our community whose continuous employment is dependent upon access to affordable child care.  This local fee scale has worked well in the County for many years and helps to mitigate the economic challenges faced by families with low incomes in a community with high costs of living.  The median income of families in our child care subsidy program is $25,992, which is well below the County median family income of $119,634.  If the County is required to use the proposed state fee scale, families with the lowest incomes will see their fee change from 2.5% to 5% of their gross income for care, a 100% increase.

We respectfully request that the proposed child care regulations be amended to allow localities the option of implementing a per family limit on receipt of subsidies rather than requiring the limit, and that the use of local fee scales continue to be allowed. 

Sincerely,

Hugh M. Cannon

Chairman, Fairfax County Child Care Advisory Council