For child care,
it’s the longest wait

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

It’s no secret that Northeast Philadelphia families are at a disadvantage these days.
While young working families continue to move to the Northeast, they have nowhere local to deliver their babies since area hospitals — including Nazareth, Frankford and Jeanes — have moved away from maternity care in favor of more lucrative services, such as cardiac programs.
Now there’s something else for some families to worry about — child care. The waiting list for subsidized child care in Northeast Philadelphia is the longest in the state. While 9,737 Northeast children are receiving subsidized care, at the end of March there were 1,537 area children on the list. Statewide there are 7,850 kids on the waiting list.
Ann Bale, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare, said the subsidy slots are allocated based on data trends and the use of the program.
Administered by the state, the program, Child Care Works, serves children from low-income working families that earn up to $41,300 for a family of four, said Christie Balka, director of child care and budget policy for Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY). Families are responsible for a co-pay on a sliding scale, based on income and family size.
"These subsidies often help families that are working but their wages are just not (allowing) them to meet all family expenses. If they have two kids in child care, it can cost them close to twenty-thousand dollars," Balka said.
Federal funds for child care have either declined or been frozen for the past five years, according to Balka, leaving the state to compensate for the shortage in federal funds.
The state allocates those child-care subsidy funds based on demographics. The Northeast has experienced a large influx of two-parent working families with young children in recent years, making it difficult to keep up with need.
Child care can take a huge bite from a family’s finances, according to Balka, claiming between a quarter and half of a working family’s annual budget. That comes to about $11,000 for an infant or toddler and $7,000 to 8,000 for an older child.
Isa Allende knows that struggle all to well. Paying for care for her 2-year-old son hasn’t been easy. The Frankford mom signed up for subsidy consideration in February 2007 while she was working part-time.
"The registration is not so difficult; it’s the waiting process that’s hard," she said.
In August, Allende, 27, was hired as an administrative assistant. When she called some time later to check her status on the waiting list, Allende was told she had been required to contact the state within 10 days of her job switch and therefore would have to reapply for the subsidy, pushing her to the end of the waiting list.
After that application, Allende was notified that she no longer qualified for the subsidy because she exceeded income restrictions. Although her new job paid better than her previous one, child care amounted to $190 per week, about 75 percent of her income.
Allende went back to her old job for a while so she could qualify for the subsidy. But she couldn’t wait for it to come through and returned to the better-paying job.
"Fortunately, I’ve gotten connected with a church to help me pay for child care. They break (payments) down for me, and I do certain things (to work off part of the fee)," Allende said. "When I was not connected with the church, it was the worst."
Although she knows she no longer qualifies for the subsidy, Allende hasn’t removed her name from the list — just to see how long it will take to hear that she has reached the front of the line. That’s when she’ll tell the state to call the person behind her on the list.
The good news for families like Allende’s, according to Balka, is that state Rep. Tony Payton (D-179th dist.) and Sen. Michael Stack (D-5th dist.) are knowledgeable about the situation and taking action to improve it.
Payton plans to introduce an amendment to increase the proposed $6.9 million budget for Child Care Works by $9 million in 2009, bringing it to $15.9 million. The increased funding would reduce the statewide waiting list by half.
Payton expects support for the amendment, which he said would also help return struggling parents to the work force.
"I think a lot of people realize how important this is. Not just here — it’s a list that’s growing throughout the state," he said. ••
Northeast Philadelphia residents can apply for a child-care subsidy by calling the local Child Care Information Service office at 215-333-1560 or going online at www.humanservices.state.pa.us/compass
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com