Rep. Vikki Goodwin - Texas Childcare Policies

Overview

The average cost for infant care in Texas is $777 per month, or $9,324 per year. Between March 2020 and January 2023, over  5,000 child care centers and licensed family homes closed in Texas. More than half of the counties in Texas have become child care deserts. Childcare workers make an average wage of $12* per hour. Texas’ childcare ecosystem is in a state of emergency. 

Solution

There is no simple solution to the state of emergency facing Texas' childcare ecosystem. However, the various and integral polices listed below will make a substantial impact on the field. 

Policies

• Thriving Family Support Fund

  Childcare keeps Texans in the workforce, it’s an economic driver for much of the state, childcare workers are the workforce behind the workforce. As such, Texas needs a dedicated revenue stream to make sure childcare is affordable and accessible statewide. The Thriving Family Support Fund would create that revenue stream by creating a .15 deduction to income that would be earmarked for childcare. 
  

• Educational Incentives for Workers

  Childcare workers, like many other essential staff, are often on a career journey that will require ongoing education and transition from their current role. While such a transition is natural, elevating cost burdens and incentivizing childcare workers to stay in the field while they navigate their career path is a critical step in maintaining Texas childcare workforce. Offering tuition rebates for college classes taken while working at a licensed childcare center.
  

• Incentives for Infant Care

  Infant care is prohibitively expensive. Before a childe turns one, the state required ratio for caregiver to infants is 4:1. That ratio goes up to 5:1 once an infant turns one, and goes up again to 9:1 (caregiver to infant) at 18 months. At best, the need for more staff can be financially taxing on childcare providers. At worst, it can desensitize childcare centers from providing infant care. Altering the Texas Rising Star formula fund to pay more for infant care is one way to make sure our youngest Texans don’t keep our new Texas parents out of the workforce. 
  

• Increasing Funding for Texas Workforce Commission Vouchers

  As of 2022, approximately 60,000 Texas children sat on a waitlist for Texas Workforce Commission childcare vouchers. These vouchers would have allowed income-eligible families to enroll their children in childcare centers that accept vouchers at little or no cost. Increasing funding to the program to both increase voucher reimbursement rates and increase the number of Texans who can use these vouchers would reduce the waitlist and provide a much-needed jolt of funding into the childcare ecosystem. 
  

• Providing Pre-K for the Childcare Workforce

  In Texas State Statute, many Texans qualify for free Pre-K that is administered by Texas public schools. Economically disadvantaged families, English language learners, families with a parent serving as a firefighter or peace officer. However, the teachers who teach pre-k (ages 3-5) do not qualify for free pre-k. That is unjust and a disservice to Texas teachers. As such, free pre-k ought to be offered to Texas teachers.

* Pedigo, Gilliam, and Belk. The LBJ School of Public Affairs, “How Policymaking Can Address Urgent Child Care Challenges and Opportunities in Texas” March, 2024. https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/c9c9f0a1-1f30-44d3-83af-87415dbd45ce