Tips to keep in mind searching for child care in Delaware
Here are a few tips to keep in mind as families set off on the search for child care in Delaware.
Delaware’s Department of Education unveiled a goal to offer publicly funded pre-K for 4-year-olds.
In a hearing with Gov. Matt Meyer’s Office of Management and Budget on Nov. 20, the department shared aims to achieve “high-quality, universally funded Pre-K” that gets 70% of 4-year-olds enrolled by 2028. Their presentation joined over 30 others, as departments vie for their own funding priorities ahead of Meyer’s draft budget for the next fiscal year.
The department noted this benchmark would require boosted workforce development, improved standards, family support – and money. A department spokesperson said DDOE could not yet specify a figure on funding requests for pre-K, though more granule projections are expected.
“Ensuring all of Delaware’s children birth to age five have access to high-quality early care and education is a priority for the department,” the spokesperson told Delaware Online/The News Journal. “We must do this with a mixed delivery system, which includes community-based and school district-based programs.”
The idea of “Universal Pre-K” isn’t new.
Meyer campaigned on bold promises to launch universal pre-K by the end of his first term, though his first budget reset in March included little new investment. The same goal is outlined in the state Early Childhood Council’s strategic plan for 2020-2025. Overall, setting a path toward truly public early education — covering some portion of birth to 5-year-olds, as many define it — would be a lofty task.
This could be a nod in that direction.
“Without a dedicated revenue stream to the early childhood system, we recognize that funding all high-quality early care and education opportunities needs to be incremental to achieve our long-term goals for a birth to age five mixed delivery system,” the department’s statement continued.
The budget still faces OMB consideration, lawmaker pens and much more. Meyer’s office did not offer comment on the matter.
However, some advocates didn’t seem to applaud on Nov. 20 — but rather sounded alarms.
Jamie Schneider, interim executive director for Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children, warned the proposal “could destabilize early childhood education in Delaware.”
States must ‘exercise caution’ in changes to the child care market
In short, it’s more expensive to care for an infant than a 4-year-old.
This, as Schneider and fellow providers within the association explained, can often mean that serving the older children basically helps “subsidize,” or offset, the costs of infant care. Some expressed worry that offering infant care could become both more expensive and less desirable.
“Infant and toddler care is extremely expensive to provide. Without slightly older children in the mix, community programs cannot afford to operate classrooms for babies and toddlers at all,” said Toni Dickerson, a local provider and chair to Child Care Association of Sussex County, via email. “When you pull 4-year-olds out of community programs and place them only in school district settings, you instantly collapse the financial structure that holds birth-to-3 care together.”
Dickerson and Schneider said families “deserve more than a patchwork solution,” and rather a plan toward a birth-to-5 system. DDOE leadership seems to share that goal, in the long term.
Many advocates have also pointed to “mixed-delivery,” or hopes that public funds would support care across private providers, nonprofit providers and other early childhood education outside of school districts. The same was echoed in Delaware Early Childhood Council’s strategic planning, which eyed “universal, mixed-delivery pre-k for all 3-and 4-year-olds.”
DDOE did not comment on the provider scope for this specific goal to fund 4-year-olds, on Nov. 20, though a spokesperson reiterated more broadly: “We must do this with a mixed delivery system.”
Looking nationally, Albert Wat said any investment in early childhood education is good news. But there’s nuance.
“Over the years, the past 20 years, state leaders are recognizing that families are really struggling to find quality care for infants and toddlers, and so any investments that states make in early childhood education should really also address that gap,” said the Deputy Director of Advocacy and Impact with Alliance for Early Success, a national nonprofit anchored in this space, referencing 0-5 investment.
“When states don’t do that, they do run the risk of disrupting the child care market.”
Delaware’s current state-subsidized preschool program, or the Early Childhood Assistance program, serves preschoolers based on child or family characteristics like poverty, disabilities and more, with limited seats. Purchase of Care − another program that helps lower-income families afford early child care − has expanded family eligibility to 200% of the federal poverty level.
DDOE’s Office of Child Care Licensing is also working to digitize electronic record systems to elevate the office’s public database, while tracking compliance and investigating complaints across Delaware’s licensed providers. A combined $2.4 million has been pledged to make it happen, with a five-year runway.
Got an education story? Reach out to Kelly Powers at KEPowers@usatodayco.com.
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