Lack of Adequate and Affordable forLow Income Families in Wichita Kansas
The demand for good-quality and affordable child care has increased in the wake of welfare reform, as many low-income families have entered the workforce and confronted difficulties arranging, paying for and sustaining the continuity of child care. Infant-toddler child care is scarce in most communities across the state, particularly in low-income communities. ... Even with the increased availability of child care subsidies, many low-income families face difficulties paying for care. And, although the quality of child care can be a critical influence on the well being of infants and toddlers, finding good-quality infant-toddler child care can be especially challenging for low-income families. Low-income families face many barriers in finding and maintaining adequate child care, which affects their employment. The problems facing welfare families as they arrange child care-low wages, nonstandard hours or changing hours, and inflexible schedules-also confront working poor families who do not receive welfare. “Three features of child care appear to influence the employment of low-income parents: (1) the availability of child care, because young children cannot be left unsupervised; (2) the cost of child care, which makes employment less attractive because the earnings are effectively reduced by the cost of care; and (3) the quality of the available care.” (Kisker and Ross 102) Limited choices due to cost or location constraints lead to low-income families settling on poorer quality child care arrangements. ... Quality child care also takes into account the strengths and needs of the families and communities. ... This may be a particular problem for lower-income families, who have more limited choices of providers. ... ’” (Pruissen) “The desired outcome of the child care policy of the state of Kansas is that families be able to fulfill their roles as primary child care givers and education of young children by having access to high-quality, affordable child care.” (Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services) The following principles shall guide the development and implementation of state policy to achieve that outcome. A stable source of child care is a critical ingredient to families’ economic self-sufficiency. ... Policies and programs must be responsive to the changing needs of families and educate them about available options, identifying quality programs and selecting appropriate care. High quality care must be available to any family seeking care regardless of where the family lives of the special needs of the child and must be available on a sliding scale basis, with families contributing based on ability to pay.