The Role of Childcare Small Businesses in Supporting Parents and the American Workforce (Senate Small Business Committee hearing, April 10, 2024)
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Printed record of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing of April 10, 2024, The Role of Childcare Small Businesses in Supporting Parents and the American Workforce, S. Hrg. 118–384. Chair Jeanne Shaheen presided, meeting at 2:31 p.m. in Room 428A of the Russell Senate Office Building, with Senators Cardin, Rosen, Hickenlooper, Ernst and Hawley present. Witnesses were Cindy Cisneros of the Committee for Economic Development at The Conference Board; Rachel Greszler of The Heritage Foundation; Amy Brooks, executive director of the Early Care and Education Association; and Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith of the America First Policy Institute. The record adds a National Women's Business Center statement, a statement from Kim Votta, and responses to questions from Senators Cantwell and Hirono.
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“The Role of Childcare Small Businesses in Supporting Parents and the American Workforce (Senate Small Business Committee hearing, April 10, 2024).”
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S. HRG. 118–384
THE ROLE OF CHILDCARE
SMALL BUSINESSES IN SUPPORTING
PARENTS AND THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
OF THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
APRIL 10, 2024
Printed for the use of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
(
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56–457 WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire, Chair
JONI ERNST, Iowa, Ranking Member
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MARCO RUBIO, Florida
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland, JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts RAND PAUL, Kentucky
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware TODD YOUNG, Indiana
MAZIE HIRONO, Hawaii JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada TED BUDD, North Carolina
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
SEAN MOORE, Democratic Staff Director
MEREDITH WEST, Republican Staff Director
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CONTENTS
APRIL 10, 2024
WITNESSES PREPARED STATEMENTS
Page
Ms. Cindy Cisneros, Vice President of Education Programs, Committee for
Economic Development, The Conference Board, New York, NY ...................... 00
Ms. Rachel Greszler, Senior Research Fellow in Workforce and Public Fi-
nance, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC ........................................... 00
Ms. Amy Brooks, Executive Director, Early Care and Education Association,
Lebanon, NH ........................................................................................................ 00
Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith, Director, Center for Education Opportunity & Center
for the American Child, America First Policy Institute, Madison, MS ........... 00
ADDITIONAL LETTERS/STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD
National Women’s Business Center
Statement dated April 10, 2024 ...................................................................... 00
Votta, Kim
Statement dated January, 2024 ...................................................................... 00
QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD
Ms. Cindy Cisneros
Responses to questions submitted by Senators Cantwell and Hirono ......... 00
Ms. Amy Brooks
Responses to questions submitted by Senators Cantwell and Hirono ......... 00
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THE ROLE OF CHILDCARE
SMALL BUSINESSES IN SUPPORTING
PARENTS AND THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2024
UNITED STATES SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:31 p.m., in Room
428A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jeanne Shaheen, chair-
man of the committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Shaheen [presiding], Cardin, Rosen,
Hickenlooper, Ernst, and Hawley.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SHAHEEN
The CHAIR. [Technical problems]—opening statements, and then
we introduce the witnesses. And I should just announce for every-
body in the audience, since it is Wednesday and a small business
hearing, there is a vote in the middle of course, so at some point
Senator Ernst and I and others will probably go out and vote and
then hopefully come back.
I also have a hearing, another hearing going on at the same
time, so I may have to leave for a while for that. But we have
worked it out, so we will still be able to listen to all of you. Today,
the committee is going to examine the urgent need to address
America’s broken childcare business model.
In my home State of New Hampshire, an estimated 73 percent
of families need childcare, yet it remains unaffordable for far too
many families. This forces—the average yearly cost for center
based infant care topped $15,000 in 2022. This forces an estimated
16,500 Granite Staters each month to sit out of the labor force.
That results in lost economic activity for both the State and for
individual families. And in the State where our unemployment rate
has been below 3 percent for several years now, that takes a huge
bite out of the workforce we need to keep businesses operating.
The childcare shortage now costs America $122 billion a year in
lost wages, productivity, and revenue, and families are losing $78
billion every year in the time that it takes to search for work and
lost earnings. Families across America are relying on us to help
childcare providers stay open and provide affordable care options.
In the United States, most childcare businesses operate on less
than 1 percent profit margin, and they all have to thread a very
delicate balance between charging families enough to operate, but
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not too much so that they can afford a spot. This business model
not only affects small business childcare owners, but also their em-
ployees, as childcare workers are chronically underpaid.
There are only 10 States where the median childcare worker sal-
ary offers them a living wage, and many States fall far too short
of that standard. Now, to put that in perspective, and I know we
are preaching to the choir here, particularly among our witnesses,
but the average hourly wage of a fast food worker in 2022 was
$0.11 higher than that of a childcare worker.
Yesterday, the Small Business Majority, a national small busi-
ness advocacy group, released the results of a survey of small busi-
ness owners across the nation where almost 60 percent report a
lack of access to childcare as an impediment to their business
growth.
Right now, the repercussions of the childcare crisis are being felt
across every sector of our economy. We need to act swiftly to sta-
bilize the childcare industry. I look forward to hearing from our
witnesses today.
And with that, I will yield to Ranking Member Ernst for her
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR ERNST
Senator ERNST. Good afternoon, and thank you, Chair Shaheen,
and to all of our witnesses for being here today. We truly appre-
ciate it.
As I travel from river to river across Iowa, I constantly hear from
working families who need more childcare options. In every one of
our 99 counties, childcare availability has a direct impact on our
employers and economic growth.
But folks, the answer to this challenge is not a Washington driv-
en, pricy, one size fits all solution. Common sense fixes and a favor-
able regulatory environment can increase access to childcare for
working families and provide stability for small childcare providers.
Bidenomics and high cost of living has forced families to pay higher
prices for childcare.
National daycare and preschool costs are up nearly 5 percent
since just last year. In Iowa, the cost of tuition, school fees, and
childcare have increased by 3.6 percent just since last year. Mean-
while, our small business childcare providers are facing higher op-
erating costs and struggling to find workers.
Skyrocketing food, energy, and rent prices make it tougher to
keep their doors open, even as parents work harder than ever to
make ends meet. I am proud to have consistently worked to expand
access to childcare, especially in our rural areas.
I have worked with Senator Marshall and Senator Braun on Ex-
panding Childcare In Rural America Act to allow childcare pro-
viders in rural agricultural communities the ability to access USDA
business development grants so we can support working families.
And here on the Small Business Committee, Senator Rosen and
I have worked across the aisle to pass our Small Business
Childcare Investment Act out of committee, which would allow non-
profit and faith-based childcare providers access to SBA loans.
I am also closely tracking the SBA’s recent announcement that
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it is exploring expanding the 7(a) and 504 loan programs to non-
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profit childcare centers. This is a major change that should not be
made without Congressional input.
For that reason, I would have hoped to have had the opportunity
to speak with someone who works for the SBA about the specifics.
But despite outreach from my staff and I, SBA failed to specify
whether they planned to include faith based nonprofits. I fully in-
tend to find out.
No two families or two States are alike. Parents should be em-
powered to choose the best care option for their families. State
leaders must ensure that a range of childcare options flourish,
whether it is home based childcare, daycare at a local church, or
an after school center, every single child should be in an environ-
ment where they are safe, healthy, and loved.
I am proud that Governor Reynolds, in my home State of Iowa,
is setting an example we can all learn from. She incentivized em-
ployers to provide childcare and encouraged local governments to
collaborate with businesses of all sizes to address their commu-
nity’s childcare shortages.
These initiatives created thousands of new childcare slots exactly
where Iowans need them. This approach is what we need in every
single State in the country to deploy, and I look forward to hearing
from our witnesses on how we can expand childcare choice and en-
able childcare small businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield.
The CHAIR. Thank you, Senator Ernst. And again, thank you to
all of our witnesses. We earlier had Administrator Guzman from
the SBA, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Diedra Henry-
Spires. I don’t know if she’s still here. There she is. Thank you very
much for joining us.
Our first witness is Cindy Cisneros. She is the Vice President of
Education Programs for the Committee for Economic Development
of the Conference Board. Ms. Cisneros leads the organization’s
portfolio of education policy work, including early childhood, K-
through-12, and post-secondary education.
Ms. Cisneros received her bachelors in Political Science and Eco-
nomics from the University of California, Berkeley, and she holds
a master’s in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University.
Ms. Amy Brooks is the Executive Director of the Early Care and
Education Association in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Through her
work at ECEA, Ms. Brooks supports innovative efforts in New
Hampshire and Vermont that address early childhood education
workforce, recruitment, and retention.
I was able to visit Ms. Brooks’ career cultivator last summer, and
I have to say, I thought it was one of the most innovative programs
to train childcare teachers that I have seen in the last 30 years.
So, that is very exciting.
Her training program attracts more workers to the childhood
education field by combining classroom based learning, mentoring,
and hands on experience in a childcare facility. And I hope that we
will be able to get you to describe the program while you are here.
Ms. Brooks holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Ele-
mentary Education and Teaching from Lyndon State College and
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Champlain College, respectively. I am also pleased to welcome our
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other two witnesses, and I will ask Senator Ernst if she would like
to introduce them.
Senator ERNST. Okay, so I want to—oh, excuse me. I want to
welcome Ms. Cisneros and Ms. Brooks, and thank you both for join-
ing us. And I will introduce the rest of our witnesses who are testi-
fying today.
And I will start with Ms. Rachel Greszler. She is a Senior Re-
search Fellow in workforce and public finance at the Heritage
Foundation. And this Greszler is a Senior Research Fellow, again,
at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2013, Ms.
Greszler served as a Senior Economist on the Joint Economic Com-
mittee for seven years.
She earned several master’s degrees from Georgetown University
and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mary Washington,
where she currently serves on the Board of Visitors. So, thank you
for doing that.
And then we also have Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith. And Dr. Laurie
Todd-Smith is the Director of the Center for Education and the
Center for the American Child at the America First Policy Insti-
tute.
Previously, Dr. Todd-Smith served as Director of the Women’s
Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she focused on in-
creasing childcare access for working parents and advocated for
paid family leave.
As senior education and workforce advisor to Governor Phil Bry-
ant, Dr. Todd-Smith spearheaded several legislative initiatives to
improve early childhood care and education in Mississippi. Notably,
she is also a former early childhood and public elementary school
teacher.
Dr. Todd-Smith earned a doctorate in Education from Mississippi
State University, a master’s degree from Western New Mexico Uni-
versity, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona.
And I have also worked with Dr. Todd-Smith on the issue of
childcare in the former Administration, and I want to thank you
for working with my team and I on those initiatives. So, I do want
to thank all of our witnesses here today. And we will recognize
they are working mothers or grandmothers.
And as someone who was also a working mom, I want you to un-
derstand and know that I know firsthand the care and work it
takes to juggle childcare while providing for a family. My daughter
is also a new mother, I am a brand new grandmother, and she
right now is going through some of those struggles in finding
childcare for her newborn infant.
So, thank you so much for taking the time to share your
thoughts with our committee today and how we can empower
States to develop family first childcare solutions. Thank you all
very much for joining us. Thank you, Jeanne.
The CHAIR. Thank you, Senator Ernst. Ms. Cisneros, we will
begin with you, and we will go right down the panel. So, would you
like to begin.
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STATEMENT OF CINDY CISNEROS, VICE PRESIDENT OF EDU-
CATION PROGRAMS, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOP-
MENT, THE CONFERENCE BOARD, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Ms. CISNEROS. Good afternoon. My name is Cindy Cisneros, and
I am the Vice President of Education Programs at the Committee
for Economic Development of the Conference Board that serves as
its public policy center and is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business
member driven organization. CED does not lobby or endorse spe-
cific legislation.
Our business leaders know that a skilled workforce is paramount
to economic prosperity. From CED’s perspective, access to quality,
affordable childcare is a two generation strategy. Across the coun-
try, the need for childcare is most related to mothers in the work-
force.
While there was a decline in working mothers in the spring of
2020 with the onset of the COVID pandemic, the U.S. labor force
participation rate for mothers of children of all ages is now higher
than it was in 2019, before the pandemic.
In 2019, CED released to study, Childcare and State Economies,
which reviewed the use of childcare by families and the economic
impact on States. We found that childcare as an industry had a
total economic impact of $99.3 billion. Currently, we are in the
process of updating that study.
The pandemic hit childcare businesses harder than overall serv-
ices sector. In the spring of 2020, revenue dropped by 36 percent
for centers, and childcare employment declined by more than 30
percent.
That was a loss of 290,000 jobs. With funding from Congress be-
tween March 21 and March 2021—or 2021, sorry, sending an addi-
tional $52 billion to the States for childcare, the market was actu-
ally able to rebound. In 2022, there were about 624,000 childcare
businesses in the U.S., 76,800 center based employers, and 547,000
childcare homes.
While childcare centers represent 12.3 percent of childcare busi-
nesses, they serve about three-quarters of the children in care and
earn about 86 percent of industry revenue. Since 2020, 3,900 net
new childcare centers were added relative to the pre-pandemic pe-
riod. Center based revenue increased by about 40 percent to $58.9
billion in 2022.
Home based revenue increased by about 13 percent to $96 billion
in 2021, the most available data. While the number of centers
grew, the number of family childcare homes declined by 17,200
compared to 2019.
By the second quarter of 2023, childcare wages increased 27 per-
cent to $31,797. Home based providers earned an average of
$17,472, with net earnings of $10,400 after operational costs. How-
ever, childcare wages are low compared to other service related jobs
and communities.
Childcare is a business, small business. Whether it is center
based or home based, operating funds for each program are largely
derived from parent fees. On average, the share of children from
birth to 14 in paid care declined from 20.2 percent in 2019 to 19
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percent in 2022. This is about 1.2 million fewer children in
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childcare. The price of care varies by State, by setting, and by age
of the child.
A report CED released in just January found a large gap be-
tween the incomes of families who pay for childcare in those who
do not. The income gap suggests that the price of care, when con-
sidered in the context of other household expenses like rent or
mortgage, makes childcare unaffordable for many families.
It is difficult to estimate the impact of the increase in Federal
funds on the sector’s revenue and recovery because of the way that
the U.S. Census Bureau reports the data. For example, we don’t
know how much of the revenue earned by programs is from parent
payments compared to Federal relief funds.
It is not clear whether program revenue and higher wages are
sustainable once the supplemental Federal funds are expended this
September. We have the following three recommendations.
First, a broader discussion of how the country invests in
childcare is warranted. We need an integrated review of the whole
early care and education landscape to understand gaps and develop
strategies.
Second, to help fill the gap between what parents can afford to
pay and a livable wage, we can take a look at what Louisiana has
done with a workforce tax credit that is earned. And third, we can
expand support for small business development centers. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Cisneros follows.]
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The CHAIR. Thank you. Ms. Greszler.
STATEMENT OF RACHEL GRESZLER, SENIOR RESEARCH FEL-
LOW IN WORKFORCE AND PUBLIC FINANCE, THE HERITAGE
FOUNDATION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Ms. GRESZLER. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
As a mom of six young kids, the youngest of whom just started kin-
dergarten this year, I have been navigating childcare for the past
15 years. It is not easy.
But instead of having all the answers, what I have realized is
that there often aren’t straightforward answers, at least not ones
that apply universally across different childcare providers and
across different families whose preferences and needs can vary over
time.
In my testimony today, I would like to discuss the current land-
scape for working parents, the Government’s role in childcare, and
to suggest some ways that policymakers can expand childcare op-
tions.
While many families have a parent who stays home with kids,
the majority of parents, 80 percent of them, are participating in the
workforce. And parents’ employment has actually increased signifi-
cantly compared to non-parents since the pandemic.
Particularly surprising is the fact that women with children
under age six have experienced the biggest gains, nearly ten times
as much as any other group. And this happened even as the num-
ber of childcare workers has declined by 11 percent, which might
suggest that the COVID–19 childcare funds did not necessarily in-
crease supply.
A likely explanation, though, for that rising employment parents,
despite a decline in the number of childcare workers, is that in-
creased workplace flexibility and remote work has enabled more
family care, and that is a success for many families because 73 per-
cent of parents with young kids say that they would prefer to ei-
ther have a parent or relative care for their kids.
According to the Census Bureau, only about one-fifth of all par-
ents and one-third of parents with kids under age five have some-
one other than a relative caring for their kids. While advocates of
a Federal childcare entitlement claim that more kids in childcare
centers and more parents in employment would be an ‘‘invest-
ment,’’ those arguments ignore the impact of parents caring for
kids.
Importantly, the Nobel laureate, whose work is most often cited
by advocates of Federal childcare entitlement actually said that he
‘‘has never supported universal preschool, and that while Govern-
ment care can potentially compensate for the home environments
of disadvantaged kids, no public preschool program can provide the
lifetime benefits of parental love in a well-functioning family.’’
Since family care is parents’ greatest preference, and because
center based childcare is scarce in rural areas, a Federal entitle-
ment would do more to drive up costs and limit the supply of care
than to help families achieve the care that they want and need.
The childcare entitlement in the Build Back Better Act would
have been inaccessible to most faith based and in-home providers,
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home providers are significantly more affordable, more flexible in
their infrastructure—a home and a caregiver exists everywhere
across America.
Yet since 2005, the number of in-home providers has plummeted
by more than half. In large part, this is because of excessive licens-
ing requirements and administrative burdens.
Time prevents describing all the major things that childcare pro-
viders must do, everything from fire codes and space requirements,
down to the tedious requirements of prohibiting duct tape, and
specifying rigid drink offering schedules, but a study of licensed in-
home providers in Illinois found that in addition to providers
spending 51 hours a week caring for children, they spent 18 hours
performing unpaid administrative work.
While there is no silver bullet to childcare struggles, there are
things policymakers can do to help increase childcare options. First
is ensuring that existing Federal funds can be used at families’ pro-
viders of choice.
That includes making Head Start funds portable and not pre-
cluding in-home and faith-based providers from Federal funds. Sec-
ond, Federal lawmakers could make it easier for employers to pro-
vide childcare benefits by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act
to treat childcare the same way that we treat health insurance and
other benefits. Third is more parents desire flexible work and mini-
mal formal childcare.
Policymakers should codify a bright line test for independent con-
tractors and allow a safe harbor for in-home babysitters who prefer
not to be treated like formal household employees.
And lastly, State and local lawmakers should consider estab-
lishing multiple levels of licensing standards with a goal of increas-
ing those in-home, faith based, and employer provided childcare. As
more Americans desire flexible work, childcare providers also need
more flexibility to meet parents’ desires.
The biggest takeaway that I would like to convey is that there
is no one size fits all solution, and State and local communities are
best equipped to help families. Federal lawmakers can do more to
help parents and kids by removing barriers that prevent families
from achieving the work in childcare that is best for them than by
creating new programs. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Greszler follows.]
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53
The CHAIR. Thank you. Ms. Brooks.
STATEMENT OF AMY BROOKS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EARLY
CARE AND EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, LEBANON, NEW
HAMPSHIRE
Ms. BROOKS. Good afternoon, Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member
Ernst, and members of the committee. Thank you for this oppor-
tunity to speak as a former childcare business owner, and now on
behalf of a group of 120 licensed family and childcare business
owners in—based in Vermont and New Hampshire.
And as a former elementary school teacher, I quickly learned
that many of the children in my class had their first experience in
language and literacy building when they entered kindergarten.
With little access to high quality childcare in my community, I
resigned after eight years teaching third grade and opened a
childcare business in an effort to disrupt the cycle of catching up
in elementary school. My husband and I used his life insurance pol-
icy to put it down in a building in order to keep a low mortgage
payment.
We worked long hours and dedicated ourselves to this business,
as most small business owners do, but it wasn’t before long that
I had to raise tuition just to cover rising operational costs. I lost
some middle income customers that were caught between quali-
fying for adequate assistance and being able to afford the care.
Over time, the only way to absorb rising costs was to keep pay-
roll costs low. No other element of operating my business could be
adjusted. What makes up the budget of a childcare business? On
average, payroll costs make up 80 percent of the budget, leaving
little room for cost cutting.
For example, in a classroom of 16 three year olds, a program that
is open from 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., it requires 125 payroll hours
to cover that group. At only a $15 wage, it amounts to $118 per
week, per child. And that does not include payroll taxes, workers
comp, no benefits, no paid professional development, or any other
operational costs.
That is the model now. Low wages keep costs low in order to
make childcare more affordable for families. This has led to market
rates that reflect this model and not the true cost of care. I sold
my business after 20 years and now lead a network called the
Early Care and Education Association, made up of 120 licensed
center and family based providers.
I work with these childcare businesses on a daily basis, and they
tell me they are struggling to reach a break-even point. Although
our innovative workforce training career cultivator is bringing new
people into the field, wages and benefits remain a barrier to re-
cruiting and retaining staff.
We need approximately 100–225 trained staff in my region just
to reach the full capacity of licensing that we have. And they strug-
gle to compete with the other businesses that are able to pass on
the cost of competitive wages to their customers. While many busi-
nesses are turning to automation and remote work to bear the ris-
ing costs, childcare businesses have fewer options, no self-checkout,
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Quality childcare is reflected by low teacher child ratios, proper
training, adequate wages, and benefits for staff. Affordable, high
quality childcare has a direct correlation to better outcomes for
children entering the public school system, fewer Title I reading re-
ferrals, and behavioral interventions, as well as earlier diagnosis
and interventions, and this leads to better outcomes for families.
It means less missed work due to childcare issues and better per-
formance, and more retention of highly trained employees after pa-
rental leave. The economist James Hackman has quantified that
investment into high quality early childhood programs for young
children at risk can have a 13 to 1 return on investment and I have
seen this firsthand.
Over my 20 years in operating a childcare business, I work close-
ly with early intervention in my school district to identify and ad-
dress problems early, and in many cases, eliminate the future need
for costly special services.
This is exactly the reason I left public school to open a childcare
business with high quality early education services, giving all chil-
dren in my care a chance to enter school prepared to learn and dis-
rupt the cycle of catching up. I have recently heard from an OR
nurse and several nursing staff that have reached out for help and
have exhausted their search for childcare.
My region includes five medical centers, including Dartmouth-
Hitchcock Medical Center, which is the only level one trauma cen-
ter in New Hampshire, and it employs 8,000 people. A survey of
the childcare businesses in my region this past January revealed
that more than 750 slots are unused due to lack of staffing.
The workforce in these childcare businesses underpin the work-
force in our community. Recent surveys, as the Senator remarked
in her opening statement, have shown that 16,000 men and women
per month are not able to enter the workforce in New Hampshire
due to the lack of access to affordable childcare.
Additional investment should reflect the true cost of care and in-
clude higher qualifying income limits for families with a child
under three. Families with children under three incur extra costs
due to a child’s—the young child’s needs. The result of this invest-
ment would be for parents to finally afford the true cost of care.
Childcare businesses can raise wages, invest in paid professional
development opportunities, and potentially expand operational
hours. Thank you, Senator Shaheen, for this opportunity to speak
on behalf of the childcare industry in my region.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Brooks follows.]
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59
The CHAIR. Thank you very much. Dr. Todd-Smith.
STATEMENT OF LAURIE TODD-SMITH, DIRECTOR, CENTER
FOR EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY AND CENTER FOR THE
AMERICAN CHILD, AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE,
MADISON, MISSISSIPPI
Dr. TODD-SMITH. Hello and thank you for the opportunity to be
here today. As you heard earlier, I have had a long and rewarding
career at every level of the education continuum.
I have been a preschool teacher, public school teacher, childcare
director, researcher, policy advisor, and then Director of the Wom-
en’s Bureau at Department of Labor. I am also a grandparent of
a two year old sweet little girl named Evie Marie.
So, of all my years of experience in this field, I have really come
to believe that early childhood education is the most important
U.S. policy we could focus on, and I so appreciate this committee
focusing on that today and being part of this conversation.
As you know, the first five years of life play a critical role in the
development of shaping future learning and success with children.
The research on brain development is very clear. The interactions
that children have, whether they are good or bad, are very mean-
ingful and critical in their brain development.
When I think back to my time as a kindergarten teacher, as you
mentioned, I vividly remember the stark differences in the children
that I served. Some would come to the first day of school ready to
read and talking and knowing all their colors, and others had
never held a book, and others had never eaten with silverware at
the table or been read to.
And so, there was quite a gap there with what is happening in
the schools, or in prior to coming to kindergarten. I learned first-
hand very early in my career that these supportive environments
facilitate optimal growth and adverse conditions have lasting reper-
cussions.
When we think about what is doing—what is best for the busi-
ness of childcare, the focus needs to be on early health and
wellness, strengthening families, and supporting parents who are
essential drivers of young children’s well-being.
This means advancing the whole family through a two
generational strategy that allows each member of the family to
thrive. One of the most successful ways that the early childhood
field has seen improvements is through a State system approach to
aligning all the services in a State.
Some innovative States, like North Carolina, have actually cre-
ated a dedicated position in their Department of Commerce to be
able to help address the challenges of high quality and affordable
childcare. Arkansas, Georgia, and New Mexico have improved all
the alignment of the services for young children and families by
consolidating State agencies and establishing a governing board for
early childhood education.
Georgia, in particular, created the Bright From the Start Pro-
gram, which oversees every single child—early childhood education
program in the State. Iowa has also established a Childcare Task
Force that addresses shortages and employment obstacles in that
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60
conversation is improving data systems. I experienced this first-
hand in the Governor’s office in Mississippi.
We started with an inventory of all the silos in education—in
early childhood education that were happening and linked it with
all the real data from the other State agencies. So, the Mississippi
system now includes longitudinal data of early childhood, K–12
education, community colleges, higher-ed, as well as workforce.
So, the system is used to generate reports and help inform policy-
makers about what Is working and what Is not working in the field
of early childhood, all the way through the workforce. We also
know childcare is one of the most significant expenses for families
with children—with young children.
I mentioned the quality of the environment in which children
spend their day is very important, and there is no one size fits all.
You have heard all of those things today already. And looking at
factors that drive up the cost of childcare, many States are cur-
rently reviewing their licensing regulations.
We can all agree that health and safety regulations for children
are very important. In my research for my doctoral dissertation, I
studied all 50 States and their licensing regulations, and I found
that the standards varied greatly in all the States, and some were
unintentionally driving up the cost of childcare.
The requirement for all preschool teachers to have a bachelor’s
degree in any field is actually—was a plan to ensure a qualified
workforce is particularly detrimental. Young children need to ben-
efit from an effective workforce.
There is no evidence that having a bachelor’s degree in any field
makes a difference for preschool teachers to be more effective.
There are real ways we can help to retain the childcare workforce.
Credential based childcare apprenticeship programs are happening
all over the United States.
Texas, Iowa, Arkansas, Florida, and many other States have
promising solutions, offering valuable experience and training for a
growing workforce. Registered apprenticeships are a great tool to
help recruit workers in high demand fields and bring more people
into the field of childcare.
In closing, the challenges in the childcare industry created at the
State level, require State level—State led solutions. The best way
to improve childcare policy is to identify and support and highlight
the work of these innovative States and assisting the whole family
through the two generational strategy, while enabling adults to
work and supporting young children’s learning and development.
I so appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony before this
committee today on this very important topic, and I look forward
to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Todd-Smith follows.]
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72
The CHAIR. Well, thank you all very much for giving us a lot to
think about.
And Dr. Todd-Smith, I am glad you mentioned the early brain
research ahead, because one of the things that as Chair of the Edu-
cation Commission of the States, when I was Governor and focused
on early childhood education, one of the things that struck me is
that children’s development goes like this in terms of the graph.
Very dramatic in the early years.
But public support for a child’s development goes just the oppo-
site. We spend the least in the early years when it would do the
most good, and the most in the outer years when it is going to cost
us more for any investments. So, it is a really critical challenge,
and we have to figure out how we can reverse that arc.
Ms. Cisneros, I wanted to ask you about the gap that you talked
about in the way we collect data and whether we need to change
that. Would that be helpful as we are looking at how we collect
data?
Ms. CISNEROS. I do—[technical problems]. Thank you. I do think
it would be helpful. Especially in my other work, the same issue
has come across at other educational levels, K–12 to post-sec-
ondary.
So, having some continuum with early learning before kids start
the formal school system would be important and helpful, espe-
cially with regard to transitions. So, transition from early edu-
cation into kindergarten, and I know there has been more focus
now on supporting principals in elementary schools to help do just
that, as well as the transitions even from middle school to high
school, to make sure kids are still on track.
And also, after high school, in terms of what are their next steps,
is it college, is it training. And to get more feedback about the
choices kids are making. So, I do think it is beneficial.
The CHAIR. Thank you. Ms. Brooks, I talked about how enthusi-
astic I was when I visited the career cultivator because we have
had such a challenge with losing childcare teachers and you have
done a great job of figuring out how to train more teachers quickly
and get them into the field.
Can you talk about how you have done that and the difference
that it has made, and the challenges with retention, which you re-
ferred to a little bit in your opening?
Ms. BROOKS. Yes. Thank you. Our career cultivator is part of a—
it is a three part workforce building strategy.
We know that when high schools and community college system
used to have a strong practicum component of their teacher train-
ing, we saw less people prepared to enter the workforce and more
turnover.
So, a, for us, by us model where providers were saying, this is
really what we need help with, we understood that we do—we ac-
tually do general recruiting for staff, but we did find a niche of peo-
ple that were kind of on the fence, no experience, sometimes even
little workforce experience at all, and we needed to develop a model
around that.
These people are not college bound, you know, in your traditional
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mind about coming into the field. So, we have made a very inten-
tional program.
It is designed so that people can keep like a hospitality type of
a job at the same time on weekends while we go through this train-
ing. The training addresses basically all of the onboarding needed
to bring on somebody into the field, including 60 hours of onsite
practicum at a lab site.
We also have a component where that program feeds a sub pool,
so that those people are able to not only gain employment while
they are going through this training, but also gain experience.
And last year, we in just our pilot year, we were able to cover
through that sub pool component, 257 hours of days—257 days, ex-
cuse me, of subbing, allowing people who haven’t had a day off all
through COVID to keep a day—have a day off and then keep fami-
lies at work so that their children had care. All the while, they are
learning about the field. It is a very successful model.
We also know that through experience working with other groups
that have worked—that are working workforce, that they struggle
with people coming into a 40 hour week, especially in a high turn-
over, burnout type of a job.
So, we offer flex kind of entry, so you do not have to be com-
mitted to a part time or full time position. You can come in and
you can actually stay in the sub pool until you are ready to enter
the field.
That flex model works so that it can—these people can also sub
for the family providers as well. So, when they need to take time
off, families don’t lose care.
The CHAIR. That is great. And you provide a stipend for——
Ms. BROOKS. They are stipended for their expenses and their cost
of—any expenses to get there, yes. Thank you.
The CHAIR. Senator Ernst.
Senator ERNST. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I will start with
Ms. Greszler. And thanks again for being here today. Really appre-
ciate it. It is critical we continue to highlight the unique ways that
parents are seeking childcare options in their homes, in their com-
munities, and in their religious centers.
And you touched in your testimony on how unnecessary regula-
tions can then choke out small businesses. Cutting down burden-
some Government requirements is an important focus of mine. And
what would you say would be those regulatory changes that we
should on this committee be considering to increase the availability
and supply of those childcare providers?
Ms. GRESZLER. Thank you. Yes, as childcare is always tied to the
workforce, I do think the workforce component is important too.
And we have seen interestingly, the most recent preference
among parents for childcare is 31 percent of parents want to have
both parents work flexible jobs and share in the childcare. And
then there is other combinations of part time childcare.
And so, I think that part of the difference in the licensing and
the regulations has to take into account that not everybody wants
the 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. childcare center. There has to be more
variability in the types of childcare options that are out there, and
that predominantly is getting at in-home providers and faith based
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So, a lot of the work really needs to be done at the State and
local level, and that is where I think that you could have different
tiers of licensing. As long as this is made available to parents, what
tier they are signing the children up for, one parent might feel very
strongly that the childcare has an emergency vehicle on hand so
that they could transport kids, and they want to have those four
weeks of records of everything that their child ate and drank, what
amounts at what time, whereas another parent might not care
about that.
And this can open up more availability for having shared spaces,
things like that. But at the Federal level, as I mentioned, the Fair
Labor Standards Act right now, employers are hesitant to provide
childcare because for lower wage workers who are hourly paid, if
they give them a childcare subsidy or provide onsite childcare, that
benefit if the worker works overtime, they have to pay overtime at
a rate that takes into account that childcare.
So, we exclude retirement benefits, health insurance from that
overtime calculation for employers. So, it would simply be a little
tweak to also exclude the childcare subsidy. And then one other
thing at the Federal level that I think would be really meaningful
to the low income families, where I think is the most important
component here, is allowing Head Start money to be taken to a
provider of their choice.
Head Start costs about $14,000 per year, that is the average cost
of care, but oftentimes Head Start is only a couple hours a day, so
it doesn’t provide a childcare solution for a working family. But if
they could take that to an in-home provider or somewhere else in
the community, it would.
Senator ERNST. Very good. No, I really appreciate that. Those are
helpful ideas. And part of our task force in Iowa has been looking
at a number of different options like that as well. So, I appreciate
that.
And Dr. Todd-Smith, again, thanks for joining us. And I am glad
folks like you are out there advising our States on improving their
early childhood care options and workforce development. I feel ex-
actly, as our chair does, about focusing on early childhood. So,
thank you so much.
We have discussed it a lot of challenges with staffing, and it cer-
tainly an issue that I continue to hear about from all of the small
businesses that I visit, not just in Iowa, but all over the country.
How can States improve their childcare workforce training and
their retention?
Dr. TODD-SMITH. That is a great question and thank you for that.
I think it is such a critical part of it. I touched on the childcare
apprenticeship model in my remarks, but I think, you know, one
thing in Mississippi that I clearly remember was being in the office
and hearing that there was a shortage of welders in the State, and
there was a whole team of people that came forward and created
a training module, created an online learning base.
We had the community colleges create—trying to recruit more
people into welding, all of those things to help our manufacturing
business. And I remember looking at the Governor saying, can we
do that for childcare? And there is a whole group that was already
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looking at career and technical education.
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So, I think one way that is also working well in States is tying
it to the existing workforce structure as a technical certification for
teachers to obtain and using existing programs that are in place to
help move that along.
Apprenticeship models are an absolutely wonderful idea. We had
a group called Milwaukee Tools in Mississippi, one of our manufac-
turers, and he asked—you know, he said, in Mississippi, I need
more women in the workforce. They are better on the plant, with
more detail.
Do you think if I opened a childcare center at the plant, I could
get more women recruited into the childcare center? So that was
another way where he helped support, that organization helped
support childcare centers and increasing teachers’ interest in that.
So, through apprenticeships, through employer sponsored
childcare, the idea you talked about with changing the coding at
Department of Labor to allow for the benefit of childcare subsidies,
I think all of those are ways to try to help the system as a whole.
Senator ERNST. That is fantastic. Thank you. I yield back.
The CHAIR. Thank you, Senator Ernst. Senator Rosen.
Senator ROSEN. Well, thank you, Chair Shaheen, Ranking Mem-
ber Ernst. This is a really important hearing, and I want to thank
the four women witnesses, for being here to testify, for supporting
our families, for thinking creatively out of the box, how to help our
families grow and thrive. This is so very important.
And, you know, I know, Senator Ernst, we have our—one of our
favorite bills we have together, the Small Business Childcare In-
vestment Act. I know she has referred to it, but this is really, as
you have just said, a crux of—a foundational issue for all of us.
And so, I mentioned when Administrator Guzman came before
the committee last month, the lack of access to affordable childcare.
Like I said, you just alluded to. It is a crisis that demands imme-
diate action.
Infant childcare in Nevada, it cost families over $13,000 a year
on average, and the rising cost of childcare is financially squeezing
parents across the State and across the country. And like I said,
I am going to keep mentioning our Small Business Childcare In-
vestment Act until we get that passed, because it is—I think it will
be a game changer.
And it is going to increase the availability of affordable, high
quality childcare for working families by, for the first time, allow-
ing nonprofit providers to have the same access to SBA loan pro-
grams as for profit providers. That is a game changer. It has been
over 260 days since that legislation passed out of this committee.
There is no excuse for finally getting this long passed to bill
across the finish line. So, Ms. Cisneros, can you speak about the
ways that the childcare crisis really impacts not just our workers,
but our small businesses, right.
How passing this bipartisan bill is just going to make such a dif-
ference in every community, urban, rural, underserved, childcare
deserts everywhere, affordable childcare deserts, I would say every-
where.
Ms. CISNEROS. Thank you for that question. It is a very urgent
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And that is the challenge in terms of thinking about the
childcare industry, is that it is complex and there is no one solution
to resolving the main areas that include workforce development
quality for those early educators and make sure we have got the
right educators in the setting with kids.
We have got to make sure that there is an actual living wage for
those who do have small businesses and who are owners of
childcare businesses. That is always a challenge. And we have to
work with, I think, stakeholders, including the business community
and employers in helping to think about different solutions. And
that is one thing we have done at CED is really try to engage the
business community.
And there are different ways in terms of improving access and
affordability. Different options range from sharing information
about childcare itself, what good childcare quality looks like.
It could be part of onboarding materials when new employees
join. They can also provide subsidies to help offset the costs for em-
ployees. And, if they are really ambitious, they can provide onsite
childcare directly.
Senator ROSEN. Thank you. Can I—I just have about a minute.
I want to get another question in, because I think about the flexi-
ble childcare options. We have to look at how we lower the cost,
make it more affordable, work with our businesses. But how do we
increase childcare for families who don’t work traditional hours?
I can tell you, in Nevada, we have a shortage of about 4,000
nurses. Many nurses work in hospitals. Hospitals are 24/7, 365
days a year. And so, we have seen shortages for childcare for these
critical jobs that are in our hospitals, let’s say.
And so, Ms. Brooks, can you speak to the current availability of
affordable childcare for those parents who work these important
jobs, like nurses, for example. There is so many others, but we will
say that for now. The nontraditional hours and what role childcare
small businesses can play to reduce barriers for them.
Ms. BROOKS. Thank you for that question. Nontraditional
childcare hours has been a problem we have been thinking about
for a long time. And, you know what my experience is, what we un-
derstand about, you know, if you are in a manufacturing commu-
nity, working with—and actually, my region has five medical cen-
ters. So, we deal with around the clock care.
Senator ROSEN. Spaces. We have issues with remote spaces, of
course.
Ms. BROOKS. And—you know, one of the challenges is that, you
know, if you are a nurse and you work the night shift, there tends
to be some sort of a differential when you work that shift. In
childcare, we are barely paying people enough to have a living
wage, in many cases under a living wage.
There really isn’t enough bandwidth to be able to move people
into, you know, something with a differential. So, you know, cost
is obviously an issue. But I think using family childcare is another
option. Family childcare can be—is often thought of as more flexi-
ble. And really working with family childcare as potentially an op-
tion in case there isn’t enough need, is a perfect option for people.
And then, making sure that children in that care have every-
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thing that they need for that shift is kind of another issue that we
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are dealing with, whether it is sleeping arrangements, or eating, or
you know in the cost of food—if it is provided.
It is kind of an enigma we are trying to figure out. I think we
need to look at maybe another industry that does those cost dif-
ferentials and see if maybe we can recruit staff based on those.
Senator ROSEN. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The CHAIR. Thank you. Senator Ernst went to vote, so I get to
ask some more questions. And I was just thinking about my own
experience where I had children at home from the time the first
child was born and until the last child went off to college and left
home for 30 years.
And during that period, we had every childcare option that was
available. You know whether we had somebody—we had a nanny
for a while. We had family who stayed with the kids. We had, for
a period, one of them stayed in a childcare center.
So, we tried it all. And it always felt like I wasn’t doing what
I needed to do to ensure that my kids had the opportunities that
they should have. They have all turned out just fine, but I think
that reflects what most parents feel as they are looking at how to
address childcare needs.
And so, is there anybody—as we look at other industrialized na-
tions, is there anybody who we think is doing childcare in a way
that we should be looking at and trying to learn from, who may be
doing some things better than we are? I will just throw that out
for all of you.
Ms. GRESZLER. I don’t have an answer there other than to say
that I think some other countries have more structured systems.
But what you have just said, you know, very much resonated with
me.
We have been through all of the different types of childcare, too,
including the fly by your—to the parents during COVID right when
they were home for a year and a half. And it is always going to
be a struggle, I think.
You know, are we doing the right thing? But that is where I
think as policymakers, the top priority has to be how do we help
more families be able to achieve what they feel is best for them in
that time, in that situation, because it is not the same across dif-
ferent families, across different States, or even, you know, when
you have three young kids at home versus only one young one and
older ones.
And so, I think it is just allowing the combination of the work
and the childcare together. Seeing how we can open more doors to
pursuing the opportunities that work for us.
The CHAIR. Ms. Cisneros.
Ms. CISNEROS. And even though I don’t have an exact answer ei-
ther, I do think it is worth taking a look at other countries, espe-
cially in Europe and Scandinavia. They definitely have a different
system of government, so therefore they have a different type of
structure that can support programs like this.
Some are free and accessible. And there also happens to be a
much stronger emphasis on the family as the center unit. And so,
I think as part of that cultural approach, they spend a lot of time
researching and finding ways to support families, and that is why
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The CHAIR. Yes, Amy.
Ms. BROOKS. I, you know, my mind actually goes to the U.S. mili-
tary. The U.S. military invests tremendously into young child and
their family. In fact, the process for finding childcare in a military
base is often easier.
Family childcare on a military base is encouraged. People that
are home and their spouses are off in service, they are actually
trained to do the work as a business and supported, and so that
they are able to make a living wage doing it.
And their communities are set up so that, you know, obviously
zoning and things like that aren’t a barrier. So, I actually go to the
U.S. military as an example.
The CHAIR. I think that is an excellent example. You know, the
military looked at who joins the military after we got an all-volun-
teer military, and they figured out that the highest percentage of
people who join the military had family members who had also
been in the military.
And so, if they wanted to influence the caliber of recruits to the
military, the best way to do it was to invest in early childhood edu-
cation. And they have been great. They have more—or at least for
a while, they had more childcare centers who were part of that Na-
tional Association for the Education of Young Children than private
centers, which was very impressive.
Now, I have to say they are experiencing some challenges, I
think, with that right now. But it is an excellent example. Dr.
Todd-Smith.
Dr. TODD-SMITH. Yes, that is a great example. I have visited sev-
eral military preschools, and the quality is really important. And
that is what came to mind for me when you asked the question in
other countries.
I have actually visited preschools in Italy and Finland, and their
teaching method for early childhood education is really in depth.
And I talked about that brain development. It is almost a reverse
model. The best learning practices happen in the ages of 0 to 5.
They also do multi-ages in their classrooms with a big family
focus, as has been stated already. But really emphasizing and fol-
lowing what the research says about brain research versus
daycare.
We don’t take care of days. We take care of children. It is just
the whole culture of what children are learning and how they are
learning is treated at a very high level in other countries.
The CHAIR. Yes. I agree, and it is something that we have got
to help people—help us all to focus on because that is our future.
I can remember one time somebody said to me, you know, chil-
dren may only be 20 percent of our population, but they are 100
percent of our future, and we need to recognize that as we think
about how we support them. I am going to go vote, Senator Ernst.
So, I am going to——
Senator ERNST. Should we wrap then after my round of ques-
tions? Okay.
The CHAIR. Yes. So, want to go ahead?
Senator ERNST. Yes, I will go ahead. And thank you again so
much. And I wish I had been here for that part of the discussion
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So, my daughter and her husband are both active duty Army.
And so, having a new baby and finding somewhere for that baby
to be, especially when you have parents who are working very odd,
unusual hours.
This week my son in law is in the field. And so, it just becomes
very difficult when you are a single parent juggling—juggling those
issues. So, but thank you for looking into that. I think there is a
lot of unique challenges out there across the spectrum when it
comes to our families.
Again, the one size does not fit all model. We have got a lot of
single parents, maybe grandparents that are trying to help with
that—I mean, there is just so many different situations.
Ms. Brooks, if I could turn to you. In your testimony, you men-
tioned major employers in your community have pointed to
childcare as one of the two top barriers to having the workforce
that they need.
And in my home State of Iowa, several employers have partnered
with local government and small businesses to increase childcare
capacity. What steps have employers in New Hampshire taken to
increase the childcare options available to their own employees?
Ms. BROOKS. There is a lot of innovation going on in New Hamp-
shire. I will kind of get to the point is you can open a facility, but
staffing the facility is a major barrier.
And we have actually seen it happen where an employer spon-
sored program opened and the staff of the area went to that pro-
gram, and it actually resulted in a net loss of slots. So, really kind
of attending to the—to having a full force workforce.
And, you know, kind of the strategy in New Hampshire where
we are sort of thinking is trying to grow, but at the same time try-
ing to get all of our slots used. As I mentioned in my testimony,
we have 750 slots not being used that are licensed and ready to go
in my region just from not having the workforce.
So, addressing the workforce is part—it needs to be part in the
solution.
Senator ERNST. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. And Ms. Cisneros, in
your testimony, you highlighted the significant decline in home
based childcare over the past decade.
And this decline not only reduces parent choice in what will best
serve their child, particularly in some of our most rural areas, like
Southwest Iowa, but also forces parents to fork out more for higher
cost options.
Can you speak to how removing regulatory barriers for home
based childcare providers might be able to help these families?
Ms. CISNEROS. Thank you for that question. And it was con-
cerning to see the decline in home based childcare providers. It has
been in decline for over 11 years.
And we are seeing the decline based on several reasons, includ-
ing people aging out and wanting to retire, not being able to make
a sufficient salary, you know, to support their families, and also be-
cause there are many other types of jobs in their communities
where they could actually earn more.
But we do believe that having more family childcare homes and
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supporting those are important, especially in rural areas, because
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that is basically a lifeline. They are more flexible. They are cheap-
er. They are easier to access. And so, that is important.
And there is an organization, in terms of trying to expand the
supply, First Children’s Finance in Minnesota that works with 14
different States and really seeks to help childcare businesses
launch, get started, whether it is, you know, homes or centers.
And so, that could also be a resource to expand supply.
Senator ERNST. Yes. Thank you very much. And with that, I
know I have just got a few seconds left, but I will go ahead and
yield back, Madam Chair.
The CHAIR. No, you should go ahead.
Senator ERNST. Okay. Wonderful. [Laughter.]
Senator ERNST. Ms. Greszler, then I will turn to you. In your tes-
timony, you highlight the administrative burden that regulatory re-
quirements can have on home and family based childcare pro-
viders. Can you go into a little more detail about the administra-
tive requirements and some of the burdens that they do create?
Ms. GRESZLER. Yes. Thank you. I don’t even know a fraction of
them, but there is a lot of documentation and tracking of things,
and this gets at the difficulty of having like part time spaces be-
cause every new child coming in, then you have to have an individ-
ualized plan for that child in writing.
You have to have their vaccination records and they have to be
up to date. So that could be if it is an infant, every couple months
when they are going to get new shots, you have to have those. You
have to keep track of—for weeks, when they have eaten, what
things are drunk, what things and in what quantity amounts. And
just all of this paperwork, it seems like, well, one thing I can see
why we might want that, but then it just adds up and adds up and
adds up, and it takes so much time.
As I mentioned that 18 hours of unpaid administrative work for
an in-home provider. I think that is probably part of the reason for
that decline, is that people are just deciding, I don’t want to keep
doing this. And then when individuals consider, like a mom who
has young kids and wants to stay home, says maybe I could watch
some other kids.
But when they look into all of the requirements that are nec-
essary to convert their home to a licensed childcare center and then
all the paperwork, that is difficult to do while you are also caring
for your own kids, so.
Senator ERNST. That is true. Yes, thank you. And you also high-
lighted in your testimony the benefit of employers choosing to pro-
vide childcare options on site, which not only helps working par-
ents day to day, but also increases employee retention.
And this again is not across the board, and it does depend on sit-
uations, but what can we do at the Federal level to support these
efforts and then give our small business owners the flexibility to
offer childcare services based on the needs of their own unique
workforce?
Ms. GRESZLER. That is where I think that Federal lawmakers
need to turn to the States and ask them to consider what are the
licensing requirements that are preventing these. As I mentioned,
the FLSA change would definitely open up that door.
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Senator ERNST. Right.
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Ms. GRESZLER. And there are some limitations, but certainly
spaces like hospitals where you have a large center and you have
irregular hours, that onsite care would be so important to have.
But just the requirements and the legal liabilities that come
alongside it, I think just going through those with a fine tooth
comb and saying, could we create a separate tier that would be,
here is licensing for onsite childcare that would get rid of some of
the burdensome regulations that we hear from businesses say that
is why they aren’t starting them.
Senator ERNST. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Madam
Chair.
The CHAIR. Thank you very much, Senator Ernst. And before I
turn it over to Senator Hickenlooper, because I am going to go vote,
I want to just point out that a number of the things that you all
have talked about are actually part of the Right Start Childcare
and Education Act that I introduced earlier this year.
It would expand dependent care flexible spending accounts that
families can use for childcare costs, which is, I think, something
that several of you have mentioned. It would expand the employer
provided childcare credit to allow small businesses to partner to-
gether to provide childcare and create a new tax credit for childcare
workers.
And you all have given several other suggestions that I think
would be great additions to this legislation. So, thank you all very
much for a wonderful discussion and for all of the great work that
you are doing.
And I hope you will stay in touch with the committee and help
us think about what more we can do. I am going to leave the gavel
with Senator Ernst, recognize Senator Hickenlooper. And again,
thank you all very much. Safe travels back. Senator Hickenlooper.
Senator HICKENLOOPER. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am glad I
got here in the nick of time. I won’t say I ran up the stairs, but
I moved swiftly. And it is always great to be part of a discussion
around the importance of childcare and early childhood education
and all the different ramifications around it that we can have.
One of the lowest compensated components of our workforce. At
the same time, it is one of the most essential, I think, by—for many
different metrics. So maybe, Ms. Brooks and maybe Dr. Todd-
Smith as well, in 2022, more than half of all childcare centers were
running under capacity because of—they couldn’t find staff.
In Colorado, we had Red Rocks Community College, their
childcare development specialist apprenticeship, has been up and
running is a two year program that is helping to hopefully close
that gap, the workforce gap.
So, how can we better support apprenticeship programs like the
one at Red Rocks Community College or in other places to expand
the pool of early childhood educators?
Ms. BROOKS. Thank you. One of the things we are finding—we
are doing active recruiting and training on the ground, and what
we are finding is some people are hesitant to commit to a long term
program.
In our State, our program is 18 month commitment. For people
who aren’t sure about entering the field in the first place, that
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seems like a big lift. So, if maybe if there were, you know, embed-
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ded pre-apprenticeship or a trial kind of experiential part of ap-
prenticeships where people can make that firm decision before com-
mitting to an 18 month or 24 month program, you might see—we
might see more people coming in and giving it a try.
It is just really hesitancy from the workforce that we are seeing.
I guess that is—I guess that would be my recommendation.
Senator HICKENLOOPER. Ms. Todd-Smith.
Dr. TODD-SMITH. Yes. Good question. And I think this idea of ap-
prenticeships is a really good one to try to help build the workforce.
In Mississippi, we had a program called Mississippi Building
Blocks that was a privately funded research project to look into
what it takes to help childcare improve.
And one of the things, obviously, to no surprise, is that they
needed—childcare teachers needed more experience and training
and higher salaries. And so, through that private partnership, we
were able to help support the cost of the training for the childcare
worker and then support a stipend on the end of that training cer-
tification process that helped keep them engaged.
So, programs like that, I think we learned a lot from. Mississippi
also recently started something that I think is so good. Sorry to
keep talking about Mississippi. I just know that one the best, but
we have entered career coaches into the public schools, and that
sounds just like what everybody else might be doing, but some of
those career coaches are from the different industry themselves.
So, they might be from a car company manufacturer in the State,
or they can be from childcare provider areas of need, and sort of
reaching out to those 8th through 12th graders about a career in
childcare and what that looks like and linking them to the
trainings at the community colleges.
I think there is a big market of people like me that love children
at that age, that would have love to learn more about it and be-
come part of it. So, I think combining what we know with public,
private partnerships and then expanding this apprenticeship work
at Department of Labor that—that is one of the things I was really
trying to help focus on is raising awareness that this actually could
be part of that registered apprenticeship program.
Senator HICKENLOOPER. I think one of the things we are recog-
nizing is that there is a lack, a dire lack of counselors around the
country and it affects our workforce in a variety of ways, but that
is a very accurate one.
I wanted to make sure in full declaration, I come to this not ran-
domly, just I am the living proof that there is at least one miracle
left in each of us and I have a 16 month old son at home. So, I
think about how he learns and how he is going to learn, and who
do I trust, my wife works, when we are not there.
So, Ms. Cisneros, companies like Red Rooster Coffee and UPS, all
of them, I mean, a number of companies that report that childcare
support programs help boost staff retention. They attract working
parents.
That is why, I mean, we are almost to a third of businesses do
that. But as a small business owner, I know that many times small
businesses operate on very tight margins and don’t have, you might
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Are there ways we can encourage small businesses to pool their
resources maybe and jointly administer childcare programs for
their particular workforce?
[Technical problems].
Ms. CISNEROS. Definitely. There is also the part about workforce
supporting each other and directors in terms of shared services, so
that they are learning from one another. Many educators and the
directors come to the field with a lot of knowledge about child de-
velopment, but they don’t necessarily come with best business prac-
tices.
So, shared services is helpful not only from that point of view,
but also in terms of reducing some of those back office costs, such
as billing. So that is one potential strategy that can help illustrate
their support in the field among the childcare educators and direc-
tors.
Senator HICKENLOOPER. Got it. Great. Well, again, thank all of
you for taking time out. I know you are busier than anybody, and
you coming down here and spend your time is much appreciated.
I yield back to the chair.
Senator ERNST. Yes. Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper. And
thanks to all of our witnesses today. On behalf of Chair Shaheen
and I, thank you so much for joining us. A great, great discussion.
When I ran down to vote, obviously, Senator Rosen had followed
too, and again, she thought this was exactly the right discussion
to be having today. So, we really do appreciate it. So, I hope we
do remain in touch as we continue to work better to support the
childcare, small business owners providers, and families.
The record will remain open for two weeks for additional ques-
tions and statements. And with that, the committee will stand ad-
journed. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 3:44 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
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File and source
- File
- CHRG-118shrg56457.pdf
- Size
- 33,034,699 bytes
- SHA-256
- f8a672df95124f63abd177faf4700d8abc92dd341411cfb6644b31355cd19ff6
- Our copy
- CHRG-118shrg56457.pdf
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov