Businesses lose money when they can’t find staff and when their employees don’t show up to work. Parents’ inability to access and afford reliable, quality child care contributes to the statewide labor shortage, particularly in female-dominated jobs in health care, education, human services, and hospitality. We are urging Governor McKee to strongly consider including two proposals in his FY 2026 budget proposal to stabilize and strengthen access to child care. Both proposals have widespread national and state support, minimal budget impact, and would significantly help families with young children.
Below are two opportunities to sign petitions in support of these priorities (use your home voting address in Rhode Island). We will close the petition on Friday, November 1st.
1. Make the Child Care for Child Care Educators Program Permanent!
An effective strategy to recruit and retain early educators statewide, the Rhode Island Child Care for Child Care Educators program began in August 2023 and covers the cost of child care for qualifying staff who work in child care programs. Nearly half of the licensed child care and early learning centers in the state have at least one staff person participating. Rhode Island has been a pioneering state in adopting this strategy, which is expanding across the country. Recommended by the federal government and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Rhode Island has received positive attention at both the national level and local level for this successful program.
Click here to sign the petition!
2. Remove a Regressive Requirement from the Child Care Assistance Program!
Rhode Island state law requires that applicants participate in Child Support Enforcement as an eligibility requirement for Child Care Assistance. We should trust moms to make the decision about whether to pursue child support. Participation in Child Support Enforcement is not required to qualify for any other early care and education programs. Most states never had this requirement in place, and almost all of those that did have removed it. There are only 9 states that currently impose this regressive requirement – Connecticut stopped in 2006, New York stopped in 2009, and Mississippi stopped in 2023. National experts strongly recommend that states that have this requirement in place remove it, stating “there is no evidence to suggest that child support enforcement in child care subsidy processes helps families gain access to additional funds to improve their financial security.”
