By Darlene Lombos
Families in Chelsea are facing significant challenges in finding child care that works. Today’s working parents require child care for early morning shifts, but too often can’t find affordable options or centers that will accept their state child care voucher. As a result, many are compelled to turn to family members or trusted friends. However, the state pays these essential providers subminimum wages, averaging $5.30 per hour. While relatives and close friends are eager to provide this care, they can’t do so and make ends meet with a subminimum wage. Chelsea needs child care solutions that address the needs of working families.
Chelsea is fortunate to have city councilors and city council candidates who recognize and prioritize working families. Individuals such as Roberto Jimenez-Rivera, Kelly Garcia, Melinda Vega, Norieliz De Jesus, Tainari Garcia, and Calvin Brown understand the importance of child care, good jobs, and fair wages. Their dedication to these values will directly benefit the families of Chelsea, and their support for critical statewide initiatives, like the passage of H.456, An Act to expand access to family, friend and neighbor-provided childcare, in the state legislature is essential to supporting working families in accessing the child care they require.
Statewide, over 20,000 low-income children are on the waitlist for child care financial assistance vouchers. In Chelsea, as many parents can attest, families who have a voucher are often unable to find care because they work late nights or early morning shifts, can’t find a provider that speaks their language, or don’t have access to reliable transportation. Others are faced with long waitlists for care at child care centers.
In Chelsea and throughout Massachusetts, parents often rely on family members, friends, and neighbors to care for their children. These are the people who know our children, our language, and our food. They are the ones we trust the most, but parents know it can be a struggle to find and pay for people to watch our kids. What many people don’t know is that our family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care providers can be paid by the State of Massachusetts, just like licensed child care providers. They can register with the state and receive funds through the parent’s voucher.
Child care voucher support is fundamental to many families. However, the current system leaves some providers with unacceptably low wages and lacks the flexibility necessary for parents to meet their child care needs. Right now, the state pays FFN providers between $9.76 to $23.06 per child per day – that works out to an average of only $5.30 per hour. And when families need FFN child care in combination with a formal program, the voucher is not always flexible enough to pay both.
Luckily, we have leaders at the city and state levels who are working to make a difference.
H.456, currently being considered in the state legislature, would increase child care options for working parents and unlock immediate support for Chelsea families. The legislation would increase wages for FFN providers to at least the state minimum wage—currently $15 per hour—meaning providers would not have to choose between caring for their grandchildren or finding work to make ends meet. For parents, this change opens access to a greater pool of trusted providers willing to accept their child care voucher, as more family and friends will be economically enabled to care for children instead of seeking alternative employment.
H.456 also aims to eliminate unnecessary restrictions on child care vouchers for parents who need multiple providers in a single day. Under the current law, parents are granted ten voucher hours a day, but if they use over six hours with one provider, they are unable to use their remaining hours with another provider. This restricts parents who need an FFN caregiver before or after a formal child care program is open. The bill would allow parents to split their whole ten-hour allotment in a way that works for the providers they need.
The Greater Boston Labor Council, dedicated to improving the lives of working families across 24 communities in the greater Boston area, endorses Roberto Jimenez-Rivera, Kelly Garcia, Melinda Vega, Norieliz De Jesus, Tainari Garcia, and Calvin Brown in their city council races. These leaders will champion workers rights and advocate for working family issues in Chelsea. Now, more than ever, we need elected officials who are committed to fighting for economic equity and worker rights in the halls of power. These candidates understand the need for expanded child care access to support our hardworking families.
At the state level, it is imperative that we pass H.456. Labor and community groups in Chelsea and across the state recognize the importance of family, friend, and neighbor child care for working families. This legislation would expand child care options for low-income parents and eliminate subminimum wages for child care providers. It is desperately needed amid our state’s child care shortage and is a missing piece of the child care puzzle.
Darlene Lombos, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Greater Boston Labor Council