Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/13/2023 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Child Care Overview in Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
[Contains discussion of HB 46.]
3:17:33 PM
CHAIR SUMNER announced that the only order of business would be
an overview on child care in Alaska.
3:18:11 PM
DAN BEUTEL, representing self, provided invited testimony on
child care in Alaska. He shared that he had to leave his job
the previous year because of the inability to find child care
for his three children. He stated that the cost of child care
outweighed the benefit of having a second income for his family.
He expressed the opinion that child care workers should be paid
more for the work they do.
3:22:48 PM
STEPHANIE BERGLUND, CEO, thread Alaska, gave a PowerPoint
presentation, titled "Child Care- Then, Now, Next," [hard copy
included in the committee packet].
3:23:18 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:23 p.m. to 3:25 p.m.
3:25:35 PM
MS. BERGLUND, moving to slide 2, stated that the goal of thread
Alaska is to promote child care and early childhood education.
On slide 3, she outlined the services provided by thread Alaska,
including child care referrals, training early child care
educators, and providing child care advocacy and research. She
moved to slide 5 and slide 6 and gave an overview of child care
access in the state. She said that one out of five working
families are inhibited from fully participating in the workforce
because of issues finding child care, and 61 percent of Alaskans
are "in crisis" when it comes to access. She explained that
this statistic uses the metrics of fifty children who are five
years of age or older with no providers or when the ratio of
children in need of child care to child care providers is three
to one.
MS. BERGLUND moved on to slide 7 and outlined the issues with
child care affordability. She stated that the average family
spends 17 percent of its yearly income, and for families with
two or more children, the cost is often greater than the cost of
housing. She stated that child care in Alaska is more expensive
than in-state college tuition. Continuing to slide 8, she
stated that child care workers are some of the lowest paid
workers in the state. She expressed the understanding that,
although child care providers would like to pay higher wages,
they cannot, as the cost would be "pushed" to parents, and this
would make child care unaffordable. She added that reduced
working hours during the COVID-19 pandemic caused child care to
become even more unaffordable for some families.
3:30:46 PM
MS. BERGLUND moved to slide 11 and slide 12 and gave a brief
overview of the issues currently facing the child care sector.
In part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, a fifth of
Alaskan child care centers have permanently closed and 90
percent of those operating are doing so below capacity. She
added that low wages are contributing to burnout among
employees, furthering the staffing shortages centers are already
facing. She argued that the lack of sufficient child care is a
contributing factor to the slowing economic growth across the
state, as 77 percent of parents across the U.S. reported missing
work because of this issue; 36 percent have postponed higher
education or training; and 7 percent of families have had a
parent leave a job to stay home and care for the children.
MS. BERGLUND continued to slide 13 and said that over $50
million in grants have been distributed to child care providers
for the purpose of helping centers remain open. She added that
the federal aid for child care centers is nearing its sunset
date; therefore, challenges faced by providers will continue to
grow. She offered her opinion that public funding for child
care is necessary to reduce outmigration from the state.
3:35:20 PM
MS. BERGLUND continued to slide 15 and slide 16 and stated that
only one-third of children are considered to be ready for
kindergarten, and child care is playing a role in this. She
expressed the opinion that there is "a lack of respect" for
child care employees, and this underestimates their role in
preparing children to succeed in school. She added that only
one in six members of the state's workforce are able to
participate because of access to child care.
3:39:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS commented that North Dakota is pursuing
wage increases for child care workers to compensate for
increased training. He suggested that Alaska should consider
this model.
3:40:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER questioned the "ideal" situation for the
child care sector, and he questioned whether the state has had
such a situation in the past.
MS. BERGLUND answered that in her 16 years working at thread
Alaska she has not met a family who has found "accessible,
affordable care that meets their needs." She stated that access
to affordable child care has been a challenge for decades across
the U.S. In response to a follow-up question, she suggested
that there are other places to look to for inspiration when it
comes to achieving accessible and affordable child care.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked Ms. Berglund who she believes
should pay for child care.
MS. BERGLUND expressed that thread Alaska believes it is the
responsibility of everyone. Parents have the greatest
responsibility for the cost currently, but thread Alaska is
looking to businesses and the government to help reduce the cost
to parents. In response to a follow-up question, she defined
"all of us" to mean all of the people of Alaska.
3:44:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK noted that the federal government
contributes $84 million towards child care in Alaska, while the
state contributes $36 million. She asked whether there were
other states where those two figures were closer.
MS. BERGLUND answered that Alaska contributes relatively less
than most other states.
3:45:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX questioned the investment the state would
need to make in order to "close the gap."
MS. BERGLUND answered that $30 million would be needed to solve
the problem in the short term.
3:46:38 PM
ELIZABETH SCHULTZ, Community Relations Manager, Help Me Grow
Alaska, co-presented the PowerPoint on Help Me Grow Alaska [hard
copy included in the committee packet]. She stated that Help Me
Grow Alaska is the call center part of the All Alaska Pediatric
Partnership. She stated that the organization talks to families
around the state about challenges they face when it comes to
accessing child care. On slide 2, she stated that families are
facing difficulties balancing the demands of jobs while caring
for children.
3:49:03 PM
MARCY ASH, Community Relations Coordinator, Help Me Grow Alaska,
co-presented the PowerPoint on Help Me Grow Alaska. She moved
to slide 3 and addressed the difficulty military families have
finding child care. She said that many military families are
single-parent or dual-income families, with the second parent
working outside of the home or also being a member of the
military. Both child care facilities on Joint Base Elmendorf
Richardson have waiting lists long enough to cause military
families to look for off-base child care facilities. She stated
that Alaska is considered by the military to be an overseas
assignment, and for military families to receive a permanent
change of station (PCS), the service providers for their
dependents must be screened by the Exceptional Family Member
Program, and this is to ensure the new station will be able to
provide for the needs of the dependent. If a sudden change in
availability for care occurs, some families may be unable "to
PCS" to the state of Alaska, or they may have to be reassigned
away from Alaska. She added that the Valdez Coast Guard base is
at risk of losing its "family friendly" designation because of
the lack of child care options in the community.
MS. ASH continued to slide 4 and stated that for military
families with a child with asthma, going to Fairbanks is a
challenge because of the lack of access to pulmonary treatment.
If a family must travel to Anchorage to see a specialist, it is
not considered to be available care. She said that it is also
difficult to recruit doctors in the state because doctors also
have issues with finding child care.
3:55:04 PM
MS. SCHULTZ moved to slide 6 and suggested that the legislature
take these three steps to mitigate the problem of the lack of
child care access in the state: use the data provided by Help Me
Grow Alaska regarding the needs of children and families;
establish a legislative child care policy workgroup; and provide
additional funding for the Head Start and Early Head Start
programs.
3:58:24 PM
DEB ETHERIDGE, Director, Division of Public Assistance,
Department of Health (DOH), gave a PowerPoint presentation
titled "Child Care Program Overview" [hard copy included in the
committee packet]. On slide 2, she stated that the Child Care
Program Office's mission is to support families looking to
access child care. She continued to slide 3 and gave an
overview of the Child Care Development Fund. She stated that
the fund is authorized through the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act and administered by the Child Care Program
Office. The purpose of the fund is to promote healthy child
development and school success, support working parents and
parents who are continuing their education, help low-income
families pay for child care, and provide support to the child
care system.
MS. ETHERIDGE continued to slide 4 and slide 5, presenting the
structure of the Child Care Program Office. The office provides
licensing for child care providers, administers subsidy
programs, and works to improve the quality and capacity of
Alaska's child care programs.
4:01:51 PM
MS. ETHERIDGE, in response to Representative Saddler, stated
that this is funded by a block grant provided to the state by
the federal government.
4:02:38 PM
CHRISTINA HULQUIST, Public Assistance Programs Officer, Alaska
Department of Education and Early Development, added that the
amount the fund received for fiscal year 2023 was $22 million.
She explained that the amount of money granted by the federal
government has a match requirement by the state. She said that
70 percent of the grant must be used to subsidize the cost of
child care for low-income families.
4:03:28 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS commented that the Childcare Development
Fund is not something that exists in Alaska; instead, a plan is
submitted to the federal government detailing how the state will
use the federal grants.
4:03:53 PM
MS. ETHERIDGE continued to slide 6 and slide 7 and gave an
overview of child care licensing. She stated that DOH issues
licenses for three types of child care providers: home
providers, which is a single child care provider who cares for
up to eight children in a home; a child care group home, which
requires two providers and can care for up to 12 children; and a
child care center which cares for 13 or more children and
requires a qualified administrator and a caretaker for every 30
children enrolled in the center. She said that the two
exceptions to needing a license for child care while benefitting
from the Childcare Assistance Program are relatives and in-home
providers. She gave the example of a grandparent caring for a
grandchild and a provider who goes into the children's home,
both of which would still be required to meet the standards of
the Childcare Assistance Program to benefit.
MS. ETHERIDGE moved to slide 8 and gave an overview of the
eligibility for the subsidies and benefits of the Childcare
Assistance Program. She stated that there are 2,832 children in
Alaska enrolled in child care services, and these children are
spread between 379 licensed providers and 9 approved providers.
She said that the grants cover the subsidies for eligible
families, providers who accept subsidized children, and
providers who care for children with special needs.
4:07:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER expressed confusion that there are only 9
approved providers. He asked for clarification of the
difference between the approved and licensed providers.
MS. ETHERIDGE answered that an approved provider is an in-home
provider who is eligible for the Childcare Assistance Program
but covered by the exceptions for family and in-home providers.
These providers are required to meet standards which are
different than licensed providers.
4:09:40 PM
MS. ETHERIDGE continued with slide 8 and stated that child care
providers have multiple ways to use the grant for the purposes
of improving programs. She said that the Alaska Inclusive Child
Care Program provides grants to child care providers who care
for children with special needs. She moved to slide 9 and
stated that DOH has a goal of improving the quality and capacity
of child care programs in the state. This is done through
promoting childhood development, supporting parents who are
working or continuing education, supporting child care employee
training and professional development, and increasing education
to the public on the subject.
4:13:10 PM
MS. ETHERIDGE, in response to a question from Representative
Prax, stated that the numbers of providers does include those
not accepting subsidized children. In response to a follow-up
question, she said the number does not include providers who
cared for four or less children, as those providers do not
require licensure.
MS. HULQUIST added that the state does not have a way of knowing
the number of children being cared for by providers who do not
require licensure.
4:15:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK asked if the state currently has an early
childhood strategic plan, and if so, who puts the plan together.
MS. ETHERIDGE answered that there is a comprehensive plan in
place for early childhood care.
MS. HULQUIST added that private and public stakeholders across
the state participated in putting the plan together, including
state government agencies, parents, and child care providers.
4:16:39 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Committee of Labor and Commerce meeting was adjourned at 4:16
p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DOH DPA CCPO Overview 02.13.23.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| Legislative Testimony Feb 13 SB.pptx |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| HB 46 Letter of Support.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
HB 46 |
| A2P2 HMG-AK ECN Testimony on Child Care Needs.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| HMG-AK Program Director Testimony.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| House L&C Hearing FEB 13 - Read-Only.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| AK Childcare Fact Sheet 3.0.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| L&C February 13 Klouda.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
|
| HB 46 Supporting Document - UA Center for Economic Development Nolan Klouda.pdf |
HL&C 2/13/2023 3:15:00 PM |
HB 46 |