For every five children in Deschutes County, there’s only one available spot in an accredited child care business, according to a 2020 study from Oregon State University. For infants younger than two, there’s just one per 10. A county is considered to be a child care desert when fewer than 33% of children have access to child care, and Deschutes County, like almost every other county in Oregon, is below that benchmark.
NeighborImpact, an antipoverty nonprofit in Central Oregon, tracks available spots in child care and the estimated demand for spots. It found that there are 6,783 children enrolled in child care in Crook, Jefferson and Deschutes counties for students under 12 — and estimated there’s a demand for over 22,000 child care slots.
Why is child care so scarce?
COVID and subsequent worker shortages revealed just how costly a lack of child care is. In January 2020, just as many women were in the workforce as men. COVID erased that progress, and in just a year women worked at the lowest level since 1986. Governments tried to step up to support the industry. The federal government spent over $10,000 per child in 2021, up from $6,800 just two years prior. But that emergency COVID funding won’t last forever, and the federal government is expected to return to pre-pandemic funding norms by next year.
“I don’t know that we as a society have figured out the answer to [funding child care] yet. Because in order to pay a teacher a wage that’s worthy of the work they are doing, you have to charge the family a rate that is beyond what most can pay. How do you reconcile that?” said Karen Prow, director of child care resources at NeighborImpact. “A lot of times the conversation moves to subsidy, because there needs to be a subsidy to close that gap. What’s happened in the past is, who has subsidized child care is the child care owner, the teachers in the program, and as we move forward, and look to be able to adequately pay, that subsidy on the back of the provider and teacher goes away. So I think that we’re in a really uncomfortable place right now of figuring that out.”
The average cost for day care in Oregon is over $13,000 a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, more than the average tuition at a four-year public college. Oregon early childhood teachers are required to either gain an associate’s degree in early childhood education, development or special education, a Child Development Associate credential or work full time for a year in a group program for children. Oregon also dictates staffing ratios, mandating at least one teacher per three pupils for children under one year old and gradually allowing more students per teacher as kids age. Despite needing a college degree or training, the pay in early child care is low. A study by the University of California Berkley found the average child care worker in Oregon made $12.46 an hour in 2019, just a dollar and change above the minimum wage.
“It’s very difficult to attract a labor force to an industry that does not pay well yet asks for higher education and certification qualifications for you to even work in it. As an individual, you’re paying for a degree or certificate for a very low paying job. The only answer is to find a funding stream that can even out the costs and make this an industry that is stable long-term that people are attracted to it to work in,” said Katy Brooks, executive director of the Bend Chamber of Commerce.
The Bend Chamber started looking at how it could improve child care in Central Oregon about five years ago, after noticing a correlation between workforce loss and the availability of child care. It started a child care task force in 2018 and hired now-city councilor Megan Norris as a “child care accelerator” in 2019 to identify ways to address the lack of affordable child care. Norris left the job in April 2021 after COVID caused a lot of child care operations to shut down or scale back, and Brooks said the task force absorbed some of the job’s responsibilities. Beyond attracting staff to a low-paying industry, child care providers also face an uphill battle when building or renting sites. It’s competing with businesses that have a more sustainable business models, and often require remodeling to fit the needs of students.
“The problem with child care is, if you’re most likely looking at a commercially zoned space to put your child care business in, there’s been less than 3% vacancy of commercial space in the Bend area for years. So child care providers are competing with software companies and banks, and you name it,” Brooks said. “The tenant improvements that are required are pretty significant. So if you’re a person that has a space available, it’s just easier to go with something that’s more stable and doesn’t require you to revamp your entire facility to accommodate the users.”
Subsidizing child care
OSU-Cascades’ early childhood learning program Little Beavs sought to attract more people to child care, while also offering students and faculty child care services. It opened in the fall semester of 2020, when about half of the classes had an in-person option. About 120 OSU-Cascades students are parents, and since the program started 60 children have been enrolled in Little Beavs.
“The child care service gave student-parents the chance to attend classes in person and focus, knowing their children were in care, instead of attending remotely while also caring for young ones. The services also allowed faculty parents flexibility to teach in-person and gave staff parents who were required to work on campus peace of mind,” said Christine Coffin, director of communication at OSU-Cascades.
Little Beavs ties into OSU-Cascades’ early learning training programs. Students going into the field can get 40 hours of tuition paid for and make money working in the program. Still, OSU-Cascades said it’s tough to retain students in such a low-paying industry.
“In general, what we’re finding is that the child care field, even though a student may be very interested and attracted to that field, it’s challenging for them, because the field doesn’t pay well and there are other fields where they can earn higher salaries,” Coffin said.
In July 2021 OSU-Cascades and Central Oregon Community College got $1 million in federal funds and an additional $250,000 in federal grants to expand its program into Little Kits. Little Beavs is run out of three OSU-Cascades classrooms, but Little Kits would have its own dedicated child care center at both the OSU-Cascades campus and St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, but the details are still being worked out.
“St. Charles is looking to provide child care for its employees. And those conversations are still ongoing around a possible partnership opportunity there,” Coffin said. “At this point, we’ve moved focus to figuring out the sustainable operations of the center.”
Little Beavs struggles with some of the same issues other child care programs face. It costs slightly less than the average child care provider for staff and students, but even at the discounted rate it costs $1,200 for students under 2 to attend to daycare full time. There’s also quite a waitlist, and the program is booked through the 2023 school year.
NeighborImpact received funding to increase child care services from the state. Prow, NeighborImpact’s child care resources director, said there are more people approaching them wanting to start a child care business, but they often hit a wall when searching for a location. The nonprofit received over $8 million from the state to support new child care providers and expand existing ones.
“We’re providing financial support, but also educational support. So these private providers can learn best business practices in their program. Right now, we’re trying to get 1,400 more child care slots in Central Oregon through this grant,” said Hannah Kuehl, NeighborImpact’s associate director of grants management.
The program offers seed money to get started, but also advises businesses on sustainable funding models — which often relies on accepting state and federal funding. Prow said people starting a child care business often charge industry standard rates, without considering additional funding sources.
“They don’t give enough consideration to the fact that that might not cover their cost. And then they start digging into their savings. And they start really being that one who subsidizes the business, and then they close,” Prow said.
Though some COVID-era funding is set to expire, legislators are still attentive on the issue. The Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 599 requiring housing providers to allow child care services in rental homes. Jason Kropf (D-Bend) introduced a bill that would sponsor early learning programs that increase childhood literacy. Federally, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act to distribute grants to providers in child care deserts.
“By increasing workforce training and retention efforts and expanding and building more child care facilities, this bill will help ensure more parents can find the quality child care they need at a price they can afford,” Merkley said in a press release.
Despite the immense challenge of starting a child care business, Prow said Central Oregon is tackling of the crisis differently than other affected communities. She said different individuals and organizations have combined forces to support early learning.
“I think Central Oregon has done a great job of coming together as a community to solve this crisis. We have a long ways to go. We have business owners and elected officials, city planners, we have people coming to the table, engaging in conversations to find solutions,” Prow said. “It did not seem like that is happening around the nation. That feels really unique and hopeful to me that we are going to be able to support all these new providers looking for space, looking for ways to open their business. I think we have something here in our community that’s not replicated across the country.”
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This article appears in Source Weekly March 9, 2023.
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Child care is almost non existent here and if you do find an opening, you’re basically working to pay just for child care for most folks. My daughter was lucky enough to find a job as a Case Mgr from home and juggle that with the 2 yr old. But I truly feel for those struggling in this area. Ive often thought our family rental property would make a great childcare facility but with all the work and money it would take to get it going would greatly outweigh the profit. *Sigh.