Low-income working families may be eligible for financial help with child care costs.
On August 1st, the Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) Program, a state program that helps parents afford child care, will be taking applications! ERDC, which has had a waiting list in place since January 4, 2016, enables qualifying families to receive financial help affording child care.
There are limited spaces — so even if you aren’t sure if you qualify — you should APPLY NOW!
What is ERDC? ERDC is a child care assistance program run by the State of Oregon that helps low-income, working families whose income is less than 185% of the Federal Poverty Level ($40,800 annually for a family of four) pay for child care so they can work. Families are responsible for paying a portion of their child care expenses through a co-pay that is determined based on the size of family and their income, the state pays the rest of the cost directly to the child care provider. These providers need to be registered with the state, but can be a center, an in-home provider, or a friend or family member.
Unfortunately, the program is limited due to budget constraints and qualifying families are often placed on a “wait list.” The good news is that this “wait list” is being deactivated on August 1st and families can begin enrollment in the program, even if they weren’t previously on the waitlist. The program will only be accepting new enrollees for a limited time. The program will only reopen again as more slots become available.
Find out if you qualify and APPLY: http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/
Experiencing unaffordable child care, but don’t qualify for ERDC?
Family Forward Oregon has been working to increase state investments in the ERDC program and we will be making a big push in 2017 for an expansion to the program, including other investments in making child care more affordable for more families. It is no surprise to any working parent that child care is far too expensive and unaffordable for too many Oregonians – jeopardizing the family’s economic security or ability to choose high-quality care.
ERDC works well for the limited number of families it is able to serve, but it isn’t able to serve enough families at current funding levels. We think it’s important to fund all families who are currently eligible and permanently eliminate the wait list; currently fewer than 20% of eligible families are served through the program. We also think it’s important to expand the program so that more families are eligible for the subsidy.
Right now, only low-income families qualify for the program, but middle income families are also struggling with high child care costs. Child care can cost nearly twice as much as college tuition at Oregon’s public universities (but without the 18 or so years to save up!): Median toddler care in Oregon costs $11,064 a year as compared to $6,679 on average for annual college tuition. At the same time, people who work in child care earn low wages and often receive inadequate benefits. As a state we need to make a substantial investment in child care programs like ERDC both for families with child care needs and the providers who care for our children.