by Candice R. Williams, MEd, MSSE, Executive Director at For All Families Oregon
Oregon Capital Chronicle
February 27, 2026
As we close out Black History Month, we must remember what this commemorative month asks of us as a community: Honor those who fought for racial and economic justice. But history isn’t just about the past — it’s about the systems that continue to marginalize communities today.
Oregon faces a child care crisis and we must be clear about who bears its brunt. Nationally, the child care workforce is 95% women.
Black, brown, and melanated women are disproportionately represented in this essential, underpaid labor that allows every other sector of our economy to function. Immigrants make up at least 21% of our child care workforce, and roughly one in four providers rely on Medicaid for health insurance. None of this is coincidence. This is history repeating itself.
Caregiving has always been devalued work. When work is devalued and workers are marginalized, it becomes easy for politicians to strip away funding. It becomes easy to say “we can’t afford it” when the “it” is the livelihood of Black and brown women.
When you cut child care funding, you’re not just cutting programs. You’re cutting the economic stability of our communities and pathways out of poverty for families of color. You’re replicating the same systems of exclusion that Black History Month asks us to dismantle.
During the 2026 legislative session, we made three specific, achievable demands:
- Restore the $20 million in unspent dollars from the Early Learning Account to fund early childhood programs. The money exists, it simply needs to be redirected to serve the children it was meant to help.
- Retain the $78 million of federal Child Care Development Fund dollars to fill the ERDC deficit. With thousands of families on waitlists, we cannot afford to lose this critical funding.
- Stop making cuts to DELC. Do not balance the budget on the backs of Black and brown caregivers. Proposed cuts of even 2.5% would mean $30 million slashed from programs that serve our most vulnerable families.
Oregon ranks as the 10th most expensive state for child care, with preschool costs averaging $14,000 annually and infant care nearing $20,000. For working families, this isn’t just expensive; it’s prohibitive and exclusionary.
This Black History Month, we have a choice. We can celebrate the icons of the past while perpetuating the inequities of the present, or we can honor their legacy by fighting for justice right here, right now. When we invest in child care, we fund justice. We fund the future that Black History Month asks us to imagine and build.
Access to child care has a direct impact on Oregon’s economy. When parents know they have safe, consistent care for their children, they can work and contribute to our state’s prosperity. Child care is one of the biggest expenses families face, yet we treat it as optional rather than essential infrastructure.
The civil rights leaders we honor this month understood that economic justice and racial justice are inseparable. They fought for systems that lifted entire communities, not just individuals. Today, that same fight continues in Salem, where lawmakers must decide whether child care deserves investment or austerity.
I’m grateful to be in this work alongside parents, providers, and advocates across Oregon who understand that child care is civil rights work. The question now is whether our legislature will join us.
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