Education Lab Reporting Fellow
About one in five Texas families surveyed struggled with child care disruptions between August and March, according to U.S. census data.
Child care provider closures, high costs, a lack of options and safety concerns were among the reasons families could not put their children in daycare, according to the census’ survey of households with young children.
The numbers echo the findings of early education and child care advocates in the state who stress that children’s future success can be determined by their development during the first five years of their life.
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However, Texas is falling short in setting children up for success ahead of kindergarten, according to new school readiness data.
Access to health coverage or high-quality child care, food insecurity rates and family interactions play a key role in how well children do when they start school, advocates say.
“If toddlers are going to bed hungry, missing out on checkups with the doctor or sitting in front of the TV all day because their parents can’t find quality child care while they work, then we know those kids are more likely to struggle,” Texans Care for Children spokesperson Peter Clark said.
Today, the statewide nonprofit advocacy group released updates to its dashboard that dives into how well Texas supports youngsters during their first five years.
More than eight in ten Texas children younger than 6 from low-income families live in child care deserts, according to the dashboard. Areas are flagged as such when there aren’t enough providers to meet the needs of working parents.
Paying for child care can be just as expensive, if not more, than a college degree at Texas’ public colleges and universities, said Kim Kofron, senior director of education for the Houston-based nonprofit Children at Risk.
The median yearly price for infant, center-based child care was about $11,033 in Dallas County last year, or about 14.6% of the median family income, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau estimates.
Costs can be reach $18,000 or more annually for infant care, depending on locations, Kofron added.
Providers in larger cities face higher rent or must offer competitive wages to its educators, so the cost to keep doors open often trickles onto tuition.
Those who are eligible for financial assistance remain on long waiting lists.
Texas has more than 90,000 on waiting lists for child care tuition assistance, said Cody Summerville, the executive director at Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.
“Many other states are investing state dollars into child care, and Texas is choosing to invest the minimum amount required by the federal government,” Summerville said. “That’s leaving children and families in a really tough place.”
Across the country, Texas has one of the highest rates for uninsured young children, with nearly 200,000 of those younger than 6 going without health insurance, according to census data. It also ranks 50th for the percentage of children in the same age range whose parents read to them every day.
Clark said his group’s dashboard highlights the importance of parents’ role in ensuring they are setting their children up for success but also recognizes lawmakers’ responsibility to support Texas families.
“If the Legislature wants students to be strong readers by third grade, succeed in high school and go to college, then addressing the first five years of a child’s life needs to be part of the state’s strategy,” Clark said.
Last year, lawmakers extended Medicaid postpartum health coverage for moms, approved an additional $63 million for early childhood intervention services for toddlers with disabilities and advanced a $65 million increase in child abuse and neglect prevention programs.
But more must be done, say advocates who are ramping up momentum ahead of next year’s legislative session.
Texans Care for Children, for example, wants lawmakers to advance policies that would establish a pool of state funding to help offset child care providers’ costs, including educator wages, and to find ways to fill the gaps in child care deserts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.