The pilot program would provide county workers up to three paid days off for emergency child care and help fund improvements for daycare centers
A new county blueprint focuses on supporting the workforce, expanding facilities and increasing overall access“As a working mom, I experience every single day how difficult it is to find quality child care, how inaccessible it is and how absolutely fundamental it is,” Lawson-Remer said.
The new proposal comes as states are expected to face a steep decline in federal child-care investment starting Sept. 30. Now, with the last of the federal funds expiring, an estimated 70,000 child-care programs — about one in three — could close. Some 3.2 million children could lose care nationwide, according to aAlready, the county estimates that 77 percent of parents struggle to find caregivers for their children, Lawson-Remer said. Many licensed providers have lengthy wait lists, and large swaths of the county are child-care deserts, with space for only a fraction of the young children who need them.
“If your kid is sick or something happens, [county] employees who might need emergency child-care support will have a couple paid days off,” Lawson-Remer explained.