Families across the Coachella Valley know it can be a real challenge to find quality, affordable childcare. The process can often be difficult and expensive, as demand far outstrips supply. Take Kimberlee Nelson, from North Indio, who is raising her 4-year-old grandson, Jordan. At 46, she’s raised 6 kids of her own; the youngest is now 16. She and her husband both work full-time, so she needed to find childcare. After more than a year on a waiting list, she finally found a place for him – at a childcare center in Palm Desert, where she paid $1000 a month. Later she switched to a home daycare at the top of the La Quinta Cove that costs the same amount. It’s 20 minutes away from her home, but she says she’s willing to make the drive because the hours are more flexible, and Jordan gets more personal attention. “It’s a real challenge because there really aren’t a lot of facilities and the ones that there are, are full, and a lot of the home care facilities have over a year waiting lists. The valley needs more,” says Nelson.
The Scope Of The Problem
Nelson’s experience is common – and the problem is widespread across the county and the state.
According to Kidsdata.org, in Riverside County the average day care costs $12,930 a year for an infant, and $8,240 for a preschooler. And there are childcare slots available for just 18 percent of children – so 82 percent of families are left to fend for themselves. The total number of childcare slots in the county, including childcare centers and in-home day cares, is 45,418, far fewer than the total number of children under age 5.
We checked around to get a sampling of what daycare and after-school care costs around the Coachella Valley. Just as an example, the Learning Tree in Palm Desert charges $745 per month for full-day care with lunch. Before and after-school care for kids in elementary school costs $750 a month, less if the child only attends after school.
First School is a family-owned day care with a capacity of 300 kids in four locations: Palm Springs, Cathedral City, La Quinta and Palm Desert. The program is for kids 2-5 years old, and costs between $715 and $765 a month (depending on the location) for full-time care five days a week, not including lunch. They also offer 2-day ($480/month) and 3-day options ($580/month) but do not offer infant care. The Palm Springs and La Quinta locations offer care for toddlers 18-24 months old.
Many people opt for in-home day care, especially for infants, however many are full and have waiting lists. This type of care is more affordable than larger preschools, but the caregivers often have little formal education in early childhood development. Kidsdata.org estimates that the average in-home day care will charge $8,817 per year for an infant and $7,752 for a preschooler. Jill Johnson, a coordinator with the Early Care and Education Department of the Riverside County Office of Education, says “We see families struggling to find a place to put their infants and toddlers when they are going back to work because there is such a shortage of providers.” Many families choose to have one parent stay home, and just make due with less income, because the cost of childcare can rival what the parent might make in the workforce.
The problem is even worse statewide. In California, childcare is often more expensive than rent, and exceeds in-state tuition for a 4-year public college. According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant care in California is $16,945, or $1,412 per month. Childcare for a 4-year-old costs $11,475, or $956 each month. California is ranked 3rd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for most expensive infant care.
The good news is, there are some programs to lighten the load, especially for very low-income families.
Families whose income meets federal poverty guidelines are eligible for free preschool for kids ages 2-5 via the Head Start program, which is federally funded. Early Head Start provides services for pregnant mothers, infant and toddlers who qualify under the 2019 Federal Poverty Guidelines. The federal poverty line is currently $12,490 per year for a single person, $16,910 for a 2-person family, $21,330 for a 3-person family, and $25,750 for a family of four.
All three local school districts (Coachella Valley, Desert Sands and Palm Springs Unified School Districts) operate Head Start sites. Some of the programs are full-time and some are part-time, 3 ½ hours per day. You can sign up for them via the Riverside County Department of Social Services, which has offices in Coachella, Indio, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs.
Parents should also know that the state and county run several programs for low-income families, where the income limits are significantly higher. They are based on the state median income (SMI) and require that a person’s income be 70 percent of the SMI to enroll, and then after a period of time the family can make up to 85 percent of the SMI to re-enroll on an ongoing basis. That means a single parent can enroll a child if the parent makes $50,077 a year (4,173 a month) or less. And when they are recertified they can make up to $60,808 ($5,067 per month) and still qualify for subsidies. For more information on the income ceilings, go to https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb1803.asp.
There are several state and county-funded programs that use the SMI formula to determine eligibility. The Riverside County Office of Education’s Early Care and Education department maintains an eligibility waiting list for multiple programs that can help low-income families afford child care. Almost five thousand children in Riverside County take part in one of three programs: the Alternative Payment Program, CalWorks Stage 2 and 3, or the Riverside Hybrid Alternative Payment Program. The waiting list at the County Department of Education puts low-income families in line to benefit from a range of programs – and if funding becomes available the family can select an approved provider and a portion of all their childcare assistance will be paid on a sliding scale.
Nelson says that as a non-custodial grandparent, her grandson qualifies for CalWorks, even though she herself does not qualify as low-income. He qualifies for a subsidy of just under $400 a month, and Nelson and her husband make up the rest. Nelson says, “I don’t know how the average single parent or even a household of two that are working minimum wage jobs can afford childcare, even with a subsidy. Because it’s rough. If mom or dad are at the poverty level, they will help pay for child care, but it’s a long process; it takes several months.”
One thing parents do not have to worry about: immigration status. Johnson adds that for “Alternative payment, state preschools, or center-based care we do not ask for immigration status. It is not a part of assessing their need and eligibility. So, a family’s immigration status does not matter at all, and they can access those services.”
Another option to consider is the California State Preschool program, which is free and serves 3 and 4 year olds. The following agencies offer CSPP: PSUSD, CVUSD, DSUSD, College of the Desert, Escuela de La Rasa Unida, Family YMCA of the Desert, and Martha’s Village and Kitchen. The Renu Hope Foundation has sites in Palm Springs and North Shore. The Riverside County Office of Education has a class of 17 kids as well. Parents can apply for this via the Riverside County Office of Education.
Transitional Kindergarten and After School Care
By law, parents have to enroll children in school starting in the first grade. However, all California schools now offer transitional kindergarten for some four year-olds. Contact your local district for more information.
There are subsidized options for after-school care as well. The state spends $550 million dollars a year to fund the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program which was created after voters passed a ballot initiative, Proposition 49, in 2002. All three local school districts offer an ASES program for low-income families, who can sign up via the district.
The YMCA of the Desert, Desert Recreation District, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Coachella Valley offer after school programs as well. Private businesses like The Homework Club are also an option.
How To Choose A Child Care Facility
Families looking for licensed childcare facilities can check the Quality Start Riverside County program’s website, http://www.qualitystartrc.org/find-a-program/ or call them at 800-442-4927. It is a joint initiative with the Riverside County Office of Education and First Five Riverside. The Quality Start list contains providers that have been evaluated on a range of metrics: child observation, health and child development, teacher and director training and education, positive teacher-child interactions, teacher-child ratio, and the learning environment. Each provider is rated from one to five stars. The site lays out the options and helps parents evaluate each program. The RCOE’s Early Education Unit also has a referral tool here: https://secureweb.rcoe.us/ONLINEREF/
The agency also has a list of tips on what parents can look for to determine quality, which is based on the Quality Start metrics mentioned above. That tip sheet can be found at: http://www.qualitystartrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/QSRC_Parent-Checklist-FINAL-ENG-digital.pdf
Quality Start rated providers are subject to ongoing monitoring. Jill Johnson, a coordinator with early care and education at the Riverside County Office of Education, says “Quality Start works closely with community care licensing, which visits the sites randomly, making sure they are following the basic health and safety rules for childcare.” In addition, staff with Quality Start help providers raise their quality and get additional training, technical assistance and coaching to improve their ratings.
Oliver’s Law, which took effect in 2000, requires that licensing information on childcare agencies be made available to the public. To check on a particular day care facility, you can call Community Care Licensing at 1-844-538-8766 or go to their website: ccld.ca.gov
Parents can also find out the status of any given child care agency’s license by going to the website of the California Department of Social Services: https://secure.dss.ca.gov/CareFacilitySearch/Search/ChildCare. Type in the facility’s name and it will tell you about the most recent inspections and the types of citations or complaints against it.
The website Child Care Aware (https://www.childcareaware.org/state/california/) has many links and resources to help families find child care and evaluate their options. A site called Trustline (https://rrnetwork.org/family-services/background-checks) offers background checks for babysitters and nannies who do in-home care and do not need a childcare license.
Why Is Child Care So Expensive in the U.S.?
Much research has been done on how to increase the number of day care facilities to meet the demand. The shortage of providers can be blamed on the nature of the job – childcare workers often work very long hours at low wages. In-home providers may not have health insurance, vacation days or paid time off. Johnson notes that “The salary that those working in the field are going isn’t much at all. They don’t make much more than minimum wage. They even qualify for the programs that they’re working in, some of them.” She adds that infant and toddler care centers, in particular, are very expensive to run. “If you are running a home care you can only have so many infants and toddlers in your program. So, there is a big gap in need for that.”
Dorothy Hastings, owner of First Schools in the Desert, says there is a thin profit margin in the childcare business and in order to pay their employees more, they’d have to raise prices further. When the state raised the minimum wage, many businesses had to raise prices, including daycares. She says, “It’s been a real transition. It’s tough paying high wages in our business because then where do you pass on the costs? The clientele just doesn’t have the money.”
In many other developed countries, taxes are higher, and the government uses that money to heavily subsidize childcare by running a large network of daycare centers. They can attract workers because the positions are salaried and everyone can access the state-run healthcare system. Income limits are high enough so that low and middle-income parents can afford to go to work without handing over a big chunk of their paycheck to cover childcare.
