Like a lot of things, this started small and turned into a huge snowball rolling downhill.
State Rep. Greg Smith, R, Heppner, wanted to sample his constituents’ feelings about child care using his Facebook page.
“I was just asking folks, tell us how child care is impacting you, what does it cost and how does it work,” Smith said, “and it’s interesting, the many messages I got on my Facebook page. I also received private messages from folks who didn’t want to share publicly.”
Smith said the most noteworthy response was that child care is “horribly expensive.”
“Secondly, there are not enough available slots to accommodate working families,” he said. “The thing that really came out for those who are making minimum wage, or just above it, if they have two children who need child care, it’s easier for them and more economical to stay at home than it is to go to work and pay child care.”
Smith said he raised five children at home but had not used child care in about 15 years and needed a refresher course from his constituents.
“Right now the state maximum for childcare is like $763 a month,” Smith said. “If you have $763 times two kids, you’re hitting close to $1,600 a month. By the time you pay rent, and if you’re making minimum wage, there’s no way you can afford it. So one of the things I want is try to figure out, is how to bring resolution to the scarcity of getting care workers because scarcity drives up price.”
Not all providers need help
Some daytime child care operators design their facilities without the need to hire additional help. Amber Rittenbach and her husband operate Playtime Education in Pendleton by themselves and have no intention to hire additional child care providers.
“There’s a certain amount of training and hours that assistants have to have,” Amber Rittenbach said. “It is super common for family child care to hire a person, train the person, get them the hours they need, and they leave to Head Start, or early intervention, or to a center. So, no, we are self-contained with the two of us, and we actually keep our numbers lower than they need to be.”
She said Playtime Education is licensed for 15 children and has a two adults for the nine children now enrolled.
Rittenbach said the padding helps out when either she or her husband need to take a day off because they still satisfy the Oregon regulations even with one gone.
Smith said the area’s child care needs spring from being an agricultural economy.
“We know that our food processing plants, our hospitals, and our police and fire, all those folks are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said, “and there’s a lot of working moms out there that are having to work swing shift or graveyard, and they’re relying on friends and family. All it takes is for one of those to say they want to go out to the movie and now the working parents are in a bad situation. So we can’t get by anymore with single-parent income. Those days are probably done, unless you have advanced education or advanced skills. The ability to afford that these days is over.”
Smith to arrive ready
Smith said he wants to address the issue in the state’s upcoming legislative assembly, which begins Feb. 5.
“Addressing child care is a significant issue in Salem,” Smith said. “What I’m trying to do right now is find out what the needs are in the district to educate myself on the economics of the issue. When I’m in Salem starting next week, I’ll be able to better understand what the issue really is for moms and dads.”
He said he will show up loaded with responses from constituents from his Facebook post about child care availability and expense. He said he wants to be part of the solution in working with his legislative colleagues on child care.
“I don’t have to go and complain,” Smith said. “But until I understand the issue I wouldn’t feel confident doing that.”
Smith said he has formulated an outline of child care concerns that might need to be addressed in Salem.
“We’re going to have budgetary considerations on this issue, the affordability, etcetera, then you’re going to have regulatory considerations based upon requirements for childcare facilities,” Smith said. “Then I see a third component, an outreach to our community colleges to train additional child care providers.”
Because the next legislative session lasts only 35 days, he said some of his work may run into further legislative sessions.
Rittenbach said she sees a need for some government entity to provide financial support to families needing child care.
“I used to work with educational service districts and they would do a sliding scholarship,” Rittenbach said, “and so through them I was able to get parents a reduced fee by $250 a month, and that was really nice. My No. 1 thing I would love to see is that regardless of the program type, or whatever program the state wants to implement, I really think it’s important that it be on a sliding scale. I think that when families buy into an option and they are paying, regardless if it’s $25 or $50, they’re invested.”
