INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in six years, the Family and Social Services Administration, or FSSA, has announced it will reinstate a waitlist for all new Childcare Development Fund, or CCDF, and On My Way Pre-K applicants — a move that childcare advocates have said could keep many Hoosier families from receiving vouchers they qualify for.
“It will potentially grow to thousands of families over time,” Sam Snideman, VP of Government Relations for the United Way of Central Indiana, said.
According to Snideman, American Rescue Plan and COVID-19 relief dollars going away means Indiana will need to inject millions more of its own dollars into childcare to maintain the status quo.
”We’ve got this really great demand,” Snideman said, “But… the demand has now caught up to the edge of where our resources are.”
“The program is strapped for funds,” Jacqueline Strong, Director of Little Duckling Early Learning Christian Academy, said.
Strong said she understands the need for a waitlist, but feels it will prevent Hoosiers who desperately need childcare from accessing it.
”A lot of families can’t afford to pay for childcare out of pocket,” Strong said. ”Some people just give up, they’re not going to wait the waitlist out—they’ll get defeated, and then decide, ‘okay, I’m just not going to look for employment’, or, ‘I’m not going to work’.”
”I think it’s extremely damaging to Hoosier families,” State Rep. Carey Hamilton (D-Indianapolis) said.
According to Hamilton, roughly 1,500 families apply for CCDF vouchers each month, but Indiana loses more than $4 billion each year due to a lack of childcare access.
“This is not good for kids in Indiana, it’s not good for families, and it’s not good for our economy,” Hamilton said. “This decision just doesn’t make any sense.”
“This is a terrible policy decision that needs to be corrected immediately,” Braelynn Yerington, Founder of Champions for Children Indiana, said. According to Yerington, several foster care families who want to care for more kids have expressed concerns they will no longer be given priority to receive childcare vouchers.
”My phone was ringing off the hook yesterday from panicked foster parents saying ‘We can’t take these kids anymore if this change is going to stand’,” Yerington said. ”We know every time a child is removed or moved that they lose six months of academic gains…They’re already starting behind the 8 ball in so many ways, so this is a very puzzling decision.”
As of the publication of this article, FOX59/CBS4 has yet to receive a response from the FSSA.