Sep. 29—Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA CEO Bonnie McDowell has for years participated in discussions with government and local business leaders about the child care crisis that is costing Pennsylvania billions of dollars.
At the most recent roundtable discussion in March with state Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, state education officials and Valley business leaders were informed that the Pennsylvania economy lost $6.65 billion in earnings, revenue and productivity.
McDowell and SUMMIT Learning Executive Director Doug Bertanzetti also shared the struggles they face in hiring and retaining child care workers due to low pay which ranges from $12 to $15 an hour.
Six months later, the situation remains the same.
"We have invested so much time advocating for subsidies and changes in regulations and nothing has changed in any way. The state has to see it as a critical need," McDowell said this week, the frustration evident in her voice.
The COVID-19 pandemic worsened what was already an overwhelming problem so a $24 billion Child Care Stabilization Program was established in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to help day care providers nationwide.
McDowell's organization received $1,307,177 in the past four years all of which was largely spent on salaries, benefits and bonuses to hire and retain child care staff and that's still not adequate, she said.
"It's great to be able to give employees that incentive to get through the pandemic, but it's all been spent," she said.
And, McDowell said, staffing is still short at the Sunbury YMCA which means the program has children on a waiting list.
SUMMIT received nearly $1 million, all of which was spent by the end of June.
"We used the funds for staff retention, to cover child care tuition when families had to keep their children home during quarantines, to pay staff when they were off on quarantine and for health and safety upgrades around our agency," Bertanzetti said.
"With an increase in challenging behaviors and special needs in the classroom teachers can burn out quickly, especially when the student to teacher ratio is high," he said. "On top of it being a difficult job they are not compensated accordingly.
Moving forward, Beranzetti said, "we need to be frugal and fiscally responsible without sacrificing quality care. We are looking for new grant opportunities. We are advocating for our early childhood education workforce to find ways that we can get them the salaries they deserve without it costing families more."