Day-Care Study Urges Plan to Ease Shortages

An estimated 1.5 million children who need day care can’t find a space in the state’s licensed centers, and the situation is only going to get worse as parents move off welfare to work, researchers said Friday.

The study by the Little Hoover Commission said 600,000 more children will need state-subsidized child care as more parents leave the welfare rolls and find jobs.

The commission, an independent watchdog agency that makes recommendations to improve the efficiency of government, urged officials in the state departments of education and social services to adopt a master plan for child care.

Some recommendations:

* New laws to streamline zoning and other licensing requirements.

* State scholarships to prospective day-care workers.

* Tax incentives to businesses for providing affordable day care.

Families are eligible for child-care assistance if they make 75% of the state median income or less. For a family of three, that would be $2,500 a month.

A total of 1.9-million families qualify for state-supported child care, and California spent $1.3 billion on child care for 314,000 families this fiscal year.

“Even though we’re spending $1.3 billion on child care, we don’t know what we’re spending the money on and how effective it is,” commission Director Jeannine English said.

The study found that demand for state-subsidized child care is highest in poor communities.

In South-Central Los Angeles, there are 10 to 20 children under the age of 6 for every licensed child-care space, the study found.

Researchers said child care pays off later in life because the children are less likely to wind up in prison or on unemployment. The savings could be as much as $7 for every $1 invested, the commission said.