Day Care Ends, But Needs Don’t

The sudden demise last week of a 25-year-old program providing child care in Orange County for nearly 1,000 low-income children was a shocking development, one inevitably calling priorities into question. This state-funded program has provided full day care for infants and toddlers and after-school care for older children at 13 centers from Anaheim to Costa Mesa. Suddenly, it will be gone; 200 teachers will lose their jobs and all those children will have to have other arrangements made for them and for their parents.

The $1-million deficit, money originally funded by a variety of government sources, made it impossible to keep up with operational costs and staff salaries, according to the Orange County Department of Education. The department made what it said was an inevitable decision to end the program now and work to place the youngsters in other settings. The county is working with the California Department of Education to find other agencies to operate the programs, which is a start. It does have a good network of day-care providers in place locally in school districts and elsewhere.

But the money for these displaced youngsters will have to come from somewhere, and the program is ending because the numbers do not add up to continue the program. Room also will have to be found in existing facilities. The county is trying to put the best face on all this, but there is no escaping the dislocation. This comes at a time when we hear so much about a booming economy, surpluses in government and the importance of children and working families.

For Orange County, in particular, this is devastating news. The county Department of Education relies on the state to fund its day-care programs, and has no relationship with the county government. But the symbolism cannot be escaped, at a time when the county, in a separate arena, is measuring bottom-line budget-balancing against the needs of these same low-income folks for health care. A few years out of bankruptcy, the county is making difficult choices that too often seem to put the needs of the less fortunate in a secondary position.

The disturbing fiscal realities extend elsewhere. Because of the way John Wayne Airport revenues are collected and allocated, the county has had millions available to spend on a new airport plan that now faces a doubtful future. This money has nothing to do directly with the programs that make it possible for people on the margin to get by, but the inequity of priorities is inescapable. Many children’s advocates no doubt will wonder how much day care some of those millions could buy to keep a valuable program alive for years to come.

County education officials pledge to work with day-care providers to ease the transition for those who have benefited from this program. In the meantime, the state Department of Education should do what it can to help fund the transition for these families in need.