Child-Care Boon

As early as 6:30 in the morning, Gloria Jex diapers a crying infant and teaches an energetic little boy his colors and shapes in her home, about two miles west of the Los Angeles Coliseum. After school lets out, she also supervises four older children, who read, do homework and play outside. She is one of a growing number of licensed family child-care providers, including women who speak only Spanish, who are successfully starting their own businesses in response to the region’s severe shortage of licensed day care.

Jex, a mother of three and grandmother of six, knows plenty about raising children. She also spent nearly 20 years on staff at a large day-care center before she decided to take care of children in her home. Getting her state license required special training, CPR certification, a criminal background check and an inspection. When she was ready to accept children, she received referrals from the nonprofit group Crystal Stairs, which offers services and resources to child-care providers and parents. Such efforts, linking newly licensed in-home providers with parents in need, are key to making in-home care quickly successful.

The shortage of day-care slots increased steeply in recent years as unemployment dropped and thousands of former welfare recipients went to work. Los Angeles County is still short more than 100,000 licensed spaces for babies 6 weeks to 2 years old, according to a county report. An additional 200,000 after-school spaces are needed.

Orange County also faces a great scarcity of licensed supervision, especially in Santa Ana. There, women who speak only Spanish--usually a job-market handicap--are being trained to get their state family child-care licenses in a new course called “Entre Nosotras” (Among Us Women). The training, which is paid for by Proposition 10 state tobacco tax funds, is offered by the Delhi Center, a nonprofit organization that works to improve Latino health and social well-being. A waiting list of more than 600 applicants for the training is an indication of the demand.

In response to the child-care crisis, Gov. Gray Davis and the California Legislature significantly increased funding for child-care subsidies for poor parents. They also allocated money to raise the pay of child-care workers--who typically earn the minimum wage, with no benefits--and to provide more child-care facilities. Even so, need will continue to run well ahead of supply.

The L.A. County Child Care Planning Committee is circulating recommendations in draft form that call for a reduction in the gap between supply and demand by 50% by 2010. The plan proposes, among other things, start-up grants for family-care providers to cover the costs of criminal checks, license fees, equipment, CPR training, health and safety improvements and other business costs. The plan is expected to be presented to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in March, but the county will need substantially greater help from Sacramento and Washington to put the recommendations into action.

Low-income parents in particular depend on home child-care providers like Gloria Jex. Any local and state assistance that helps others get trained, licensed and open for business is a boon.