Parents rally against child care cuts

Governor's proposed budget doesn't bode well with student moms

Maria Bengtsson

Issue date: 5/24/04 Section: News

Media Credit: Maria Bengtsson

Parent Voices, from Marin, march in protest against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger´s proposed budget cuts regarding child care services.

Maria García, mother of two, studies part time at the College of Marin and she has two different jobs. She wants to become a social worker and is able to approach her dream because her sons go to after-school childcare, she said. However, now, when her oldest son approaches 10 years old she might have to reconsider her dreams. "Without child care I would not be able to give my boys everything that I never had, a good and a decent productive life."

Garcia and other College of Marin students rallied together with over 600 parents outside the state Capitol on May 5 to raise their voices against the governor's proposed budget cuts to child care.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended in his 2004-2005 budget proposal to cut nearly $165 million from the state's current child-care budget.

If the proposal becomes a bill then families will have to start paying higher fees, the income limit for child care eligibility will be lowered, the subsidized childcare for 11- and 12-year-olds will be eliminated, and parents in training or education programs may only use childcare assistance for two years. After that it will only be available if the parent is working.

CalWORKS, a program that gives cash aid and services to eligible needy families in California, is one of the targeted subsidized programs. Currently 361 children in Marin are part of the state funded program, and 430 children are eligible for the programs but are still on the waiting list, according to Marin Child Care Council, the sole alternative Payment (voucher) Program and resource and referral agency in Marin.

"Low-income parents who are already tackled from every direction are dependent on this program in order to remain self-sufficient," said Yen Do, mother, parent leader and student at College of Marin.

The only reason Misty Shepeard, COM student and single mother of two, can study part time is because she receives help from CalWORKS. Besides school, she works almost full time at Safeway in order to support her family. If the proposed budget passes, Shepeard would have to pay her childcare provider $45 a day per child from her own pocket, even though she barely makes $40 more than that a day.

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