Arizona DHS Proposes Child Care Licensing Fee Hike

The state Department of Health Services has just announced proposed fee increases for nursing homes, medical facilities, and child care centers.  The purpose is to bring in more revenue to comply with the budget passed by the state legislature and signed by the Governor.

According to the Children's Action Alliance the proposed fee increases for child care centers are dramatic to say the least.  Fees for centers licensed to care for 11 to 59 kids would rise from $150 for a three-year license to $2,218 – an increase of 14-fold.  Fees for centers licensed to care for 150 children or more would rise from $150 for a three-year license to $13,442 – a fee that is almost 90 times higher than the current fee!

These enormous increases will hit both child care centers and parents hard at a time when child care is already being hit from every direction.  The state has already increased parent co-payments and decreased what is paid to child care centers for assistance for low-income, working families.  In addition, more than 8,000 qualified children have been turned away from child care assistance due to budget cuts.

These new fees will make it even harder for child care centers to stay in business and harder for parents to find care they can afford.  As a result, more parents will be forced to use informal and unregulated child care that offers no stability for their kids or their employers.

This latest proposal adds to the burden parents are paying for the state’s budget deficit - on top of the elimination of KidsCare Parents health coverage for nearly 10,000 working parents, cuts to cash assistance for the poorest mothers and children, less support for foster parents, cuts to K-12 education, and higher tuition costs for universities and community colleges.

Full text available at Examiner.com.