Deborah Thompson, owner of Mrs. T's Day Care, has a sign on the door of her Union Street children's center assuring parents that their kids will receive tender love and care.
She wants to give them more, but Thompson can't afford a better educational program because the state covers only a portion of what it costs her to care for children whose parents cannot afford day care.
Enrollment at Mrs. T's costs private customers $140 a week, but the state provides Thompson with only $110 in reimbursement for infants and less than $100 for children. Five of the 11 children she cares for, ranging from infancy to 7 years old, are subsidized by the state.
Thompson employs three caregivers and would like to pay them more, but budget constraints make that impossible.
"There's not really a whole lot that you can cut back on except salaries," Thompson said. "Because you don't want to cut back on care."
Providers of subsidized day care also say that meager state reimbursements limit the number of such children they admit. Parents can find spots, but often not at the most convenient or preferable centers.
That's important to parents such as Loretta Maldonado, a single mother who used to go to work each morning wondering whether her son Kevin would be safe, if he would be fed healthy food or if caregivers would remember to give him his asthma medication, which sometimes they didn't.
Kevin, 6, now attends St. Michael's School and Nursery on East Walnut Street in Wilmington with help from a state subsidy, allowing Maldonado to go to work knowing that he's well cared for and educated.
"I want my kid to have a good education," Maldonado said. "Find the money. There's got to be some help out there."
Thompson said she doesn't think day care and early childhood education are high priorities for the state, given that the General Assembly is about to adopt a $3.4 billion budget that doesn't include an increase in the reimbursement rate for subsidized day care.
And two bills that would have addressed the problem will not even be brought to a vote before the Legislature adjourns Saturday.
Sen. Liane Sorenson, R-Hockessin, said she thinks the General Assembly should re-evaluate its priorities.
"I absolutely think it should have been a higher priority," Sorenson said. "A majority of our kids are in child care. If we can't subsidize at a full rate it makes it harder for our parents to find quality care."
Minner: 'We did the best we could'
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner defended the state's performance Thursday as she signed a bill making the Delaware Early Care and Education Council a permanent fixture in state government.
The budget she proposed in January includes some extra money to cover an expected increase in the number of children needing subsidized day care, but no increase in a reimbursement rate that provides between 57 cents to 75 cents for every dollar it costs providers.
Approximately 15,700 -- or about 30 percent of children up to age 12 in Delaware's early child care system -- qualify for state subsidies.
Minner said she would like to do more, but couldn't find the necessary money.
"We did the best we could to cover as much as we could and to help as many as we could," Minner said.
Legislators echo that sentiment, but their actions have not reflected claims that early childhood education is a priority.
Bills aimed at improving children's quality of life have made no headway. One bill would have raised child care subsidies, guaranteeing providers at least 75 percent of their costs. It would have added $9.4 million to the $3.4 billion state budget for the year that starts July 1.
Full text available at Delaware Online
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