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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on Thursday proposed spending hundreds of millions of dollars on child care and early education in the state, as federal pandemic relief funds that had been used for such programs begin expiring.
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The state had used $794 million in federal pandemic relief funds to expand child care and early education programs, but the expiration of those funds means 27,000 children in the state could lose access to their care, according to a news release from Youngkin’s office.
Youngkin said his program, called “Building Blocks for Virginia Families,” would allow eligible parents to choose what kind of child care they want to use, such as home-care providers or community co-ops.
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“This is about families, this is about moms, and Virginians shouldn’t have to worry about getting their children the care they need when they’re at work. but unfortunately so many do,” Youngkin said.
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The governor said families that already receive child-care support will “continue to have access to early childhood and afterschool programs.”
Youngkin also said the program would expand the requirement that parents are employed if they want to receive child care, although he did not offer details.
“By expanding the requirements that parents work toward participate in this plan, we are focusing our considerable investment on parents who are working to keep all of those balls in the air as they juggle them and we are ensuring good stewardship of the resources required to make this successful,” he said.
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Youngkin described the plan as “fiscally sustainable,” and called for more than $440 million to be spent each year over the next two fiscal years — representing an increase of $180 million in state spending over each of those years.
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Rachael Deane, chief executive at Voices for Virginia’s Children, a statewide advocacy group, said the issue of funding for child care and early education has been “a real crisis,” both in Virginia and nationally. A report from the nonpartisan Virginia Joint Audit and Review Commission found that “child care is incredibly inaccessible to parents in Virginia, and it is unaffordable for more than three-quarters of families across the state,” she said.
While pandemic funds were used to expand access to child care and early education in Virginia, Deane said, “as it’s been sunsetting, the question is, what do we do now?”
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Youngkin said the proposed child care program would include a “digital wallet” that each family can use to “find care and direct care to where it fits their family the best,” and would allow “local governments, employers, philanthropy and others who will contribute towards
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this great need.”
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A $25 million capital fund to serve 3,000 children in child care deserts, Youngkin said, would be modeled after an effort in Southwest Virginia that brought public and private resources together to remodel an unused building into a child care and workforce development center. The funding would be used for new “early learning hubs” in unused spaces at colleges.
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The proposal also includes funding to continue a $1 million scholarship program for early education workers, and $10 million a year for incentives for educators.
A spokeswoman for Youngkin did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for additional information about the governor’s proposal.
“The Building Blocks for Virginia Families plan is about public and private stakeholders coming together,” Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera said in a news release. “We will address childcare deserts, early childhood provider shortages and introduce innovation and partnerships into how we pay for childcare for a sustainable system.”
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Youngkin’s predecessor, Ralph Northam (D), had expanded child care and early education during his term, a signature issue also for first lady Pamela Northam.
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David Cary, Pamela Northam’s chief of staff and assistant secretary of early-childhood education at the end of the Northam administration, said many of the initiatives announced Thursday are continuations of previous programs that had bipartisan support when they were passed.
“This is all good and we can all agree on this,” Cary said.
The governor will need to work with the newly blue General Assembly on this proposal. Youngkin is slated to propose his two-year spending plan on Dec. 20, after which the Democratic-controlled Senate and House of Delegates — which flipped from red to blue in last month’s elections — will take it up.
Del. Luke Torian (D-Prince William), incoming House Appropriations Committee chair, said he hadn’t had a chance to see Youngkin’s proposal, but noted that both child care and early education are vital issues in the commonwealth.
“Obviously education is an important component to the budget process, so we’ll take a look at his numbers,” Torian said.
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