AUSTIN, Texas — Travis County Judge Andy Brown opened the third annual Family-Based Child Care Conference on Saturday, presenting solutions for child care providers from across the state seeking to provide quality child care in Central Texas and meet workforce needs across the region.
The conference featured solutions for home-based child care professionals from across the state to provide quality child care in Central Texas and meet workforce needs across the region.
As pandemic-era federal COVID relief funds expire, providers face economic challenges to keep their doors open.
Next week, the Travis County Circuit Court will vote to put a ballot initiative before voters in the November general election that would expand access to affordable, high-quality child care, after-school care and summer care. The county program aims to reduce costs, improve access to services and strengthen the marketplace for providers. Click here to learn more about it from a supporter of the initiative: Andy Roddick, former tennis player, founder and chairman of the Andy Roddick Foundation.
Nearly 5,000 children are on a two-year waiting list for federal child care subsidies. Data shows that Austin/Travis County is experiencing an acute shortage of child care options, both for traditional hours and non-traditional hours (outside the 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekday window). Travis County’s proposed CARES initiative includes dedicated funding for both expanded hours and family-based child care support and capacity building.
Family-based child care agencies are an important resource for working families, offering language and cultural matches in neighborhoods with more flexible schedules, such as non-traditional work hours and support. The Success by 6 Coalition Family-Based Child Care Program, supported by the United Way for Greater Austin, provides critical technical assistance and ongoing professional development to family-based child care agencies and supports provider leadership as network leaders to expand access to high-quality care in neighborhood-centered, home-based care.
