INDIANAPOLIS — Child care advocates on Tuesday said Gov. Mike Braun’s decision to direct $200 million to Indiana’s child care voucher program is a good first step.
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Braun, a Republican, announced Tuesday morning he plans to add $200 million to the Financial Responsibility and Opportunity Growth, or FROG Fund, to pay for new vouchers. He said the Family and Social Services Administration will begin accepting new CCDF voucher applications for the first time in 15 months.
The FROG Fund already contains $300 million that can be used for a handful of purposes, including shoring up the child care voucher program. State lawmakers authorized using the fund for that specific purpose this spring.
“This investment isn’t just for one year. It allows us to reopen access after 15 months of frozen admissions and puts Indiana on a substantial path forward,” Braun said.
He said the FSSA will prioritize enrolling the siblings of current voucher holders as well as infants and toddlers.
The governor’s office estimates the money will pay for 14,000 CCDF vouchers, boosting total enrollment in the program to 57,000. Traelynn Mikel, of Hooligan’s Learning Academy in Anderson, said the move is a good first step. She said child cares like hers have struggled since September because families that were using the vouchers to pay for child care were unable to continue paying on their own.
“It will definitely be helpful,” she said. “That’s 14,000 kids who are potentially not enrolled in a program right now that are going to be looking for a program that accepts CCDF. So programs like Hooligan’s are hopefully going to see an influx of CCDF kiddos.”
Child care advocates say more than 220 child cares have closed since Sept. 1 specifically due to the voucher cuts. Dr. Hanan Osman, executive director of the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children, said Tuesday’s announcement means parents who might have one child in child care but have not been able to enroll a younger one might now have that option.
She said that means parents will be able to go back to work.
“This is very important to celebrate. Kudos to all the early childhood programs and the families who have shared their stories,” she said. “It was a real story that was told by the people that were affected by that frozen program.”
Osman said it will be extremely difficult for child cares that have closed in recent months to reopen. She said staff for those child cares have been let go and children have enrolled elsewhere, so the owners would have to start over.
The bipartisan State Budget Committee must first approve the fund transfer. The committee is scheduled to vote on it on Thursday afternoon. If it does, Braun administration officials said funding for additional vouchers should be available by late May. The application process for parents has not changed.
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