INDIANAPOLIS — Braun administration officials on Thursday said a cash infusion for the state’s child care voucher program is the first step toward a larger investment.
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The bipartisan State Budget Committee signed off on a $200 million infusion for the program late Thursday afternoon. Family and Social Services Administration officials told the panel the money will support up to 14,000 additional Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers beginning in late May. Children with siblings who already receive a CCDF voucher will get first priority, followed by infants, toddlers and, finally, children ages three to five.
Democrats on the panel questioned FSSA leaders extensively on the long-term future of the program. FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob revealed Gov. Mike Braun will ask for an additional $200 million per year for the program in his next budget. This would be on top of the $40 million per year currently set aside for it. Roob said this would give the program the same level of funding for the next two years that it will receive following Thursday’s vote.
The majority of Indiana’s CCDF funding comes from federal spending, including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF. Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, noted President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating a number of community block grant programs that support CCDF and asked what would happen if that funding went away.
“Well, it would be a decision the General Assembly would have to make,” Roob replied, adding he plans to meet with Indiana’s Congressional delegation over the proposed cuts.
In order to qualify for a CCDF voucher, a family cannot earn more than 135% of the federal poverty level. That works out to a little more than $43,000 per year for a family of four. In addition to freezing voucher enrollments last year, the state reduced the rate at which it reimburses child care providers. DeLaney said even once the state resumes providing vouchers, many providers likely will increase their rates anyway, thereby likely forcing some of those families out.
“What’s that old joke, if I’m losing 10 cents on everything I sell, if I can just sell more, I’ll be better off?” he said. “There may be some places that get an increase in enrollees. Remember, what happens is, the provider of child care can say, ‘I’m getting $150 from the state. If you, Mom or Dad, give me $50 more, I’ll take it.’ That’s what they call copay or overage. So if the family has the money and the provider finds enough families who have enough money to supplement the state, then maybe it works.”
Budget committee co-chair Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, who also chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it’s ultimately up to the General Assembly, not Gov. Braun, how much money the CCDF voucher program gets when lawmakers craft the new budget in January.
“You’re looking at 150 members that have to make this decision,” he said. “When we put this in Senate Bill 4, I made the comment that this is not a permanent fix, this $200 million. It is temporary to try to get this through. But I also mentioned that we would continue to work with (FSSA) on some possible opportunities in the next budget cycle.”
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