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DURHAM — Arguing the move would aid low-income families, Durham’s new social-services director wants to make it easier for people who rely on friends, relatives and neighbors for child care to obtain subsidies to help pay for it.
But director Gerri Robinson’s proposal is already sparking push-back from care advocates and some County Commissioners who say it could undermine established policies that favor finding spots in licensed child-care centers for kids from families where both parents work.
Robinson briefed county leaders on her ideas last week and seemed undaunted by the questions that came mostly from commissioners Ellen Reckhow and Becky Heron.
“Quality is a must, but my customer base cannot go to work when they need to simply because they cannot afford the service,” Robinson said. “I really do think that as an unintended consequence of our push for quality, we have children who are very, very poor who simply cannot afford [it].”
But commissioners said they’re already hearing countering arguments from leading care advocates, including Dorothy Graham, the first director of the Durham Day Care Council, a predecessor to the Child Care Services Association, the key referral agency to care centers throughout the Triangle.
Reckhow urged Robinson to tread carefully, lest she undermine existing policy and in the process cost the county some of the money it gets from North Carolina’s Smart Start program.
“This needs to be a very thoughtful, planned-for decision,” Reckhow said. “I hope we can take a deep breath and allow all the partners to have a say and weigh in on this.”
Robinson agreed, but said her initial attempts to interest groups like the Durham Partnership for Children didn’t spark “a significant amount of interest.”
The county’s existing policy preference for licensed care comes because officials believe children, especially from low-income families, leave such centers better-prepared for school than do children who receive day care in other settings.
But Robinson said she’s interested in subsidizing care that comes from relatives, friends and neighbors because even with the subsidies the county offers low-income parents, many find it difficult to enroll children in the highest-quality care centers.
The centers at the high end of the market — the so-called four- and five-star centers — often charge premium prices the county’s subsidies don’t fully offset, she said.
In addition, federal and state regulations leave the door open for families relying on friends or relatives to claim subsidies, she said, adding that more than half North Carolina’s 100 counties support going that route.
“It’s not as if we’re creating something new,” she said.
But Reckhow said if there’s a problem with high-end centers pricing out low-income families, county officials should be jawboning them instead of acquiescing to the situation.
“Families shouldn’t have to spend more than what the cap is on their income,” she said. “That’s supposedly leveling the playing field.”
But in practice, “it does not,” Robinson said.
Two commissioners, Brenda Howerton and Joe Bowser, signaled that they’re willing to give Robinson room to maneuver. Howerton said she relied on relatives and neighbors to help care for her four children. Bowser said his parents called on relatives and friends to baby-sit when he was growing up in “a very rural area of North Carolina.”
“We did not go to day-care centers, but we received quality care,” Bowser said.
Commissioners Chairman Michael Page also encouraged Robinson to “continue to advocate” with other agencies, and said he’d like to see the various interests get “on the same page.”
