The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a child care blueprint to allocate a remaining $2 million in American Rescue Plan funding to address San Diego’s lack of affordable child care.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer from District 3, who proposed the plan, says that San Diego has a childcare crisis that is especially impacting low-income workers, single parents and parents who work unconventional schedules. A study conducted by the county found that there is a lack of childcare facilities in our region and that ones that do exist can oftentimes be very expensive for families or have very long waitlists.
The study found that 40% of San Diego families who earn a median income with 2 children are paying 40% of their annual income on child care. It also found that infant childcare costs approximately $19,000 per year.
The blueprint that was passed Tuesday would allocate $500,000 from American Rescue Plan funding to license new child care facilities and upgrade infrastructure at existing facilities. The emphasis would be on what the County Board of Supervisors calls “child care deserts” or areas in our region where there aren’t as many options.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
“It’s really imperative that you have childcare in a place that’s convenient or at least within driving distance of either where you live or where you work. Part of it is just a safety concern, you don’t want your little kiddo 30, 40, 50 minutes away. In addition to it being an inconvenience, this is really about safety as well,” said Supervisor Lawson-Remer.
The blueprint also calls for more competitive wages for child care workers who earn a median annual income of $22,000. Finally, the blueprint would create a pilot program that would give county workers up to 3 paid days off for emergency child care situations.
“We’re looking into investing in workforce development, investing in retrofitting facilities, investing in permitting so that we can expand the capacity in both our facilities and our workforce across our county in order to make childcare more accessible for everyone,” Lawson-Remer said.
