Tag: Child Care Associates

Local and statewide child care advocates celebrated earlier this year a $100 million investment toward child care scholarships that were anticipated to lift children and their families off of the state’s lengthy waitlist. But inflation has soured the hopes of expanding state scholarships, including in Tarrant County.

Texas lawmakers earmarked $100 million toward child care services and scholarships over the next two years, in hopes of serving about 10,000 children awaiting financial assistance who are on a waitlist that now exceeds 95,000. But a rise in the cost of care has absorbed the funding source that child care advocates viewed as a highlight of the 2025 regular legislative session, which concluded this summer. The scholarships help qualifying parents go to work while their child receives care and early childhood education.

In Tarrant County, there will be a decrease of about 450 child care scholarships compared to last fiscal year because of the increase in the cost of care, even with the additional state investment, according to Fort Worth-based Child Care Associates. The nonprofit distributes state scholarships to local families as a contractor of the local workforce development board.

Kara Waddell, CEO and president of Child Care Associates, said the rising cost of care impacts families of all income levels, precluding many parents from affording the care that allows them to go to work.

“We know Texas families were hopeful that this additional funding would enable us to offer additional child care scholarships for those on the scholarship waitlist. Child Care Associates knows how much both families and child care operators need Texas to expand scholarships,” Waddell said. “In actuality, what we experienced was a significant increase in child care expenses statewide, and the additional state investments prevented scholarship loss while keeping up with real cost increase of about 9% in Texas last year alone.”

The Texas Workforce Commission, which manages the state’s child care scholarship program, sets its scholarship payment rates at or above what 75% of child care providers in a region charge based on a market rate survey. In a child care and early learning newsletter from the Texas Workforce Commission released in August, officials noted that its most recent market rate survey showed an increase in the cost of care by 9% in the 75th percentile. The overall projected cost of care jumped by 12.7%.

“Ultimately, we’re grateful to the legislature making this initial investment happen. It is a critical first step. We also hope that they will not only continue to use unexpended TANF funds for child care access, but also consider new funding and revenue options to ensure hard-working Texas families access the quality child care that they need,” Waddell added.

By the numbers

The additional $100 million in child care scholarships for Texas children over the next two years is coming from unused TANF funding, or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

The Texas Workforce Commission originally projected $1 million to serve about 106 children per day in the 2026 fiscal year before the legislative session began in January, according to state officials. The state agency now projects $1 million to serve about 99 children per day.

Of the annual $50 million, there is $3 million set aside for child care quality improvement. This means $47 million is dedicated specifically to child care scholarships. The scholarship funding is estimated to serve 4,653 children daily this fiscal year — a decrease of 329 children from the state agency’s original estimate.

The agency’s full budget for child care services is estimated to support about an average of 148,000 children daily this fiscal year. There was an average of almost 149,000 children being served daily through the state’s scholarship program in fiscal year 2025.

“The projection of 10,000 children was not an overall increase to the total number served; it only reflects how much an additional $100 million was estimated to serve,” Texas Workforce Commission officials told the Star-Telegram in a statement.

Texans Care for Children, an Austin-based child advocacy organization, released a policy brief earlier this month on the $100 million child care investment, saying the funds were needed “just to keep up with rising payment rates.”

“Without the $100 million lawmakers provided, Texas would be serving thousands fewer eligible families in the coming biennium. But if Texas wants to avoid backsliding — and start serving more of the tens of thousands still on the waitlist — lawmakers will need to take steps to address the rising costs of child care and find more substantial, longer-term funding solutions,” the policy brief states.

David Feigen, director of early learning policy for the organization, said it was “disappointing” that the funding didn’t translate to an increase in the number of scholarships, but it was also a relief that thousands of working parents were spared from losing child care.

“Thanks to this investment, today there are parents walking in the door to work at restaurants, hospitals, and grocery stores while their kids are thriving in child care classrooms — creating memorable art projects and listening attentively as their teachers read them children’s books,” Feigen said. “There’s a lot of focus on partisan disagreements these days, but in this case Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature worked together to help Texas parents get affordable, high-quality child care so they can go to work.”