Only 12% of eligible Kansas families signed up for programs to make child care cheaper

Takeaways

The families of nearly 100,000 children in Kansas were potentially eligible for child care subsidies in 2020. Yet barely more than one in eight got the federal benefit designed to make child care more affordable.

That happened even as Kansas has been expanding its child care subsidy and has more room for families to apply.

The federal child care subsidy can be the difference between paying for child care and not being able to afford it, said Emily Barnes, education policy adviser with Kansas Action for Children. Families who get the benefits save hundreds of dollars a month and thousands per year.

A report from the Center of Law and Social Policy found that families nationwide struggled to access child care support they were entitled to — only 14% of eligible families nationwide receive the benefit. In Kansas, about 12% likely to qualify got that help paying for child care.

A family of four making less than $6,966 a month could earn child care subsidies. Children must be under 13. Call 1-888-369-4777 to learn more. Subsidies are run by DCF and applications can be picked up at any agency office.

The child care subsidy offsets the sometimes-burdensome child care costs to a more reasonable number. Barnes said families often devote 20% of their income to child care.

“It’s a resource that’s available to us,” Barnes said. “We will see improvements when we utilize the resource to its best extent.”

But some providers don’t accept the subsidies because payments come in too slowly. Some families struggle to sort out the application process that triggers those payments, Barnes said.

And some families may simply not know they’re eligible for help.

Stephanie Schmit, director of child care and early education with the Center for Law and Social Policy, worked on the study.

She is frustrated that families nationwide are paying more out of pocket for care when they don’t have to, especially with child care costs so high.

“On the federal level, we need more money and better policy. And then at the state level, we need more money and better policy,” Schmit said. “It’s pretty straightforward.”

For starters, she said, the program could be more widely publicized and the application could be simpler. But those are small fixes, Schmit said, and child care access in general needs larger fixes.

People of color disproportionately need child care subsidies. In Kansas, Black children between birth and 13 years old are only 5% of the population but are 11% of the potentially eligible population. Hispanic/Latino children make up 19% of the population but 28% of eligible families.

Addressing those disparities is not simple.

Schmit wants to see more serious investment in child care. More money has been put into these programs, she said, but those funds haven’t kept up with inflation, which means fewer children are being helped.

In fiscal year 2020, Kansas spent $51 million to help just over 10,000 kids on average. In fiscal year 2024, the state spent $84.7 million to help an average of around 13,500 kids.

“We do not have a max caseload at this time and we have the capacity to serve more families,” a Kansas Department for Children and Families spokesperson said. “So we encourage families to apply to see if they’re eligible.”

In Kansas, Barnes has been lobbying lawmakers to expand the child care subsidy. The Child Care and Development Fund is federal money, but it is handed down to the states to divvy up. The subsidy does work but needs some improvements, she said.

One statewide survey said that families who get the federal money don’t always get enough to make child care affordable. And other families who make too much to qualify don’t make nearly enough to afford the thousands of dollars that monthly care can cost.

Barnes is hoping the next legislative session brings more substantial change, but she expects major reform is years down the road.

“We are at a place where robust investment in child care is the option that we can and should consider,” she said. “I would love to see that commitment to bold steps that support our families who are working very hard.”

Blaise Mesa is based in Topeka, where he covers the Legislature and state government. He previously covered social services and criminal justice for the Kansas News Service. He also worked as a reporter... More by Blaise Mesa