State leaders met in Enfield on Thursday to announce an expansion of Connecticut’s early child care and child education programs.
“With this announcement today, about 29% of Connecticut families with children under five years of age have access to more affordable childcare,” Connecticut Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye said. “We’re going to put a cap on parent fees for parents who are in Care 4 Kids. Starting in January, they’ll pay no more than 7% of their income on child care."
Commissioner Bye said on average, this change will save families about $200 a month.
“We are also adding 1,500 spaces to Care 4 Kids to allow 1,500 more families into the program, and we’re adding 900 spaces to our state funded early childhood program,” Commissioner Bye said.
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Participating families will also remain enrolled until their household income reaches 85% of the state median income, an increase from the current limit of 65%. Commissioner Bye said median income for a family of four in Connecticut is roughly $60,000.
“I feel like this makes a good change for everybody else that has an opportunity of growing and they don’t take it because they’re afraid they can’t afford the child care,” said Ashley Plaza Torres, a mother of two.
Commissioner Bye says the expansion will use roughly $17 million in federal funds.
“That COVID-related ARPA money when it came to daycare was a lot more than just covid-related,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “It was about how we can expand an incredibly important program and make it more accessible to people that need it.”
Some, however, questioned whether expanding the program would impact quality of education and care.
“For Care 4 Kids, programs that are accredited get a 25% bonus, so we’re seeing a big increase in the number of programs that are accredited, so we think you can do both -- get more families in, and improve the quality,” Commissioner Bye said.
She added that since 2022, Connecticut has added 4,500 children to the Care 4 Kids program.
