Whatcom County is investing approximately $7 million into a new financial aid program to help low income families access child care. In early August, the county council approved an agreement with the organization AidKit to begin developing the initiative.
Whatcom Kids First Child Care Subsidy Program will provide hundreds of dollars in discounts to families every month and support local child care programs. It is expected to launch early next year and will be funded by the Whatcom Healthy Children’s Fund, which was created by a voter-approved tax levy in 2022.
“A central purpose for the creation of the fund was to make quality child care more affordable and more accessible, and Kids First will achieve that for more than a thousand families every year. I am very pleased to see this program move forward,” Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu said in a news release.
The program is expected to help around 1,400 children across the county access child care in its first year.
County subsidies will be awarded to low-income households with young children that do not qualify for state financial aid for child care. To qualify, families can make up to 75% of the state median income. According to the county, for a household of four that is about $104,484 annually. The county will provide a $300 monthly stipend for children 5 years old and under. These funds will be paid directly to licensed child care providers.
Whatcom County Health and Community Services is overseeing the program. Its child and family programs supervisor, Sarah Simpson, said these subsidies will help families save money. Simpson said child care can cost around $2,000 a month, so reducing this expense will go a long way.
“Three hundred dollars is a week of groceries,” she said. “Maybe you had to spend a little extra on your utilities that month because it was really hot, and you have a new infant, and you had to run your air conditioner.”
The county’s subsidy program will support child care providers that take care of kids who qualify for the state’s Working Connections Child Care subsidy program. Through that, the state provides financial aid to households that make less than 60% of the state median income when they apply. For a family of four that comes to about $83,580 annually.
Simpson said officials want to encourage child care providers to accept kids enrolled in Working Connections by offering them funding on a sliding scale for children five and under. Licensed providers could receive between $100-$300 a month per child.
“Washington State doesn't actually pay the true cost of care to those providers,” she said. “So providers who are choosing to enroll kids on Working Connections, if they make that choice, are doing so really because they love kids.”
According to a county news release, instructions for how families and child care providers can apply for the local child care subsidies will be released later this year. Officials expect to begin distributing subsidies early next year.
