Desperate times for parents on childcare subsidy

PHOENIX - A childcare subsidy is about the only thing keeping Shanna Gastelum and her children from desperation.

The subsidy pays about $700 of Gastelum's $1,000-a-month daycare costs and is the only government assistance the single mother of Gilbert receives. But now she and the low-income, working parents of another 20,000 Arizona children are in danger of losing that money.

Reeling from a $102 million budget cut approved by the Legislature, the state Department of Economic Security plans to take 15,000 off the program this month. Another 5,000 are planned to be taken off by June 30.

``I feel like everything is crashing down,'' said Gastelum, who makes $12 an hour as a catering assistant at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. ``I have a college degree, I've never broken the law, I don't get food stamps, I have an honest job and I pay my taxes.

``The subsidy has helped me out tremendously,'' she said. ``I get to work fulltime and not worry about who watches the kids or who pays for what.''

The only thing that could save Gastelum and the other parents from losing that money is a proposal by Republic Gov. Jan Brewer to use $25 million in federal stimulus dollars to retain the subsidy, but that needs to be approved by the Legislature. Top lawmakers said they were considering the proposal but hadn't reached any conclusions.

Meanwhile parents and childcare providers are worried.

Dana Vela, president of Tots Unlimited Preschool and Childcare centers, said of the 2,400 children who get full-time care at locations throughout the Phoenix metro area, 700 will be affected by the subsidy cut.

That would mean less student enrollment at Tots Unlimited, and therefore less money to pay employees, which very likely will mean layoffs, Vela said.

She said most parents on the subsidy would have to make some tough decisions - either find friends and family to watch their children when they're at work, leave the kids at home alone, or quit their jobs and apply for even more government assistance.

``Obviously they're scared,'' she said. ``I completely understand how difficult it must be to be looking at our budget and deciding where the cuts fall. But I think it's important that people charged with this task understand that every action has a reaction.''

State Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor, a Phoenix Democrat, said cutting the subsidy will make it ``excruciatingly difficult'' for parents.

``Being able to receive that little bit of childcare assistance has went a long way, so I have to think where are we going at this time?'' she said. ``Are we looking now at where a 7-year-old brother or sister will have to watch the 2-year-old brother or sister? Desperation is what will have to happen. It's a sad state.''

She said the state's budget cuts, including those to the Department of Economic Security, are ``truly devastating'' and that ``children's' spines are being stepped on by the foot of rhetoric.''

Taylor defended DES and other agencies that have to decide where to make cuts, saying it was the Legislature who gave them lump-sum budget reductions.

DES spokeswoman Liz Barker said in an e-mail: ``Given the magnitude of the reduction to DES and the fact that the majority of our budget is spent on direct client services, it would be impossible for DES to absorb that substantial a reduction without significant impacts to the children and families we serve.''

Gastelum, the Gilbert mother who expects to be cut from the subsidy program, said she's not sure whether she'll try to find friends and family to watch her 4-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter while she works, or quit her job to stay at home with them.

``It's not even feasible for me to pay $1,000 a month for daycare. I won't have money for my light bill, water, cable, phone, car insurance, gas or food,'' she said. ``I feel like everything I've worked so hard for the past few years is going to be taken away because of a budget cut.''