Families who earn too much to qualify for subsidized child care are now eligible for a program that has expanded from 4-year-olds to also include 3-year-olds, with increased subsidies.
An estimated 2,000 more preschool children across the state are expected to receive early childhood education through subsidies made possible after the Legislature in 2023 increased funding to $50 million from $12 million to expand the “Preschool Open Doors” program, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke announced Thursday in her fifth-floor office of the state Capitol.
Families have until March 28 to apply.
Parents can return to work while their children are cared for “in a safe learning environment,” Luke said.
Early childhood education helps keiki with brain development that affects them positively “through life,” Luke said. Preschool Open Doors represents a major push as part of her overall Ready Keiki initiative.
Luke also wants to create 465 public preschool classrooms by 2032 as part of her goal to expand preschool access for all Hawaii children ages 3 and 4 by 2032. There are currently more than 35,000 children ages 3 and 4.
High preschool and child care costs have contributed to Hawaii plummeting from 35th to 44th place among all 50 states when it comes to the economic well-being of children, according to a June report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Baltimore-based private philanthropic organization, which produces the annual Kids Count report.
“Hawaii parents face some of the highest child care costs in the nation,” according to the Kids Count summary.
“Even if parents can find an opening at child care near their home, they often can’t pay for it,” according to the summary. “Hawaii’s average cost of center-based child care for a toddler was $13,919, or 12% of the median income of a married couple, and 35% of a single mother’s income in the state. That is significantly higher than current in-state annual tuition of $11,304 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.”
According to the Kids Count study, 39% of Hawaii children lived in households that spent more than 30% of their income on housing, which placed Hawaii 49th out of 50 states.
Lauren Danner of Kaneohe joined Luke on Thursday in announcing the expansion of Preschool Open Doors.
Danner later told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that her daughter’s preschool, Windward Church of the Nazarene in Kaneohe, told her about child care subsidies through Preschool Open Doors for the 2019-2020 school year, which allowed her to stay home to take care of her newborn.
At the time, she worked at a restaurant in Windward Mall, and her husband was an electrician. Danner’s restaurant salary alone would go to her daughter’s preschool costs.
Now the mother of six is happy to advocate for the kind of subsidies that she was able to take advantage of.
Luke said preschools can cost from $1,200 to $1,500 a month, or the equivalent of some housing payments.
Under the previous program, families earning 250% of the federal poverty guideline were provided subsidies for about 1,400 4-year-olds.
The amount of subsidies ranged from approximately $600 to $900 per month depending on family income.
Now Hawaii families can earn 300% of federal poverty levels and qualify for a subsidy — or 52% more in income.
In 2023 a family of three could earn no more than $56,160. Under the expanded program a family of three can now earn as much as $85,770 and still be eligible for increased child care subsidies of $1,500 a month for an accredited or Hawaiian immersion program and $1,200 a month for a nonaccredited program.
A family of eight used to have an income cap of $113,910. Now it can earn over $60,000 more, or $174,420.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
>> patchhawaii.org
>> childcaresubsidyapplication.dhs.hawaii.gov
