by Karla Ciaglo CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut lawmakers, child care advocates and state officials gathered at the legislative office building Thursday to confront what they called a mounting challenge in the state’s early childhood system: the buildings themselves.
The briefing was led by representatives Kate Farrar, D-West Hartford, and Mary Welander, D-Derby, Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye, and Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC) Connecticut Executive Director Jim Horan. It centered on the findings of a new Early Learning Facilities Landscape Analysis and the legislative push to fund structural solutions through House Bill 5003.
“The financial instability of childcare programs is exacerbated by high operating costs, limited profit margins, and facility expenses,” said Kasey Laflam, Senior Program Officer at LISC and a co-author of the report.
The LISC report, commissioned by the Office of Early Childhood, surveyed 574 child care providers across the state and found that 71% need urgent health and safety upgrades, and fewer than 40% operate in facilities built for child care. Many providers are forced to retrofit aging residential or commercial buildings, struggling to comply with regulations they lack the funds to meet.
Farrar said HB 5003 was designed in close collaboration with her colleagues to deliver immediate and lasting reform.
“We knew in coming forward with the house priority bill that we wanted to focus on how we could deliver faster funding for families, how we could attract and support the early childhood workforce, and then finally, how we could create and update our child care facilities,” Farrar said.
The bill would create a permanent Early Childhood Care and Education Fund and invest up to $100 million annually over five years through surplus transfers and bonding. Among its goals: funding capital grants for facility construction and renovation, providing wage support for early educators, subsidizing healthcare for child care workers, and expanding eligibility under the Care 4 Kids subsidy program.
Welander said the facilities crisis was not something she fully grasped until hearing directly from providers across the state.
“I wasn’t aware just how difficult it can be, especially for independent providers, to get the financial support they need to make upgrades required by the state,” she said. “It’s been encouraging to see a focus not just on early care in theory, but literally on how we build the foundation — both figuratively and physically — of these programs.”
Bye said the state’s long-term vision includes not only fixing what’s broken, but laying the groundwork for universal access. She tied the LISC findings to one of Gov. Ned Lamont’s top budget priorities
“Governor Lamont’s top priority is a universal preschool proposal that would put $300 million a year into a fund,” Bye said. “And every year thereafter, the state would use the operating surplus and spend 10% of that fund to expand access to early childhood opportunities. Under the current plan — and we’re working with the House and Senate — we would get 20,000 more children childcare and preschool. That is not nothing.”
The governor’s proposal also targets a longstanding equity issue in the delivery of special education services, she said.
“One of the things we heard about inequities was that families with three- and four-year-olds with special needs have a very difficult time working and accessing the services they need in the half-day, part-week programs that dominate our system,” Bye said. “So the governor’s proposal converts 7,000 of those half-day special education spaces into full school-day, school-year programs by giving districts the funding they need to expand.”
That may sound like a small thing, but Bye said it
During the pandemic, the state allocated $15 million in federal ARPA funds for early childhood infrastructure. LISC received over 730 applications totaling more than $75 million in requests, according to the report. Only 17% of applicants received funding. Of those, 95% were located in child care deserts and 99% had waitlists. Many more were forced to withdraw due to zoning barriers, staffing shortages, or difficulties navigating building codes.
“Governor Lamont and the General Assembly appear ready to make major investments needed to create the early childhood system that our children, families, and providers deserve,” said Horan, “A system that’s accessible to all who need it, and provides high quality affordable care while also paying childcare workers family supporting wages.”
The LISC report offers five strategic recommendations: create a permanent early childhood facilities fund, align public and private funding, improve real-time data systems, reduce regulatory barriers, and provide technical assistance for navigating permitting and construction. The full Early Childhood Facilities Landscape Analysis Report can be viewed here.