Santa Clara County Adopts Childcare Blueprint to Tackle Cost, Access and Workforce Gaps

Santa Clara County has adopted a new strategy to help local families find and afford childcare. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county's Childcare Blueprint at its Tuesday meeting.

The plan, prepared by the Santa Clara County Office of Children and Families Policy, targets four areas: cost, access, workforce and facilities. It puts particular emphasis on vulnerable communities and is meant to improve how organizations support children and families, especially those already connected to county services.

District 2 Supervisor Betty Duong said at a Monday news conference that rising childcare prices, on top of a high cost of living, are pushing families to the breaking point. She said the county must invest in higher wages for providers and in more professional development. "Investing in childcare means investing in our children, investing in our workforce and investing in the ability of working families to stay and thrive in the communities they call home," she said.

The county intends to advance compensation and strengthen the childcare workforce. It also wants to add facilities through capital investment and strategic site development, with a focus on families with infants, toddlers and children with disabilities.

District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said she was not comfortable supporting the blueprint because too few parents were surveyed for its roadmap, though she still voted to advance it. She noted that her district, which includes South County, is a childcare desert. "They have the (childcare) voucher in hand, yet they're not able to receive care," she said of the lowest-income families there.

Lynne Mobilio of Clarity Social Research Group, which the county contracted, defended the process, saying participants were representative and researchers engaged with them in depth. The firm held 12 focus groups with 95 people, including parents and caregivers such as former foster youth, families facing housing insecurity and domestic violence, young mothers affected by the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, and CalWORKs families.

An action implementation committee will be formed to maximize and prioritize existing federal and state childcare funding. The county may also team up with San Mateo County, which recently released its own blueprint, on an advocacy plan to boost state investment. District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said San Mateo County's review of its funding streams found it was returning millions of dollars to the state each year, and Santa Clara County will conduct the same analysis so it does not return unused money.

Heidi Emberling, director of the children and families policy office, said the county consulted childcare providers, healthcare partners and academic institutions that train providers. She said they were told about financial constraints stemming from budget impacts of H.R. 1 and asked to develop goals, strategies and actions that can be carried out locally.

The figures underscore the pressure on families. Median annual costs at childcare centers in the county are $30,399 for infants and $23,652 for preschoolers, while home-based care costs $20,810 and $19,990, respectively. Subsidized care assisted 10,801 county families in 2023, yet only 13% of children ages 0 to 2 and 36% of children in qualified families received care.

Veronica Goei, executive director of Grail Family Services, said East San Jose needs more capacity. "We have no openings in any of our settings. Everything is full with waitlists," she said. She argued for a mixed delivery system of center-based care, licensed family childcare homes and weekend care, adding that without reliable options, families may cut work hours, leave the workforce or put education on hold.