Fighting to keep their child care

Tammy La Framboise was doing everything right. The single mother of Sydney (five) and Ronnie (seven) got off welfare, got a B.A., and last August found a job as an environmental specialist for the federal Bureau of Reclamation.

Then she was told that her new salary was $32 a month too high—so she would lose the child care subsidy that paid for Sydney’s family child care. “It’s amazing how far back that would set me,” says LaFramboise. “I’d be in the red about $600 a month.”

So, she says, “I asked them where they got the figures.” She learned that families are eligible for child care subsidies if they make up to 75% of the state median income (SMI). But she also learned that for five years the legislature has been passing budget bills “freezing” the SMI—while the cost of living keeps increasing. If the SMI had been updated, LaFramboise would still be eligible for subsidized child care. So she filed an appeal.

Taking action

She also attended a Sacramento meeting of Parent Voices, which is campaigning for the state to update the SMI. “I felt like I really need to speak up,” she says, “not only for my case, but for other women in the same situation.” She told her story at a hearing at the state Capitol March 22—and is looking forward to participating in Parent Voices, “when they get a Yolo County chapter going.”

Costly raise

Melanie Welch has been a Parent Voices activist for several years, attending the annual Stand for Children and speaking at the Capitol. The SMI campaign touches her very personally. “My boss wanted to give me a $1.25 raise,” she says, “but I had to decline,” to stay eligible for after-school care for six-year-old Faith. With the raise but no child care subsidy, Welch says, “I would have been more in the hole.”

Really powerful

With Parent Voices, Welch recently visited Assembly-member Mark Leno (D, SF) to talk about the SMI.

Juggling kids, job, and school (she hopes to get her B.A. this year), Welch makes Parent Voices a priority. She remembers going to her first meeting and finding it “just really powerful” to be with “a lot of women in our situation—hardworking single parents.”

Defrost the SMI!

The problem: You’re eligible for subsidized child care if you make less than 75% of the state median income (SMI). But the SMI hasn’t been updated in five years! The legislature keeps passing budget bills that “freeze” it.

The solution: Parent Voices is campaigning to “defrost” the SMI—raise it to keep up with inflation.

How you can help: Contact Parent Voices (415-882-0234), contact your legislators, and tell your own story about why subsidized child care is important to you.

Parent Voices Stand for Children

May 3 Sacramento

Let’s bring 1,000 parents to Sacramento this year to advocate for California’s children!

For information on Stand for Children or to find the Parent Voices chapter nearest you, call Mary Ignatius, 415-882-0234.