In the wake of COVID, N.J. child care providers say they need more money now to stay open – NJ.com

New Jersey earmarked $700 million from the American Rescue Plan to help struggling child care centers, but some of that money won’t be paid out until 2023, officials said, frustrating people in the industry who say they desperately need all the funds now.

The Department of Human Services previously said there will be two installments paid for the Stabilization Grant, which is meant to help child care providers with wages, benefits, insurance, rent, sanitizing and other expenses. The grants provide up to $120,000 for licensed child care providers and up to $4,000 for family child care providers.

The first payment will go out this month, spokeswoman Eva Loayza-McBride said, but child care providers and advocates said they are disappointed the second payment won’t go out until calendar year 2023.

In December, Human Services’ posted information about the grant process, informing providers they would receive two-thirds of the funding within 30 days of an application’s approval, with the rest coming 12 months after a recertification process.

“Overall this is about stabilization long term, not just in one year,” said Natasha Johnson, assistant commissioner of the Division of Family Development, noting it will also space the funds over different tax years.

“Why? That makes no sense. The industry is struggling now,” said Guy Falzarano of Early Childhood Education Advocates (ECEA), the lobbying arm of the New Jersey Child Care Association (NJCCA). He is also the owner of Lightbridge Academy, which owns 42 child care centers in the state. “There is no good in throwing a life preserver to someone who has already drowned.”

It comes at a time when the child care industry is struggling to hire and retain workers, which makes it hard to meet demand. The challenges are compounded by intermittent classroom shutdowns because of COVID and frustrated parents who can’t go to work when their kids are not in day care.

An official with the Murphy administration said providing two payments will make sure providers have access to the funds that they need today and they can anticipate and plan for a second round next year.

But those in the industry say the funding is needed now.

“I don’t really understand it,” said Cecilia Zalkind, president and CEO of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a child advocacy group. “When the grants were offered, they were for immediate need and providers were pulling together plans for what they need now.”

Meghan Tavormina, president of the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children, which represents child care professionals, said she’s grateful for the money. But, while the wait for the second installment may be O.K. for programs on strong financial footing, others that are struggling may not make it until 2023 without help, she said.

“Providers saw a glimmer of infusion of funds and now they’re going to have to wait. They’re going to have to stay open for an entire year to get the funds they were expecting,” Tavormina said.

Republican lawmakers have criticized the pace of the payouts overall from the American Rescue massive spending bill, saying that “very little has made it out the door through programs that help people, and billions remain completely unallocated.”

Citing data from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, Senate Republican Office spokesman Brad Schnure said more than $3.1 billion of the $6.2 billion in American Rescue Plan funds has not been allocated, while another $3 billion that has been allocated has not yet been distributed.

“Unfortunately, the Murphy administration has shown almost no urgency in putting relief funds to work in places like child care where there’s a real need,” he said. “He’s sitting on billions of dollars with no plan while families and businesses continue to suffer.”

Falzarano, whose company also has child care centers in Pennsylvania, said that state’s process was quicker.

“In Pennsylvania, you fill out a form and send it in, and they just gave the money,” Falzarano said. “(Child care centers) went out and used it to recruit, signing bonuses, stay-on bonuses for existing staff and they stabilized very quickly.”

The Department of Human Services said the state has spent $430 million on pandemic-related child care programs. The spending included a temporary emergency child care program for essential workers, a temporary program to help families with school-age children with unanticipated child care costs due to remote learning and having to pay full-time rates for school-age children in the state’s child care assistance program due to remote learning.

It also included a grant that gives child care providers funding to give $1,000 bonuses to eligible workers. To date, more than 2,000 workers have received bonus payments totaling over $22 million, Human Services said.

“Overall, Governor Murphy and Human Services have invested more than $1 billion in child care over the course of the administration, after more than a decade of the child care industry receiving no new increases,” Loayza-McBride said.

For the stabilization grant that will be paid this month and in 2023, nearly 1,300 providers have applied and Human Services has approved $76 million in payments, Loayza-McBride said.

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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KPMueller.