Child Care Businesses Disappearing in Napa County

For families able to find child care that does meet their needs, all too often high costs limit their ability to access that care.

“It’s important to note that quality, accessible and affordable child care is a service that all working families rely on – rich, poor, middle class,” said Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd.  “You think of Napa Valley and you think wineries, golf courses, restaurants and spas. 

"But the people who work those jobs may have young children and they can’t provide the services this valley is renowned for if they are worrying about their young, small children,” he said.

The report indicates that total licensed child care supply in California has decreased by 2 percent compared to 2010, making licensed child care available to only 25 percent of children with working parents statewide.

In Napa County, the total licensed supply decreased 9 percent compared to 2010, with licensed slots available to only 20 percent of children with working parents.

Furthermore, compared to 2010, the current family child care homes capacity in Napa County fell by 11 percent, while center-based care decreased by 5 percent.  The largest number of child care requests is for children under 2 years old, and this is where the supply is lowest.

 Cornish-Nickens said the report showed that the cost of child care is too high for many families.

"Some 1,333 of the county’s children aged 0-5 years are living in families whose incomes fall below the federal poverty line," she said. "For these families and many others, it is an often insurmountable struggle to find high quality child care that is affordable."

Nationally, California ranks 6th for least affordable center-based care for an infant, according to the Child Care Aware report: 2013 High Cost of Care.  

The average cost in Napa County is $13,043 annually for full-time infant care in a child care center.  Despite these high costs, over $1 billion has been cut from the state’s child care and development programs since 2008 preventing low-income families from accessing subsidized care.

In Napa County, there are a mere 62 subsidized slots for children under 2 and 50 of those are reserved for students at Napa Valley College, Cornish-Nickens  said.

The 2013 Child Care Portfolio is the 9th in a biennial series of statewide and county-by-county reports documenting licensed child care supply and demand in California.

The data was collected in 2012 from local child care resource and referral programs and prepared by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, a statewide organization. 

The 69 locally-based, state-funded child care resource and referral programs (R&Rs) work to improve the quality, availability, and affordability of child care in local communities throughout the state.

To access the full report and county-by-county data, please visit: www.rrnetwork.org

If you would like more information about the child care options available in Napa County, please visit www.crcnapa.org