CHARLOTTE — The possibility of a national funding freeze for child care has left families, providers and even state leaders in limbo about what’s to come.
On Wednesday, ABC News reported that a Department of Health and Human Services official told them federal child care funding could be frozen in all 50 states.
The funding program on the line helps low-income families pay for child care so parents can work or attend school. Some states also use the funds to reimburse providers, subsidize care costs for families, and ensure basic safety standards.
Ever since that report, child care provider Bregenia Hill-White says an extra source of stress has been hanging over her head.
“It really hurt my heart,” she told Channel 9’s Eli Brand. “It really crushed me.”
The funding freeze comes in the wake of multiple fraud investigations at daycares in Minnesota. Hill-White says frozen funds for even a few days could be devastating for parents and providers in North Carolina.
“The subsidy program is very important because it can make or break a family,” she said. “It can mean whether or not a parent can go to work or not, and if they can’t go to work, it puts them in a worse situation.”
Parents and providers had been left in the dark for days. It wasn’t until Monday evening that North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced the state had not received any notice from the federal government that the action was being taken. However, he did not definitively say it would not happen. The federal government has frozen funding for other states, saying they want to make sure taxpayer money is not abused.
Hill-White says she gets it, but she wants to ensure no one is put in a tough position as a result.
Jackson went on to say he would fight fraud in the state.
“That’s what our fraud prosecutors do every day,” he said. “When people steal taxpayer money, they’re stealing from kids and families. We have zero tolerance for it, and we’ll use every tool we have to stop it.”
On Tuesday, the federal government also announced they would be closing what they called a “Biden-era loophole” that allowed states to pay child care providers before those providers gave proof children were actually in attendance.
Jackson said North Carolina does not use that program and will not be affected by its closure.
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