AUSTIN, Texas — High costs and limited access to child care has become a reality for many parents in Austin.
Those high costs are the motivation behind Councilwoman Vanessa Fuentes' (District 2) plan to lift some of the financial burden.
On Wednesday, Fuentes made priorities for the City's budget by introducing a trio of amendments:
- A family stabilization grant that would provide $1,000 in "mini grants" to low-income families in emergency situations
- A social services grant that would give child care workers a 20% pay raise
- A child care operators grant program that would allocate $250,000 in funding to offset construction costs for at least 10 facilities in areas Fuentes referred to as "childcare deserts"
Fuentes said the cost for parents to use child care is too high and, paired with Austin's affordability crisis, she believes changes must be made.
"We heard from Austinites who talked about ... [how] paying for child care was tuition level prices, $2,000 a month per child in some cases ... and that's just unaffordable" Fuentes said. "It's unrealistic, and it's burdening our families."
In an effort to drive costs down, Fuentes said the child care grant would allow facilities to be built more quickly by removing the fees that come with gaining permits, thereby putting forth more child care centers in the areas where they're the most needed, such as Dove Springs and Del Valle.
"We're trying to ensure that every family is able to get to their day care within their neighborhood or on their way to work," Fuentes said.
Travis County is the most expensive county in Texas to raise a child, according to the U.S. Labor Department's Women's Bureau. Data showed the average parent in the county paid $11,705 for child care in 2022.
The City of Austin is currently working on finalizing the budget for the 2024 fiscal year. On Tuesday, Mayor Kirk Watson and councilmembers heard from dozens of community members on the proposed $5.5 billion budget.
Many Austinites expressed concern over what they called "a lack of community investments, such as child care and affordable housing."
The next opportunity for Austinites to speak is on Aug. 16. Fuentes encourages anyone who has any thoughts or qualms to come to the meeting.
"Every family, regardless in which ZIP code that you live in Austin, should have access to high quality, affordable child care," Fuentes said.