Childcare Expansion Sparks Conversation: How Do We Truly Empower Families?

BETHANY HERRON
Vice President of Education
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The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) new rule just strengthened the Child Care & Development Block Grant. Free, low-cost childcare sounds like a significant breakthrough. 

According to the White House Fact Sheet, HHS’ new rule, which went into effect at the end of April, will “cap co-payments for families…to no more than 7% of income, saving families in states that do not yet cap co-payments over $200 a month on average.” For certain families, such as those at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, the rule encourages states to relieve parents of co-payments, ultimately making childcare free. 

While this rule aims to help families with the greatest need, there is ongoing debate about its effectiveness and broader, likely negative, impact.

Consider My Family’s Story

I know the pain firsthand.

I sat in my school administrator’s office, tears streaming down my face, watching my elementary school classmates leave for another coveted, end-of-the-year trip. Once again, my dad’s addiction and resultant family enslavement to after-school debt meant I was left behind. The pain and confusion ran deep. I heard the whispers of my teachers and friends’ parents. Empowering our family appeared to be a helpless cause. Most of all, even as a child, I knew how much it hurt my mother. She lived defeated, feeling like she could never break free from the cycle of poverty. Meanwhile, my father sat imprisoned in a destructive habit that was tearing our family apart. 

On the surface, our need was material–and help was readily available. Churches regularly paid our debt. Well-meaning individuals quickly signed us up for every government dollar possible, covered our bills with benevolence funds, and filled up our food pantry. From all outward appearances, the assistance we received should have gotten us out of material poverty. But it didn’t, which raises the question … 

Does Material Assistance Bring Flourishing For Families Needing Development?

Clearly, my family needed more than material assistance. No amount of money could target the needs of our home. Instead, misplaced compassion actually stoked the flame because it sustained our brokenness without addressing the issues that caused it.

Imagine the impact the 2024 childcare subsidy expansion would have had on my home. Had my family received more material aid based on surface-level financial need, my father would’ve had more money to fuel his addiction, stay right where he was–and keep us there with him. 

In reality, my father needed relational, addiction recovery, not more money. My mother needed healing for her husband, a cheering squad, a trustworthy job, and budgeting assistance. 

These deeper needs are present in many homes. 

Current research shows monetary assistance doesn’t improve outcomes for those who need developmental solutions. Indeed, for most, more money in the pocket equates to higher spending in other areas, missing each home’s more pressing, foundational needs. 

So, How Do Ministry Workers Effectively Support Families Needing Development?

• Strengthen existing family relationships. 

God’s design for the family is that it functions as a web of healthy, interdependent relationships. Love, by definition, is a virtue. Individuals and communities can truly love each other; programs and well-intended, one-way handout programs cannot. It takes a relationship.

Instead of rapidly turning to organizationally-based material relief, start strengthening relationships by asking those in need a simple question: “Where is your family?” 

Example: Your organization encounters a young, single mom who should rely on her family and friends for help. They know her story and her children–and should be more aware of her true needs. Before signing her up for programs that incentivize her to stay below the poverty line, seek to connect her with her family, friends, and church. If no healthy relationships exist, your organization should help her build that community. 

• Create a community where skillful case management provides empowering support. 

Such a system can target a family’s true needs. Once identified, dignifying, community-led solutions, such as food cooperatives, community-led childcare solutions, transportation programs, and transitional housing can be engaged. These models will empower individuals and families, ensuring God’s image-bearers are treated with dignity and respect. Community collaboration is key to nurturing a community that supports flourishing. Tools, such as Charity Tracker, can make collaboration possible.

Let’s continue our example from above: The young woman’s family is contacted, but those relationships can’t be repaired in time to help. As well, she faces losing her children because of her circumstances. However, case management reveals she is a hard worker and a kind, loving mother. Community-led, relational solutions designed to incentivize freedom instead of dependency are engaged to support her. 

She and her children become residents at a transitional housing program, while she attends trade school. The local preschool has a subsidized program where she volunteers one day a week for a tuition discount. Meanwhile, a local church helps her find reliable transportation and provides a budgeting class to help her save. Upon graduation from trade school, she is hired at a well-paying job and has enough money saved for a down payment on an apartment. And, family counseling is provided to strengthen relationships with her family of origin. It hasn’t been easy. But, strong relationships were built that encouraged her to press on within a supportive community. 

A Final Thought

Material poverty has deep and complex roots. When those roots aren’t directly addressed by compassionate individuals close to the situation, the generalized, financial assistance that takes its place misses the mark and almost always sustains a family’s unhealthy situation. 

So, while it may seem families must have childcare subsidies, the deeper need is for people close to the situation to relationally address families’ real, developmental needs with compassion and discernment. 

This article is just the tip of the iceberg for practical resources available through the True Charity Network. Check out all the ways it can help you learn, connect, and influence here.

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