LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead [ ... ]
This Week in Girls on the Run
By Sitkans Against Family Violence
and The Pathways Coalition
During th [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]
By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Legislators Add $7.5M To Child Care Funding
By Claire Stremple
Alaska Beacon
The waitlist at the child care center Lori Berrigan runs in Palmer doubled this last year. There are 250 children on it. Berrigan said she’s running LifeWays at capacity, but the business is barely breaking even.
“We’re not profitable, even with 250 kids on our waitlist, because we’re providing quality care. And you can’t provide quality care without paying your workers well,” she said.
Berrigan said she had to increase wages 30-40% to retain her staff. That means she has to raise her rates 30% starting this June. She said pandemic-era federally funded stabilization grants helped keep her business afloat, but even with the significant increase in her rates, she would have to consider shutting down if it weren’t for help from the state.
“I’m hoping that this is going to continue to be a viable thing,” she said. “I’m going to see how this year goes. And then I may have to make hard decisions.”
Advocates for child care contacted lawmakers about funding problems statewide and the effort appears to have had an impact. The Legislature put an additional $7.5 million towards grants for child care providers in the coming year’s budget bill.
More work to be done
The funding is half the amount advocates say it would take to boost wages and stabilize the industry. Some lawmakers say they have more work to do.
Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said she’s hugely supportive of funding child care centers. She’s the leader of the bipartisan Senate majority caucus.
She said that reliable, safe child care affects the mental health outcomes of the state’s population in the future.
“We save money by appropriating for these vital services now,” she said. “The Senate majority leadership certainly saw the need for that for next year.”
The Senate approved $15 million for child care, but that didn’t get enough support among the Republican led House majority caucus.
“My goal is to spend a lot more time talking with House counterparts,” Giessel said. “I didn’t communicate as effectively as I should have.”
The $7.5 million currently in the budget still needs to be approved by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who has the authority to veto all or part of individual items in the budget.
Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage and a member of the House majority, supported the funding. She is the liaison of the Legislature on the governor’s child care task force that Dunleavy announced in early April. Coulombe wrote a bill aimed at boosting child care, which is co-sponsored by members of the mostly Democratic House minority caucus.
“The reason why I’m trying to figure that out is because I’m pro-life, and the governor wants to be a pro-family state,” Coulombe said. “I would hate for somebody to feel like they couldn’t have a baby because there’s no support once the baby’s born. So let’s give them some support to do it.”
It didn’t pass this year, but Coulombe said she’s hopeful for more movement on the child care issue when legislators reconvene next year.
Child care and the economy
Blue Shibler is the executive director of the Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children. She said child care centers are struggling despite intense demand for services.
“Whether you’re talking about rural Alaska or cities, every single part of Alaska has a child care shortage. And that in the heart of that sort of shortage is absolutely, simply that it’s not a good business model — you can’t make a profit. In fact, you can only suffer a loss, really, at this point,” Shibler said.
She said any funding is good, but more would be better.
“I think it’s going to help,” she said. “I don’t think we’re going to see growth in the industry, which is a bummer, because we really feel like having more child care availability is what was going to be part of the answer to the workforce shortages.”
That sentiment was echoed by Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Cathy Muñoz in April. “The lack of affordable and accessible quality childcare is a significant workforce challenge,” she said in a press release.
According to one study, 77% percent of Alaska parents reported missing work because of child care challenges. Forty percent of Alaskans interviewed for the study said that they or someone in their household had left a job, declined a job offer, or changed jobs because of child care issues in the last year.
Christina Eubanks has run a legacy child care center in Anchorage for the last 15 years. She said the last year has been the most stressful of her career even though demand is as high as it’s ever been.
“A woman said to me, ‘As soon as I knew my pregnancy was viable, I started looking for child care,” Eubanks recounted. “She’s literally looking at losing her job. And she’s a professional woman losing her career because she cannot go back to work.”
But to hire staff, Eubanks has had to raise wages — the minimum she pays is $16 an hour. That pay hike for her workers means that she’s raising her rate to nearly $1,700 a month per child this summer.
“There’s a limit to what people can pay,” she said. Her child care center, Hillcrest, is considering scholarships for currently enrolled families that cannot afford the increase. She said the state funding is going to help her keep the cost to families down while she invests in retaining her staff.
The $7.5 million in the state budget is the biggest boost she’s seen from the state. It would translate to about $10,000 a month for her care center — and she plans to put it all towards salaries.
–––––
https://alaskabeacon.com/claire-stremple
Login Form
20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.