Jessa Costanzo
PREPARED FOR
Cathedral City
PREPARED BY
2022 Cathedral City
Childcare Needs Assessment & Report
Why Parents Love WeeCare
Mr. Andrew Lee, Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
68700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero
Cathedral City, CA 92234
Re: CDBG-CV Funding FY 2021-22
Dear Mr. Lee:
It is my pleasure to submit this letter as our formal request for funding under the CDBG-CV Program for the 2021- 2022 FY Program. Additionally, this letter provides additional information about the WeeCare Programs and details how these programs will assist Cathedral City in accomplishing its goals under the CDBG-CV Grant.
WeeCare provides access to affordable, high-quality childcare for all families while supporting families and providers with a focus on equity and diversity, by supplying technology tools that allow families to easily find care and allows providers to operate a sustainable business. WeeCare will be implementing the following three programs using the CDBG Grant: (1) the Childcare Business and Technical Assistance Program; (2) the Childcare Assistance for Small Business and Micro Enterprise Employers Program; and, (3) the Backup Childcare Credits Program.
The activities to be funded with the Cathedral City 2021-2022 CDBG-CV funding will assist with Cathedral City’s efforts to prepare, prevent and/or respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Specifically, funds will be used to support Cathedral City families in WeeCare programs for one year. Additionally, the funds will be used to assist businesses in response to the negative effects that the pandemic has had on their operations and workforce. Also, by participating in WeeCare’s Program, participating businesses will be better positioned to effectively respond to future pandemics or other economic shocks. Additionally, the program will increase the number of high-quality, accessible, and well managed childcare facilities which will result in an increase in the available workforce talent available to local employers. Conversely, it will also result in removing a major barrier preventing parents from entering or returning to the workforce.
The Covid-19 pandemic polarized major existing challenges in the childcare industry that children, families and providers have faced, and has compounded the negative impact of such challenges. Specifically, some of these challenges include the high childcare costs pricing many families out of the market and forcing them to rely on non- suitable or inappropriate childcare alternatives; prevented otherwise able bodied parents to rely on public assistance or to remain at home to take care of their children; deprived children of the academic, social and cognitive development needed that childcare provides for future academic and social success; and, contributed to the inability of small businesses to attract and retain talent as well as limited their ability to remain open or grow due to the shortage or unavailability of childcare available for existing and potential employees. In sum, the long-term stability and prosperity of the United States depends on ensuring that our childcare system at the local levels works for everyone; children, families, and businesses.
WeeCare’s Programs meet HUD’s National Objectives as detailed below. Specifically, WeeCare’s Programs and related activities described below are all identified as “Primary Activities That Can Be Used to Prevent, Prepare for, and Respond to Coronavirus in the Community Development Block Grant Program” as identified by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The link to this HUD document specifically identifies: (1) Child Care, an eligible activity under the Public Services Activities category and identifies a new service as allowable, (2) Financial Assistance to For-Profit Businesses; and (3) Technical Assistance - Micro- Enterprise Assistance. Both (2) and (3) are allowed under the Economic Development Activities category. All three of the WeeCare programs and related activities meet the CDBG National Objective under the Low- and moderate- income (LMI) persons, families, or area criteria and the businesses providing LMI jobs or services criteria.
HUD further identifies general support to business owners as an eligible activity under economic development recovery for small businesses and micro-enterprises under the CDBG Program. General support, for example, includes childcare among other activities. WeeCare’s programs focus on providing childcare to small businesses and micro-enterprises to support their economic development and recovery from the impact of Covid-19. These programs also support childcare providers, which are micro-enterprises because they employ fewer than five employees.
WeeCare is requesting $138,500 total, $130,000 CDBG-CV funds to be used for Childcare Business and Technical Assistance and Childcare Benefits for Small Business Employers, and $8,500 CDBG funds to be used for Backup Childcare Credits. In order to service the estimated population, WeeCare will provide matching funds to augment the CBDG-CV grant funds.
This funding will support business and technical assistance for childcare providers in Cathedral City as well as small business and micro-enterprise employers to offer working families with childcare benefits. By providing WeeCare software free of charge to Cathedral City childcare providers and supporting employers with childcare benefits and backup credits, Cathedral City will be directly supporting the demographics of families and providers most impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic and in need of childcare services. Additionally, by supporting the implementation of WeeCare’s programs, Cathedral City will be making strides in creating a stable childcare ecosystem for its families and businesses while maximizing the available childcare capacity.
During this year of programming, WeeCare will support 25 childcare providers in the community and over 600 small business and micro-enterprise employers. Through these childcare providers and employers, WeeCare will service more than 1,400 families and children in Cathedral City. This will decrease the number of children currently eligible for and in need of childcare services, but are not currently being serviced, which is approximately 1,801 children in the city.
We look forward to developing a long-term relationship with Cathedral City to continue to support the children, families, businesses, and childcare providers throughout the city as well as strengthen the childcare industry in the city. Please find an in-depth overview of the three programs that the CDBG Grant funds will support at the end of this document.
Sincerely,
Jessa Costanzo
VP of Business Development
[email protected]
Mission
To inspire, connect, and support both families and childcare providers to make affordable, sustainable, and world-class childcare accessible to all families.
About WeeCare
WeeCare is the largest network of licensed family childcare providers in the nation, providing access to affordable, high-quality childcare for all families while supporting childcare providers in operating sustainable businesses. WeeCare’s provider network consists of 98% female-run businesses and more than 82% people of color. WeeCare is a woman-owned business headquartered in California and is 87 times more efficient with funding1 than other childcare company or program with the highest impact of results per dollar. In 2021 alone, WeeCare supported over 65,000 childcare providers and 200,000 new families throughout the nation.
Families use WeeCare to find, tour and enroll with the perfect childcare provider for their family. WeeCare supports families along the way with messaging, photo and video updates, and health and safety features through the app. Using WeeCare, families save over 30 hours finding care through traditional, old-fashioned methods of calling providers to find out about their available capacity.
Childcare providers are supplied with the support and tools they need to manage and grow their business with ease, including enrollment and finance management, tuition payment collection, and a professionally developed curriculum. On average, providers who use the platform earn two to three times more income and save over ten hours per week by reducing administrative tasks.
WeeCare's innovative real-time capacity matchmaking technology increases providers' enrollments by matching families to their exact openings while keeping them within the capacity and ultimately reducing the administrative burden of providers and the footwork of families. Thus, providers can earn more and more families find care that fits their needs. WeeCares technology provides a common-sense solution to the antiquated and outdated processes that have systemically held back communities to offer a more accessible and equitable solution for all.
WeeCare is a tech-based solution and centralized network that uses real-time data and tools to support its community of childcare providers, children, and families with 24/7 real-time support in over 20 different languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano, Batangueno, and Russian. WeeCares' ability to access real-time data provides the most accurate insights and is key to monitoring the quality and safety of programs with continuous quality improvements.
WeeCare solves considerable systemic ecosystem challenges through its modern Community Childcare Programs. It provides a better experience for the families, children, and providers with increased transparency and accessibility while decreasing administrative costs traditionally associated with community programs.
WeeCare at a Glance
Purpose of the Report Early care and education is a critical concern for children, parents, employers, and communities as a whole.Childcare is essential to support the workforce and plays a significant factor in Cathedral City overall economic development.The purpose of this report is to inform and provide a compilation of data and research to conduct a needs assessment of early education and childcare in Cathedral City. This data describes key information of the early care and education ecosystem in Cathedral City, which will service to assist in planning and implementing programs and initiatives.
The report is broken down into the following sections:
1. Cathedral City Population Demographics Analysis and Impact of Childcare
2. Childcare Landscape Analysis in Cathedral City
3. Childcare Provider Perspective
4. Family Perspective
5. Employer Perspective
6. Economic Analysis of Childcare Challenges in Cathedral City
7. Recommendation Summary & WeeCare Program ROI Analysis
8. Recommended Community Programs for Cathedral City
Data Sources
The information in this report comes from a variety of local, county, state and national sources. The intent is to provide the most recent information related to the target population. Data and relevant notes are documented through out the document.
Critical Findings
• One in Five people in Cathedral City lives in poverty as defined by the US Census, however 7 out of 10 households in Cathedral City have less household annual income necessary to cover the true cost of living • Childcare tuition is nearly 1/3 (27.8%) of median household income in Cathedral City • For every 3 children there is only 1 licensed slot available • 86 percent of childcare providers are serving significantly fewer children than they were prior to the pandemic and, on average, enrollment is down by 67 percent18 • 1,801 children in Cathedral City are eligible to receive government assistance through subsidies for childcare but are not able to be served through existing programs and are not receiving assistance • The impact of childcare-related challenges, in Cathedral City is significant - with 32.5 Million productivity and wage losses annually, and an estimated 240 new family employees leaving their jobs each year. • For those who have left the workforce entirely, the primary reason (64%)was the inability to find childcare solutions that meet their needs vs 29% not able to afford childcare, and only 18% stated that it was due to not finding work.
• An estimated 1.25% increase in the Cathedral City's workforce participation rate by families with young children through childcare programs would result in 562 more jobs 54, $11,056,788 Million in additional wage earnings, and $1,028,281 in extra annual tax revenue in Cathedral City • 20% of employers are currently willing to increase their investment in childcare needs. However, 49% of employers would be likely to provide additional childcare assistance if the government offered supplementary incentives.
• implementing WeeCare's childcare programs will impact 25 childcare providers and over 1,400 families 18 NAEYC. “Holding On Until Help Comes.” July 13, 2020. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/our-work/public- policyadvocacy/holding_on_until_help_comes.survey_analysis_july_2020.pdf 19 US Chamber "Vol. 5 Employers, Childcare, and COVID19" https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/media-uploads/EarlyEd_Employer2.0_FINAL.pdf Cathedral City Population Analysis
Regions of Cathedral City
Cathedral City is located in Riverside County, in
the state of California. Cathedral City, is 21.5
square miles with 2,381.5 population per square
mile significantly higher than Riverside County
(303.8) and California (239.1) population per
square mile.
92234, 92241, 92264, 92270, 92276 Zip codes
covering Cathedral City.1
The Families of Cathedral CityAccording to U.S. Census, as of April 2020, there is an estimated 52,0002 individuals who reside in Cathedral City.
Population Growth
Fertility rates increase over-18 month period increased by 5% when childcare program costs are made available to the public and reduced childcare tuitions.3
Cathedral Cities population has increased by less than a percent (.57%) in over 10 years Census from 2010 to 2020,4 which is significantly lower than the 10.43% increase in Riverside County, 5.33% for the state of California, an significantly less than average growth rate for Southern US Cities with populations of 50,000 was 11.4%.
Population of MothersThere is more than 2,088 mothers with one or more children ages 0-5 residing in Cathedral City.4 Population of Children Ages 0-5Approximately 3,215 (5.8%) children ages 0 - 5, and an estimated 7,790 children ages 0-12 reside in Cathedral City.
EthnicityApproximately 58.86% of families and children are Latino in Cathedral City.5 Latino makes up the second largest population of struggling households with 46% of all latino households are defined as a struggling6.
Languages
45.41% of Cathedral City residents speak only English, and the largest non-English speaking language group is Spanish, which is spoken by 47.89% of the population7. Approximately 4.7% of the population speaks Asian and Pacific Island languages and 1.9% speaks other Indo-European languages.
Increased Risk Factors for Children in Cathedral City
Children in Cathedral City attend lower ranking K-12 schools Cathedral City has lower K-12 ratings, with low ranking elementary schools or an elementary school with a high suspension rates. These increased educational risk factors for children can be supported through preventive school readiness benefits of early education childcare. Early learning and care increases high school graduation rates by 14% and reduced the percentage of children repeating a grade by 15%.12 More specifically, longitudinal studies found that attending early childhood education can13:
• Reduce grade retention rates
• Reduce a student’s reliance on special education services • Increase a student’s odds of completing high school
• Improve college attendance post-high school
• Decrease a child’s exposure to abuse and neglect and, subsequently, welfare services • Decrease the potential for juvenile or adult arrest
• Reduce the incidence of major depressive disorder
• Decrease adult smoking rates
• Increase a student’s earnings later in life
K-12 schools in Cathedral City will benefit from the school readiness skills children build at childcare programs in the following years with children entering kindergarten. 1 City Data Zip Map https://www.city-data.com/zipmaps/Cathedral-City-California.html 2 US Census 3
Mörk, Sjögren, & Svaleryd. "Cheaper Childcare, More Children," https://d-nb.info/992570387/344 https://abc10up.com/2022/02/01/michigan-childcare-worker-shortage-critical-report-says/5 US Census data from 2010 to 2020 6 https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/hgascon/viz/TheRealCostMeasureinCalifornia2021/RealCostDashboard The Real Cost Measure in California 2021 by United Ways of California, in Riverside County (East)--Indio, Coachella, Blythe & La Quinta (East) Cities struggling by race-ethnicity 12 School Readiness13
https://equitablegrowth.org/preschool-is-about-more-than-a-third-grade-test-score/ Households in Cathedral City
HouseholdsThere are 18,816 households in Cathedral City with an average 2.87 persons per household in Cathedral City vs
3.28 in Riverside County. The growth in single-parent family households has increased the need for economic welfare programs.7
Home OwnershipRecent reports have shown that the increased cost of childcare has a negative impact on home ownership, oftentimes delaying young families from purchasing homes in order to afford the cost of childcare.8 Less people own homes in Cathedral City with only 60.7% of the population owning vs Riverside at 66.3%.
By implementing these childcare programs, families will have more options for affordable and accessible childcare, subsequently increasing the number of families willing and able to purchase housing. Additionally, families interested in moving to Cathedral City will be encouraged by the increase in childcare options.
Home Value
A report found that home values in the community increased $20 for every dollar spent on schools.9 Investments into public education have been shown to increase economic benefits of the community, regardless of whether or not residents have any children, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The median value of an owner-occupied house in Cathedral City is $279,500 compared to California’s average of $505,000.10
By implementing the recommended childcare programs homeowners of Cathedral City can benefit through an increase in their home values, regardless if they have children. 7 ttps://www.prb.org/resources/u-s-household-composition-shifts-as-the-population-grows-older-more-young-adults-live-with-parents/8 https://www.divmg.com/mysite/marie-sy/blog/rising-childcare-costs-hurt-homeownership 9 https://www.nber.org/digest/jan03/school-spending-raises-property-values10 US Census data from 2010 to 2020 Less children in Cathedral City have access to health insurance Cathedral City population has 14.9% persons without health insurance which is higher than 9.8% in Riverside County and 8.9% in California.
Adequate access to high quality childcare could help fill in health gaps on children with decreased access to healthcare. There is substantial and lasting benefits of early care and education participation for health, including increased on-time immunization rates, early screening rates, improved cardiovascular and metabolic health, physical health and reduced smoking.14 Children with speech and language impairments are more commonly diagnosed at earlier ages, whereas disability diagnoses involving specific learning disabilities are more commonly made when children are in middle or high school. Providing childcare aids in identifying any developmental and behavioral delays so that intervention can take place early on. One in four children ages birth to 5 are at risk for developmental delays, and would benefit greatly from early intervention. Assessments and screenings can be used to evaluate developmental milestones and determine whether or not a child needs intervention. Early intervention and prevention is likely to be more effective if provided earlier in life because of how adaptable the brain is during early stages of development. ECE provides a baseline for children to be measured and assessed so that their progress can be monitored and ensure they are meeting certain developmental milestones in their cognitive and social-emotional development.15
14 https://equitablegrowth.org/addressing-the-need-for-affordable-high-quality-early-childhood-care-and-education-for-all-in-the-united-states/ 15 https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/whyActEarly.html The Workforce in Cathedral City
Cathedral City has Fewer People Participating in the Workforce Cathedral City has less of its population participating in the workforce (57.1%) compared to Riverside County (59.7%) and California (63.3%). Both male and female unemployed families currently say they want to work but can not work because of issues related to childcare.49
Cathedral City has Even Less Female Workforce Participation An even more drastic difference in female participation in the workforce. One of the primary reasons why women are exiting the workforce at an alarming rate is inadequate access to childcare and mothers being expected to care for their children full-time instead of fathers16 While the rising cost of child care resulted in an estimated 13 percent decline in mothers' employment with children under the age of five across all ethnicities of mothers49 Cathedral City has a 17.34% less females participating in the labor force with only 49% compared to Riverside (53.5%) or California (57.5%).
Significant Number of Families Leave Workforce Due to Childcare For those who have left the workforce, the primary reason was the inability to find childcare solutions that meet their needs (64%) vs 29% not able to afford childcare, and only 18% stated that it was due to not finding work.17 16 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/ 17 US Chamber of Commerce Foundation https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/EarlyEd_Minis_Report6_121420_Final.pdf Businesses of Cathedral City Cathedral City is home to 1,277 business licenses. With the largest business licensee classifications of Retail (129), Contractors (98), Cleaning/Janitorial Services (63), Eating Places (62), Auto Repair/Services (62). Followed by Beauty/Barber/Nail Salons, Gardening, Swimming Pool Services.
More Minority Owned Businesses
Cathedral City has more minority owned businesses with over 60.03% of businesses owned by minority vs than non-minority owned.18
Less Female-Owned Businesses
It is estimated that 63.5% are male-owned and 36.48% female-owned businesses and has a less equally distributed ownership compared to Riverside county (57.79% male-owned and 42.2% female-owned).
COVID19 Impact
According to the U.S. Census Bureau Small Business Pulse Survey, 34.2% of all businesses surveyed through the second week of August reported being financially impacted by the pandemic. The pain in California has been acute — more than in any other state since the pandemic began.19 Small & Minority Businesses Impacted Most
The decline in business activity among owners of color has been nearly three times the decline among other owners.20
During the beginning of the pandemic, businesses with between 20 to 49 employees had the largest employment decline of any size group. Despite efforts to reopen local economies and “get back to normal,” small business owners have had to reduce the number of employees during the height of the pandemic, with more than 60% reporting that they have not restored their headcount to pre-pandemic levels.19 Nearly half say operating capacity has decreased, with 16% reporting their capacity has decreased by more than 50%. 18 U.S. Census Survey19 https://smallbusinessmajority.org/our-research/california-small-businesses-face-difficult-decisions-as-pandemic-continues-and-funding-freezes20 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/business/newsom-coronavirus-california.html21 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/riversidecountycalifornia,cathedralcitycitycalifornia,CA,US/INC110219#INC110219 The Cost of Living in Cathedral City
1 in 5 people in Cathedral City live in
poverty
According the the US Census, the median
household income for residents of Cathedral City is
$46,521. More than 20.1% of families are living in
poverty, which is significantly higher 11.2% in
Riverside County and 11.5% in California or the
national average of 11.41%.
An estimated 44.27% households living in poverty.
7 out of 10 households have less income necessary to support basic needs in Cathedral City.
Using The Real Cost Measure in California (2021) by United Ways of California, more than 68.9% of households do not have enough annual income to meet basic needs. For a family of four located in Riverside County East: Indio, Coachella Cities with two working adults and two children (one infant age and one preschool age), the Real Cost of living is $79,916 annually.
It costs $79,675/year for a two-working parent family with one preschool-age child and one infant in Riverside County, California to make ends meet according to the Real Cost Household Budget 2019 calculator.
A single parent in Cathedral City would have to work two full time minimum wage jobs or earn over $35.30/ hour.
Cost of Living for Single Parents
For a single parent with two children costs
$70,660/year to support basic needs in Riverside
County East.
In comparison, working three full-time minimum-wage
jobs would barely cover these costs to live, earning
families only $72,000 annually.
A single parent must earn over $35.30 per hour and
work full time in order to cover the costs for two
children in Riverside, CA.
Childcares impact on families & children's social economic status Research finds substantial and lasting benefits for children's educational and economic outcomes, including higher rates of high school completion, college attendance, and earnings, and reduced criminal activity and public assistance reliance into adulthood15 It has also been shown that effects are generally strongest for disadvantaged children.14 Research has shown that access to early care and education helps to narrow socioeconomic, racial and ethnic disparities, not only for the child, but also for parents and guardians.16 14 William T. Gormley, “The Effects of Oklahoma’s Pre-K Program on Hispanic Children,” Social Science Quarterly 89 (4) (2008); Greg J Duncan and Aaron J. Sojourner, “Can Intensive Early Childhood Intervention Programs Eliminate Income-Based Cognitive and Achievement Gaps?” Journal of Human Resources 48 (4) (2013): 945–68; Phillips and others, “Puzzling It out: The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects”; Katherine Magnuson and Greg J. Duncan, “Can Early Childhood Interventions Decrease Inequality of Economic Opportunity?” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 2 (2) (2017): 123, available at https://doi.org/10.7758/rsf.2016.2.2.05; Daphna Bassok, “Do Black and Hispanic Children Benefit More from Preschool? Understanding Differences in Preschool Effects across Racial Groups,” Child Development 81 (6) (2010): 1828–45, available at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01513.x; Yoshikawa and others, “Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education”; Taryn W. Morrissey, Lindsey Hutchison, and Kimberly Burgess, “The Short- and Long-Term Impacts of Large Public Early Care and Education Programs” (Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014), available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/14/longtermimpact/rb_longTermImpact.pdf; Marianne P. Bitler and others, “Experimental Evidence on Distributional Effects of Head Start.” Working Paper (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016), available at http://www.nber.org/papers/w20434.pdf.15 David Deming, “Early Childhood Intervention and Life-Cycle Skill Development: Evidence from Head Start,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1 (3) (2009): 111–34, available at https://doi.org/10.1257/app.1.3.111; Rucker C. Johnson, “The Health Returns of Education Policies from Preschool to High School and Beyond,” American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 100 (2) (2010): 188–94; E. I. Knudsen and others, “Economic, Neurobiological, and Behavioral Perspectives on Building America’s Future Workforce,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 (27) (2006): 10155–62; Flavio Cunha and James J. Heckman, “The Technology of Skill Formation,” American Economic Review 97 (2) (2007): 31–47, available at https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.97.2.31; Jens Ludwig and Deborah A. Phillips, “Long-Term Effects of Head Start on Low-Income Children,” Annals Of The New York Academy Of Sciences 1136 (1) (2008): 257–68, available at https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1425.005; Eliana Garces, Duncan Thomas, and Janet Currie, “Longer-Term Effects of Head Start,” American Economic Review 92 (4) (2002): 999–1012, available at https://search.proquest.com/openview/466c6163e16cd99af4b4a38f4e0442e3/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=42182.16 https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w25889/w25889.pdf Childcare Landscape Analysis in Cathedral City
Overview
The childcare landscape in Cathedral City consists of a mix between licensed facilities such as childcare centers and home-based (FCC) locations in addition to license-
exempt Family, Friends, and Neighbor (FFN) providers.
Licensed family child care is provided in the home of the caregiver for periods of less than 24 hours per day while parents are working, attending school, or are engaged in some other activity that requires them to be away from
their children. Family child care homes are licensed by CDSS/CCLD. Small Family Child Care Homes are
licensed to serve up to eight children depending on their ages; Large Family Child Care Homes may be licensed to
serve up to 14 children, again depending on their ages.
Child Care Centers are usually located in a commercial
building. Non-medical care and supervision is provided for infant to school age children in a group setting for periods of less than 24 hours. Child Care Centers typically
licensed and care for more children than FCCs and have
higher child:staff ratios.
Number of Childcare Providers in Cathedral City by Type Centers FCC's FFN Capacity
4 68 47 1,016
There are 4 licensed centers, 68 licensed small and large FCCs, and 47 FFN providers, contributing to an estimated total capacity of 1,016 full time childcare slots at licensed childcare facilities available. The majority of available slots are available through FCCs. One full time childcare slot can serve one family to up to fourteen part time families. Out of the 4 centers, there is only one that is administered privately and the hours of operation are 7am-6pm; however, once a child is enrolled, their schedule is fixed and cannot change from week to week, which is not ideal for nontraditional or varying parental work schedules. The remaining 3 licensed centers are school programs that only offer hours 8:00am-3:00pm and do not accommodate infants or toddlers. 22 NWLC calculations based on BLS, historical data for Establishment Data Table B-1.23 https://cameonetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Los-Angeles-County-Report-1.pdf 24 https://www.ffyf.org/unlike-other-industries-the-child-care-sector-is-losing-workers-because-the-current-system-is-broken/ Childcare Landscape Continued
24 Hour and Weekend Coverage, and Offering Transportation Only a fraction of childcare providers advertise that they offer 24-hour care and weekend coverage; however, interestingly, more than 75% self-report that they are flexible with their hours, and 70% expressed that they would be willing to move to 24 hours or weekend coverage if it financially made sense. Only a few offer transportation, but 70% were open to changing this. However, providers expressed they would need to hire an assistant or additional assistance.
Licensed Capacity, Utilization, Available Vacancy & Waitlist For every 3 children (ages 0-5) only 1 licensed childcare space exists Estimated # of children (ages 0-5)Met with Existing Childcare CapacityUnmet need 3,027 1,016 66.48% (2,012)
Only 1 out of 20 childcare providers are full and can not take any additional children.
Total Capacity # Full Time Vacant Slots# of Part Time Vacant Slots Additional Families able to Serve with Existing
Supply47
1,016 317 934 317(full time) - 2,519(part
time)
While the existing child care capacity only meets a fraction of estimated need for full time care for every child in Cathedral City, the percentage of FCC’s that are operating at completely full capacity with no availability is less
10.7% and the estimated number of licensed childcare providers operating at under 50% capacity is 75% of all FCC’s. On average, enrollment in childcare centers is down 67%.26 There is an estimated number 317 full time slots available and an additional 934 part time slots out of the existing supply in order to support an estimated 2,519 additional families out of the current vacant licensed childcare slots.
Providers Willingness to Accept Families on Government Subsidy is Decreasing Additional inefficiencies in the childcare industry impact families' access to care, particularly surrounding low income families on government subsidies. The number of childcare providers in the United States that are accepting and receiving subsidies has decreased by 59% between 2005 and 2017, with the number of small in- home centers legally operating without all proper licensing (most prevalent in low-income and communities of color) accepting and receiving subsidies decreased by 75%.27 In addition, many providers are hesitant or unwilling to take children on government subsidies because of delayed payments and inefficiencies within the system.
Childcare Landscape Continued
COVID19 Impact on Childcare Landscape
Providers have permanently left the industry
The childcare industry as a whole is 10% smaller than it was pre-pandemic, and a significant contributor to that is low wages; childcare providers are also leaving the industry because of significant staffing shortages that lead to providers having to take on more work and reduce their capacity or shut their doors entirely. As a result, the child care sector lost 1,200 jobs last month, bringing the total number of child care jobs lost since the start of the crisis to 173,000. With January’s losses, nearly 1 in 6 child care jobs lost since the beginning of the pandemic have not returned.22
More are considering to leave with in a year
18% of child care providers report that they are considering leaving their child care job or closing their programs in the next year. 23 Another 20% of providers are considering leaving the child care field entirely.24 Remaining childcare providers are struggling to stay afloat:
While childcare providers and FCC providers, in particular, have historically struggled to make ends meet financially, California providers' income has been falling by more than half since the start of the pandemic, according to an article from Cal Matters.24
Similarly, these FCC childcare providers have been significantly impacted by the pandemic, having to shut their doors due to low enrollment, COVID spread, or lack of supporting staff 46. Without additional staffing support, childcare providers are having to take on even more responsibilities that come with running a small business, often with little to no previous business experience, such as administrative and financial paperwork as well as vetting interested families.
Families are turned away due to staffing shortages
Childcare providers are having to involuntarily reduce the number of children they care for and reduce the hours they work due to staffing shortages. Throughout the country, 59% of center- or home-based providers are currently experiencing staff shortages compared to 36% before the pandemic, and 72% of FCC providers have reported increased staff recruitment and retention difficulty.25 As a result, families are now left with fewer childcare options and sifting through scarce supplies.
24 https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/10/california-child-care-worker-shortage/25 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e7cf2f62c45da32f3c6065e/t/61a51257cb3aea5591b7aedd/1638208087990/child-care-shortages-nov2021.pdf26
Ibid - US Chamber Foundation "The Important of Childcare Vol. 06" https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/EarlyEd_Minis_Report6_121420_Final.pdf27 https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/public/addressing_decreasing_fcc_providers_revised_final.pdf28 https://cscce.berkeley.edu/47
How did we calculate that? One full time slot can serve from one to as many as 15 families with different schedules, We used one slot one family for the minimum number of families able to be served and for the max number we used the average number WeeCare see of one full time slot that is made out of many part time families.
The Cost of Childcare for Cathedral City Families
The average annual cost of childcare in Riverside County is approximately $11,718 for licensed centers, and $9,308 for FCCs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in Riverside County, the cost of childcare makes up more than 15.3% costs for families annual basic needs.29 High childcare costs typically accrue during a period when parents are at the lowest earning years of their careers and when the financing mechanisms of grants and low-
interest loans are unavailable.30
The large percentage of income that low- to middle-
income families are spending on childcare leads to
negative outcomes for families.93
Childcare costs 27.8% of median household income in
Cathedral City.
Table 2: Average 5 Day Weekly Tuition for Centers and FCCs Cathedral City Riverside CountyCA Regional Market
Rate31
Centers* FCC Centers FCC Center FCC
Infant $203.75 $205.85 $285 $214.88$349.26$256.52
Toddler $191.25$189.25 $215 $207.73$251.36$231.33
School Age $177.68 $168.43 $156 $201.07$207.91$202.69
29 According to the US Census 2020 Cathedral City Income by Household Type 68.9% of all households earn $75,000 annually or less. While only 31.2% earn 76,000 annually or more. According to The Real Cost Measure in California 2021 by United Ways of California, on what it takes households to earn to meet basic needs in California for a family located in Riverside County East: Indio, Coachella Cities - the Real Cost is $79,916 annually, This Real Cost of Living is further verified through Economic Policy Institutes family budget calculator, which is meant to “measures the income a family needs in order to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living,” - it cost $79,675/year for a two-working parent family with one preschool-aged child and one toddler in Riverside County, for a single parent house hold with two children costs $70,660.30
Amy Traub, Robert Hiltonsmith, and Tamara Draut, “The Parent Trap: The Economic Insecurity of Families with Young Children” (New York: Demos, 2016) 93 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/working-families-spending-big-money-child-care/ 31 2018 Regional Market Rate Survey of California Child Care Providers Families Perspective
1,801 eligible children not receiving
childcare services
# of children
(ages 0-5) in
Cathedral City
# of children
(ages 0-5)
eligible in
Cathedral City
% of children
receiving
subsidies
# of eligible
children not
receiving
subsidies
3,215 2,035 11.5% 1,801
While subsidized programs exist to assist families with paying for childcare, many eligible families are not
receiving these benefits. More than 63.3% of family
households in Cathedral City meet the State Median
Income threshold77 to be eligible to receive public
assistance for child care.10 In Riverside County, only
11.5% of children ages 0-5 eligible for state or federal subsidy are receiving benefits.33 Leaving more than
1,801 children in Cathedral City who should receive
assistance for childcare with no access to support.
Requested Childcare Needs by
Families92:
✔ More 24/7 & Weekend Care Options
✔ Support Flexible & Variable, Part-Time Schedules
✔ Earlier Drop-Off Hours
✔ Late or Extended Pick-Up Hours
✔ Additional Back-up & Drop-in Options
✔ Bilingual, Multi-Language Care Locations
✔ Remote Supervised Learning Support at Care
✔ Transportation Offered by Providers
✔ More support for special needs
Families Report the Greatest Childcare
Challenges as45:
• Covering the cost of care
• Difficulty navigating the system
• Assistance finding care
• More than 56% of families report difficulty
finding childcare32
• More flexible hours that meet work schedule
when factoring pick up and drop off times
• Flexibility at work and support from employers
• Backup childcare options
• 70 percent of families of children under the
age of five reported their child care provider is
closed or limited hours hurting working
mothers ability to work.91
Childcares Impact on Maternal Mental
Health
Access to Childcare has profound impacts on
maternal mental health and children of depressed
mothers outcomes and reduces overall depression
and disability rates.34
Families want providers close to home
Location of the childcare provider is incredibly
important to families, with 75% of families choosing a
provider that is within five miles of their home.35
32 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/ 33 2020 county needs assessment http://consortiumels.org/PDFs/2020_25Riverside_County_Child_Care_Needs_Assessment.pdf34 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00787-019-01385-735 Borowsky, Jonathan, Elizabeth Davis, and Aaron Sojourner. 2021. “How Far Will They Go? Choice and Distance in Subsidized Child Care.” Working paper.77 https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb2012.asp91 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/08/parents-juggle-work-and-child-care-during-pandemic.html92 WeeCare 2022 Survey Parents Intake Needs Childcare Providers Perspective
The number of childcare providers leaving the industry is at an all time high, and a significant amount of providers are contemplating shutting their doors in the next year due to financial instability and work load demands. Overall, childcare providers in Cathedral City and throughout California would benefit from business support to help them run and grow their small businesses, which would, in turn, help the communities' families by increasing their access to affordable childcare. In addition to improving the lives of families and children, investing in an equitable and high quality childcare landscape will significantly improve the lives of childcare providers as the childcare workforce is currently severely underpaid and overworked.
Childcare Providers Struggle Financially
Childcare providers are small businesses themselves and often struggle and are underpaid. One in five childcare workers live below the poverty line, with many earning so little that they qualify for public assistance programs.36 In California alone, 58% of childcare workers families’ are on one or more public assistance programs such as CalFresh compared to 21% in the general population.37
Low Childcare Provider Wages
Child care isn’t generally a financially lucrative career. According to the BLS, as of May, 2019 the average wage for US child care workers was $11.65 per hour, or $24,230 per year. A Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) study found that 86% of providers who work with infants and toddlers are paid less than $15 per hour. 28 Struggle to Actualize Full Revenue Potential and Manage Capacity Childcare providers face one common challenge - managing available capacity44 and actualizing their full revenue potential43. FCC providers need support with managing their capacity45 and historically turn away parents seeking part-time care schedules even though space is open because they would instead save room for a full-time slot, believing that this will increase their revenue with no guarantee of a full-time family ever enrolling. 36 https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/10/california-child-care-worker-shortage/37 https://equitablegrowth.org/addressing-the-need-for-affordable-high-quality-early-childhood-care-and-education-for-all-in-the-united-states/43 US Chamber, https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/EarlyEd_Minis_Report6_121420_Final.pdf 44 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e7cf2f62c45da32f3c6065e/t/61a51257cb3aea5591b7aedd/1638208087990/child-care-shortages-nov2021.pdf45 Workman, Simon, and Steven Jessen-Howard. 2019. “Conducting a Child Care Cost of Quality Study: A Toolkit for States and Communities.” Center for American Progress, February 2019.
Childcare Provider Perspective Continued
Work Long Hours and Overwhelmed with Business & Administrative Workload FCC providers may spend 50–60 hours per week directly caring for children.42 It is estimated that they spend an additional 10-20 hours per week on business and administrative work.39 Providers have to spend time on administrative work such as fielding phone calls from prospective families, scheduling tours, and tracking down tuition payments from current families, which all take away from providing high-quality care.
Lack a Strong Business Background
Studies have shown that FCC providers' lack of business expertise can lower wages, uncollected revenue, and capacity vacancies.38One issue that childcare providers face, particularly those that own family childcare homes, is a lack of formal business training, which makes navigating how to run a small business during a pandemic all the more challenging.
Available Resources are Not Enough
While there has been a significant effort to support them through CAREs Act funding and forgivable PPP loans, many child care providers are still struggling to keep their businesses open and thriving. Even with these supports available, childcare providers still face barriers to receiving aid, and lack access to resources that supports their long term business sustainability.41
Providers Most Requested Support
Providers report that the following resources and business services helped them improve their businesses78:
◦ help with recruitment of families (60%)
◦ free supplies (55%)
◦ help with payments (38%)
◦ business skills (37%)
Lack Business & Technical Support Services
Additionally, networks and programs that provide materials and business services such as family recruitment support, help with payments, and business skills to childcare providers can help providers achieve financial stability and run better businesses.40
Lack of Resources to Pay for Support Services
There are over 25 Childcare providers in Cathedral City on the WeeCares waiting list. These childcare providers would like access to WeeCares support and business tools but are waiting until the services are available free of charge to them. While childcare providers who use WeeCares tools and support services save over 10 hours per week on administration costs and earn significantly higher revenues, the perceived cost is the blocker for childcare providers to gain access to these support services and tools.84 38 https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/public/addressing_decreasing_fcc_providers_revised_final.pdf39 https://www.npr.org/2022/01/30/1076844663/pandemic-spotlights-problems-with-the-child-care-industry40 https://www.erikson.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/fccnetwork_execsummary.pdf41 https://homegrownchildcare.org/home-based-child-care-providers-need-improved-access-to-federal-loans-now/42 https://www.npr.org/2022/01/30/1076844663/pandemic-spotlights-problems-with-the-child-care-industry78 https://www.erikson.edu/wp-content/uploads/fccnetwork_execsummary1.pdf84 2022 WeeCare Provider Survey analyzed weekly time saved Employers Perspective
The problem has become such an issues it is hard to ignore and employers are feeling the constraints and impact directly from staffing shortages, to retention and productivity losses. Employers are able to help become part of the solution.
Employees Miss Work Due to Lack of Childcare
The pandemic has illuminated the significant need for childcare throughout the country, and businesses are now becoming more aware of the need to provide their own employees with childcare assistance, seeing as only 30% of working families have any form of backup childcare.39 Many families cite this lack of childcare as the reason why they are late to work, have to leave early from work, or quit their jobs entirely so they can provide care for their children at home, costing businesses around $12.7 billion annually.40 Access to Childcare Options Increases Employee Retention While child care continues to be one of the most significant challenges facing our country, families, and employers, businesses are now more than ever faced with increased difficulty attracting new employees or retaining existing employees due to a lack of child care availability and affordability. Working families have expressed how childcare benefits would impact their work, with 67% stating they would be more loyal to their current job if their employer offered childcare assistance, and that percentage rose to 74% for working families with children under the age of
4.41 The same survey found that 60% of working parents believe their job performance would improve if their employer offered some form of childcare assistance.41
Most Businesses are Unsure or Unwilling to Provide their Employees with Childcare Assistance
Even though may family employees believe businesses should provide childcare benefits and childcare benefits are the fastest rising benefit, many employers lack awareness that benefits and resources exist, and the direct and indirect benefits of providing childcare benefits offer for them. In a study conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 20% of employers are willing to increase their organization’s investment in childcare needs, while 45% are unsure and 35% are unwilling to take any action.42 The study also found that the greatest barriers for employers who are unwilling to invest more in childcare are funds or resources. Additionally, it was found that 48% of employers would be more inclined to offer childcare assistance to their employees if the government provided additional incentives. Many businesses are unaware that the IRS does provide incentives, allowing businesses to claim 10%-25% of the cost, or up to $150,000 each year, to provide childcare benefits by directly paying for employee’s childcare expenses.43
39 https://hbr.org/2021/04/childcare-is-a-business-issue40 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/41 https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2021/02/04/lessons-from-the-pandemic-companies-offering-chil.html 42 https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/EarlyEd_Minis_Report6_121420_Final.pdf 43 https://blog.simplyhired.com/employers/the-benefits-of-offering-child-care-benefits-to-employees-and-how-to-do-it/ Economic Analysis of the Impact of Childcare on Cathedral City Economists have found that high-quality early childhood education offers one of the highest long-term returns of any public investment—more than $7 for every dollar spent.51 Yet the United States is the outlier in its low levels of financial support for young children's care, spending only 0.2 percent of its G.D.P. on child care — wealthier countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development spend an average of 0.7 percent of G.D.P. on child care.58
In Cathedral City, the impact of childcare-related challenges — on the overall economy, childcare providers, families, and employers — is significant:
• 32.5 Million productivity and wage losses annually59
• 5.13 Million dollars losses due to Absenteeism resulting from Childcare • 27.37 Million dollars losses due to turnover and replacement costs • An estimated 240 new family employees leave their jobs each year in Cathedral City Without reliable, affordable childcare, workers simply cannot regularly get to work or stay there. In 2018, a survey showed that working parents with young children lose 2 hours of work time per week on average.44 This loss of time can be attributed to parents leaving work early or arriving late due to inadequate childcare options.
Over 40% of parents and guardians surveyed reported that the price or inaccessibility of child care had prevented them from working at some point.45 Furthermore, 25% of working parents surveyed said they had to reduce their regular work hours, turn down professional development opportunities, or even decline job offers due to childcare challenges. Child care is one of the top 5 barriers to employment, and in low-income households, 70% of families cite a lack of affordable child care as the reason why they are not working.
Before the pandemic, other local, state, and national leaders called for change and improvements and cited child care's impact on the economy. While early care and education are necessary components of the economic infrastructure, the COVID19 pandemic has made childcare a critical element; without reliable, affordable sources, workers cannot regularly get to work or stay there. Early COVID-19 data has also shown that 70 percent of parents with children under the age of 5 reported their child care provider is closed or operating with limited hours or space, forcing mothers to fill the void.46 New research as of 202247 shows:
• 1 in 5 families arrive late to work due to childcare
• 1 in 6 have to leave work early regularly
• 1 in 10 choose to resign or lose their jobs due to childcare challenges • 1 in 11 are forced to reduce their hours or are not able to go into full-time positions
The number of families sacrificing their careers due to childcare has steadily increased. Historically, it has often been the female caregiver that sacrifices their career, however the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequities between men and women in the workforce — four times as many women as men dropped out of the labor force in January 2021.45 Female labor force participation has fallen to its lowest point since the 1980s,48 with Black and Latina mothers disproportionately affected, with 28% of Latina women and 24% of Black women involuntarily working part-time compared to 17% of all women.
Societal investments in early childhood education can disrupt the intergenerational transmission of the effects of poverty. Increased access to affordable childcare increases parents' labor force participation, particularly among single mothers.50 Even a tiny 1.25% increase in the Cathedral City's workforce participation rate by families with young children would result in 562 more jobs54, $11,056,788 Million in additional wage earnings, and $1,028,281 in extra annual tax revenue in Cathedral City. Further, research suggests that investments in childcare have local solid economic development effects or multiplier effects because much of those dollars increase childcare worker wages which they, in turn, spend locally.57 The above economic impact analyses in this report were calculated using an input-output modeling system based on an initial model created by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This report measures job loss as only one job loss and reduction in earnings were taken at face value; this report does not measure the ‘ripple effect’ or other impacts of that job loss or the estimated decline in overall earnings over time. Ripple effect impacts give a more complete understanding of the overarching economic impacts of child care and child care-related challenges. For example an analysis from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that over a 15-year period, women who took just one year off work had earnings that were 40 percent lower than women who did not take time off.52 44 Clive R. Belfield, “The Economic Impacts of Insufficient Child Care on Working Families” (Washington: ReadyNation, 2018)45 https://first5oc.org/childcare/exploring-the-challenges/46 US Chamberfoundation COVID19 impact childcare report https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/reports/covid-19-impact-childcare 48 https://first5oc.org/childcare/49
The Child Care Crisis Is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce50 http://people.tamu.edu/~abarr/Head%20Start%20Intergen_8_21_2017e.pdf51 https://www.ffyf.org/why-it-matters/economic-impact/#:~:text=Evidence%20shows%20that%20increased%20access,returns%20over%20the%20long%20term 52 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/ 54 How did we calculate that? An increase in workforce participation by 1.25% from currently at 57.2% to 58.45% would lead to an estimated 25,293 individuals in the workforce vs the current 24,731, for a difference of 562 more jobs, 562 more individuals at the average annual income of $19,674/year would come to $11,056,788 Million., with a 9.3% income tax in Cathedral City on new income wages of $11,056,788 would equal $1,028,281
57 Taryn W. Morrissey and Mildred E. Warner, “Why Early Care and Education Deserves as Much Attention, or More, than Prekindergarten Alone,” Applied Developmental Science 11 (2) (2007): 57–70, available at https://doi.org/10.1080/10888690701384897. 58 https://www.epi.org/publication/whos-paying-now-costs-of-the-current-ece-system/ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/upshot/child-care-biden.html 59 How Did We Calculate that? For Turnover and Replacement Costs: We estimated that around family employees leave annually because of a lack of childcare support. We took their average salaries of $, multiplied that by the industry average replacement cost (40% of salary for entry level, 150% of salary for mid-level, and 400% of salary for senior level), and multiplied by the number of employees in each cohort to get an annual cost of $. Over three years, this equates to $82,121,400. For Absenteeism and Presenteeism Costs: We estimated that has employed residents, and of those 3,600 have a child between the ages of 0-12, who on average miss days of work per year due to childcare issues, meaning your businesses are missing a total of full work days annually. If their average salary is $, then every missed day of work costs Employers an average of $ per day per employee or $ annually and $15,393,103 over 3-years.
Summary of Recommendations
Cathedral City’s 33759% ROI Case by Offering
WeeCare’s Childcare Community Benefit Program
Economic Development, Human Services, and Community Investments Impact ✔ Recruit & Retain Top Talent
✔ Maintain Business Continuity
✔ Support Women Returning to the Workforce
✔ Meet Diversity & Inclusion Objectives
✔ Encourage Health & Wellness
Based on the above report and analysis WeeCare recommends the city invest in childcare programming and contract with WeeCare to bring a total of four different programs to the City of Cathedral. The four childcare programs are broken up into two different phases.
The first phase includes two different programs designed to immediately stabilize and support childcare providers and small business employers through two programs:
1. The first program is Childcare Business and Technical Assistance. Funds in the amount of $50,000 will support 25 childcare providers and their enrolled families with Free Access to WeeCare for one year! As part of this providers and their families will not be charged concierge deposits, tuition processing fees, and support & safety fees.
2. The second program is Childcare Assistance for Small Business and Micro-Enterprise Employers. Funds in the amount of $80,000 will provide childcare benefits to employees of small business employers (any business with less than 50 employees) and micro-enterprise employers (with less than 5 employees). As part of this program Cathedral City will have access to a Childcare Benefit Admin Account Dashboard to monitor program results and support all the different employers and employees.
3. The third program is Backup Childcare Credits. Funds in the amount of $8,500 will support families seeking employment to secure backup childcare when needed through allotted credits.
Program details can be found on sequential pages.
Phase One Program ROI Analysis:
By implementing WeeCare’s Childcare Assistance Program for Small Business Employers, Cathedral City can boost economic development and support small businesses recover up to $27,373,800 in Turnover and Replacement losses and $5,131,000 in Absenteeism and Presenteeism losses by investing as little as $96,000 over the next year. A 33759% ROI! By supporting working small business employers families, Cathedral City can help stop economic losses of up to $32,504,834 resulting from childcare issues over the next year by investing as little as $96,000 and provide childcare matching and enrollment assistance.
Business Administrative & Technical Assistance with Free WeeCare Software Program Summary WeeCares tools and technology immediately reduce the administrative workload of providers and provide 24/7 customer and technical support to both childcare providers and their families. WeeCare has a full suite of business and administrative tools available for childcare providers including record keeping, curriculum, and family communications. WeeCares software matches childcare providers to families needing care for their exact schedule and age openings. WeeCare further assists in the tour, enrollment and first-day paperwork and coordination, and tuition processing. Childcare providers using WeeCare technology typically earn 30% more income and additionally save 15 - 20 hours per month on administrative work. In order to optimize the immediate number of families able to access child care it is strongly recommended that childcare providers have access to WeeCare's software technology free of charge.
Program Size:
# of Providers Sponsored CDBG City Funded
Cost/Month/Location
CDBG City Funded
Cost/Year/Locations
25 FCC locations $166.67 $50,000
Program Scope Summary
• WeeCare will be responsible for digital and grassroots outreach campaign bring awareness to the business tools and support available.
• WeeCare will facilitate all onboarding and training for participating childcare providers. • WeeCares technology will be made available to childcare providers free of charge including access to all premium features. • Additionally all payment tuition processing fees will be waived for families enrolled. • Each participating providers will also have access to a dedicated 1:1 care coach & 24/7 business and technical assistance support.
• WeeCare will help facilitate the marketing of each childcare locations to prospective families and match them based on the childcare locations’ real-time available openings.
• WeeCare will assist both the childcare provider and interested families with tour scheduling, enrollment and first-day paperwork and coordination, and on going tuition processing. • WeeCare will also provide ongoing 24/7 customer and technical support to enrolled families of childcare providers.
Full project program details available upon request.
I. Childcare Business and Technical Assistance Program Summary WeeCare's Childcare Business and Technical Assistance Program supports family childcare (FCC) providers in operating a sustainable business by supplying them with WeeCare software and support free of charge. Through this program, 25 licensed family childcare providers in Cathedral City will receive business and technical assistance, generously funded in partnership with the city and WeeCare. These FCC providers qualify as micro- enterprises as they employ less than five employees per location. Providers are considered LMI employers who can serve additional LMI persons. By supporting 25 childcare providers, WeeCare will also help service 200-475 Cathedral City families.
Approximately 20% of childcare providers in Cathedral City live at or below the poverty line, which contributes to many childcare providers leaving the industry altogether as they are typically one life emergency away from sustainability. In California alone, 58% of childcare workers' families are on one or more public assistance programs, such as CalFresh, compared to 21% in the general population. Providers may spend 50–60 hours per week directly caring for children in addition to 10-20 hours per week on business and administrative work. Low wages and long hours make providers feel overworked and underpaid, causing them to shut their doors and reduce the number of available childcare slots for families in need of childcare. This reality was further compounded by the Covid-19 Pandemic as a result of decreased enrollment and the increased operations costs attributable to responding to the pandemic’s mandating purchasing of additional cleaning and sanitary products.
Furthermore, childcare providers that are remaining open struggle to market and appeal to millennial families, which are the majority of families having children and seeking childcare arrangements and who rely heavily on technology to access services. Providers also lack an easy way to optimize and manage their available openings. Providing support to transition to new technologies and to automate their operations will allow providers to improve their marketing and communication with younger families and enhance their available capacity, thereby increasing revenue.
The purpose of this program is provide back office support for family and micro-enterprise childcare providers to grow and sustain a healthy business, which will increase their revenue, reduce their workload, and in turn support the families of Cathedral City in securing reliable, quality childcare. Removing the common barrier of cost to join the WeeCare platform will open the door for providers to take advantage of the platform's helpful tools, resulting in 20 hours saved per week on average and 2-3x more annual revenue. WeeCare will utilize its technology platform to increase the quality of care for families and increase FCCs overall revenue over the program time frame.
WeeCare's tools contribute to provider success because they immediately remove much of the administrative and business workload that commonly falls on providers to complete all on their own. Business and administrative tasks include fielding calls from interested families, scheduling tours, staying on top of financial information, collecting payments from families, and more, all while trying to give their undivided attention to the children in their care.
WeeCare has a full suite of business and administrative tools for childcare providers, including record keeping, curriculum, and family communications. In addition, WeeCare matches childcare providers to families needing care for their exact schedule and age openings. WeeCare further assists in the touring, enrollment, first-day paperwork and coordination, and tuition processing. These tools give childcare providers back the valuable time they can spend focusing on the children to provide the highest quality of care.
Additionally, many family childcare providers operate their home daycare with little business experience or formal business education, except what they have learned from opening their family childcare at home. Access to WeeCare's platform also gives childcare providers access to additional resources and professional development opportunities to support the growth and sustainability of their business while increasing the quality of care they are able to provide.
To activate and onboard the 25 family childcare providers in Cathedral City, WeeCare will roll out the program in phases:
TIMEFRAME ACTIVITY
April 2022 Launch marketing, awareness, and outreach to Cathedral City childcare providers and coordinate with the city and WeeCare's internal teams to ensure each provider has an equal opportunity to participate in the program May to June 2022 Onboarding and training childcare providers on how to use the platform including financial management, touring, communication with families, and more June 2022 Outreach to families already enrolled in the childcare locations to onboard them onto the WeeCare platform
Ongoing Ongoing 24/7 dedicated business, technology, matching, enrollment, and post- enrollment support
Ongoing Cathedral City will receive custom reporting and data to monitor the program's success. Examples of reported information include:
• the number of providers outreached and onboarded,
• the number of training provided,
• the number of tours requested and completed by families, • the number of children enrolled in each location, and • the increase in provider revenue due to participation in the program.
When FCCs join WeeCare’s network, they pay 10% of all tuition processed as a fee to WeeCare. On average, WeeCare earns $600-$850 per FCC per month, which is roughly between $7,000 to $10,000 thousand per year.
Even with the processing fee, our providers earn more revenue and save more time when compared to not being on the platform. WeeCare will match the public spending costs of $2 for every $1 of CDBG funding spent.
Therefore, we propose that we cap the monthly fee to be paid through funds from the CDBG program to $200 a month per FCC for this program. This cost will go toward waiving all fees for participating providers and provide them with full access to WeeCare's software and support. The cost of providing business and technical assistance to 25 childcare providers in Cathedral City for 12 months is $50,000. There will be no start-up or implementation fees outside of the total cost.
Childcare providers must meet the following criteria and guidelines to be eligible for participation in the program:
• Located and operating in the City of Cathedral City
• 5 or fewer employees, including the owner
• Document that funds are not duplicating other assistance provided via the CARES Act • Able to produce payroll records, proof of Workmen’s Compensation, or other documentation to verify the number of employees
$0.00
$0.00
Name Price QTY Subtotal
Business & Technical Assistance for
Microenterprise Childcare Providers
Business and Technical Assistance including free
access to WeeCare software tooling to support tour
scheduling, Enrollment Support, Family Concierge ,
Payment processing, Curriculum, and more!
Normal cost
$500/facility/month
$6000/facility/year
$6,000.00 25 $150,000.00
WeeCare's Matched Public Spending
WeeCare will match public spending with a 2
dollars contributed to every 1 CDBG / City
public dollar.
-$4,000.00 25 -$100,000.00
Subtotal $50,000.00
Discount
Tax
Total $50,000.00
II. Childcare Assistance for Small Business & Micro-Enterprise Employers WeeCare’s Childcare Assistance for Small Business and Micro-Enterprise Employers Program supports small business and micro-enterprise employers by providing childcare benefits for their working families. The purpose of this program is to increase access to childcare for working families and thereby increase labor force participation.
Benefits of this program include fostering a healthy economy while supporting small businesses and providing micro-enterprises with additional incentives such as tax breaks. A business is considered a small business if it has fewer than 50 employees while a business is considered a micro-enterprise if it employs five or less employees.
Employers face serious challenges when trying to implement childcare benefits for their employees. These challenges include setup costs, the time required to set up, limited childcare provider availability and inflexible options for their working families to name a few. In fact, only 7 percent of employers nationally offer childcare benefits. The WeeCare Childcare Benefits program was created to solve this very pervasive, complex, and economically debilitating problem. Small businesses and micro-enterprises face added difficulty when offering childcare benefits because they do not have the same resources as a larger company. However, many small and large companies are willing to provide some form of childcare benefit to their employees. For example, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that 20% of employers are willing to increase their organization’s investment in childcare needs. In comparison, 45% are unsure, and 35% are unwilling to take action. Additionally, 48% of employers would be more inclined to offer childcare assistance to their employees if the government provided additional incentives or support (See section: "Employers Perspective").
The United States (US) loses billions of dollars annually due to a lack of access to childcare for working families. In addition, many parents experience some disruption in their working life as a result of unreliable childcare. Small businesses and micro-enterprises are targeted in this program because smaller businesses are the largest employers in the US. However, they often do not have sufficient resources to offer childcare benefits to their employees. On average, Cathedral City loses a total of $32.5 million in productivity and wage losses annually, including $5.14 Million lost due to absenteeism resulting from a lack of childcare and $27.37 Million lost in turnover and replacement costs. Additionally, an estimated 240 new family employees leave their jobs each year in Cathedral City because of childcare-related challenges (See section: "Economic Analysis of the Impact of Childcare on Cathedral City"). Childcare benefits are key for decreasing employee absenteeism, increasing team satisfaction, and reducing employee turnover — all which underscore WeeCare’s impact in the childcare space.
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted most businesses; however, small businesses were most significantly impacted as a result of their more limited access to resources in comparison to larger companies. Additionally, as discussed above, families have long-faced a myriad of childcare challenges which were worsened and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has in essence made a pervasive problem into a crisis. Now more than ever, employers and businesses face increased difficulty attracting new employees and retaining existing employees due to a lack of childcare availability and affordability. Working families have expressed how childcare benefits would impact their work, with 67% stating they would be more loyal to their current job if their employer offered childcare assistance. That percentage rose to 74% for working families with children under four. The same survey found that 60% of working parents believe their job performance would improve if their employer offered some form of childcare assistance (See section: "Employers Perspective"). Working mothers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic as there are greater expectations for them to stay home and care for their children than fathers.
WeeCare has created the only childcare benefits program built to enable employers of all sizes to cost-effectively offer employees and team members the most options and support for their childcare needs. WeeCare has developed flexible childcare benefits options that employees can actually use and are seeking from their current and prospective employers. WeeCare’s innovative technology platform matches families with the right providers who are able to offer care tailored to a family’s specific needs, increasing the value of the benefit to both employer and employee.
Through WeeCare’s program, small businesses will have the option to provide childcare benefits to their working families funded in partnership with the city. WeeCare will support employers in Cathedral City, making them aware of the childcare benefits. Employers will opt-in under one childcare benefits account for the entire city, at which point their working families will be able to use their childcare benefits. WeeCare will onboard families, find out their care needs and preferences, and match them to childcare providers within Cathedral City that match all of their needs and preferences.
The cost of providing childcare assistance to small businesses and micro-enterprises in Cathedral City for 12 months is $80,000. This cost will go toward paying for the benefit for each employer, which typically costs $7 per employee per year and an additional $6,000 base fee. This cost will also remove the $98 concierge fee and weekly $6.99 support fee for working families who take advantage of this benefit. In addition, WeeCare will match the public spending costs of $1 for every $1 of CDBG funding spent. $0.00
$0.00
Name Subtotal
Childcare Assistance for Small Business & Micro-
Enterprise Employers
Covers employed residents in Cathedral City of small business employers with less than 50 employees, and micro-enterprise employers with less than 5 employees, estimated to be approximately 24000 total employees, - Priority Placement at all WeeCare’s
- 24/7 Dedicated 1:1 Care Manager
- Waived $98 Care Manager Fee
- Waived $6.99 Weekly Safety Fee
$160,000.00
WeeCare's Matched Public Spending
WeeCare will match public spending with 1 dollar contributed to every 1 CDBG / City public dollar.
-$80,000.00
Subtotal $80,000.00
Discount
Tax
Total $80,000.00
III. Backup Childcare Credits Program Summary
WeeCare’s Backup Childcare Credits program provides support to low-moderate income (LMI) families in need of childcare to secure employment.
One of the greatest barriers to employment is childcare. A lack of childcare or unreliable childcare prevents parents or guardians from being able to maintain employment, look for employment, or secure a job because it interferes with job hunting, attending interviews, and being able to commit to a set schedule.
The purpose of this program is to provide childcare subsidies to LMI families, to enable them to secure employment. Once approved, families can choose to send their child to any licensed and insured childcare providers registered with WeeCare to participate in the program. The provider does not have to be located in the participating city to ensure parents and guardians have access to all the options available to them. Grant funds will be paid directly to the childcare provider as monthly reimbursement facilitated by WeeCare.
The cost of providing 100 backup childcare credits to the residents of Cathedral City is $8,500. This cost will go toward paying for 100 credits, which each equal one day of care. This program will support up to 100 families in Cathedral City.
$0.00
$0.00
Name Price QTY Subtotal
Childcare Credits
One childcare credit equals one day of care.
$85.00 100 $8,500.00
Subtotal $8,500.00
Discount
Tax
Total $8,500.00
CDBG - CV and CDBG Program Pricing Total
WeeCare’s programs are flexible and designed to address specific challenges of each community.
Name Price QTY Subtotal
Business & Technical Assistance for
Microenterprise Childcare Providers
Business and Technical Assistance including WeeCare
free access to WeeCare software tooling.
$50,000.00
1 $50,000.00
Childcare Assistance for Small
Business Employers
Covers employeed residents in Cathedral City of
employers with less than 50 employees, estimated to
be approximately 24000 and any new employees
added during the term.
- Priority Placement at all WeeCare’s
- 24/7 Dedicated 1:1 Care Manager
- Waived $98 Care Manager Fee
- Waived $6.99 Weekly Safety Fee
$80,000.00 1 $80,000.00
Childcare Credits
Funded through CDBG
$85.00 100 $8,500.00
Total $138,500.00
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the WeeCare's Childcare Assistance Program?
Please see summary number II above.
How does this program help Childcare providers, and how does it help parents? The program helps childcare providers in the follow ways:
1. It provides them with a comprehensive interface to manage their business
2. It provides them with a mechanism to manage all back-office aspects of their business
3. It opens up the accessibility to their services to a wide clientele pool by placing their business on an app that is widely accessible
4. It increases their revenue by streaming their business operations and providing business support services Also, please see summary number I above for further information.
How does it help Cathedral City residents, specifically? WeeCare's programs help Cathedral City Residents specifically in the following ways.
1. It provides Cathedral parents with access to affordable, accessible, high-quality childcare so that they can participate in the local economy
2. It facilitates employment of Cathedral residents who could not otherwise work because they could not afford necessary healthcare for their children
3. It enables local businesses to grow and to become a part of the economic growth and stability of Cathedral City
4. It positions youth residents for academic, social and professional success by providing them with access to high-quality childcare that facilitates their academic, social and professional development
5. Residents will benefit from the improved economic position of local business and the local economy of Cathedral City by strengthening and growing the local business who will both provide much needed services to local residents but will contribute to the ratable economy of Cathedral City.
How will WeeCare market this program to the 24,000 estimated employees? WeeCare will market the programs to employers using the following methods.
1. Work in partnership with Cathedral City to facilitate a mailer and email advertising the program and the partnership to all 24,000 employers
2. Facilitating relationships with the local chambers of commerce, business improvement districts, professional organizations and other business networks to ensure dissemination of to their members
3. We launch an email drip campaign in coordination with our internal marketing team. We will create landing pages to explain the programs and distribute to small business and micro-enterprise employers. Employers will opt in and send the program information to their employees so they can opt in and begin using benefits..
How many new/existing child care providers will this help? WeeCare’s program has allotted 25 slots to existing childcare providers.
How big of a problem is childcare in Cathedral City?
Cathedral City currently has 68 FCCs, 47 FFN providers, and 4 licensed centers (only 1 of which offers full day care), which totals approximately 1,016 capacity slots. For every 3 children in Cathedral City, only 1 licensed childcare space exists because there are an estimated 3,027 children ages 0-5. Only 1 out of every 20 childcare providers is completely full on their capacity, however, which indicates that there is a breakdown in the ecosystem somewhere because parents are still having trouble finding childcare even though there are providers available.
Generally, this is due to families only having access to outdated information and childcare providers not knowing how to optimize their available capacity or being unwilling to accept government subsidy enrollments. Lack of adequate access to childcare also significantly impacts the economic landscape of Cathedral City. Currently, employers in Cathedral City experience $5.13 Million in annual losses due to absenteeism and $27.37 Million in annual losses due to turnover and replacement costs, resulting in a total loss of $32.5 Million each year due to childcare related challenges. Additionally, an estimated 240 employees with families leave their job each year due to a lack of adequate childcare. If working parents don’t have access to reliable, affordable childcare, they are unable to return to work or maintain stability at work, particularly women as they are disproportionately affected and expected to remain home to care for their children.
What is the timeline and how soon will we see success?
The program will launch business and technical assistance within 6 weeks and WeeCare will be able to begin services by the end of April, if not sooner. WeeCare will be consistently measuring success metrics of the program and will be able to report success of the provider business and technical assistance program within the first 2 months of the program launching. Some examples of success measures that will be reported include the number of providers that have opted in as well as the level of app utilization (i.e. tours requested/accepted, messages sent, etc.). Childcare benefits for small businesses will launch shortly after business and technical assistance for providers, approximately two weeks, so there will be an ample amount of support for providers as more working families seek enrollment. Success metrics for the small business program will be provided within the first two months of implementation, and will be measured by the number of small businesses that opt in, the number of families that utilize the benefits and find childcare, as well as the increase in enrollments for participating providers.
What will you need to accomplish before the program launches and services begin? WeeCare will need 6 weeks of lead time to coordinate the launch with our internal teams, such as product and marketing, in addition to coordinating with Cathedral City’s teams to put together PR materials and set up communications within the city. WeeCare will be creating landing pages for providers and small business employers/employees as well as ensuring teams are informed to ensure a smooth launch.
How many people are expected to be impacted by these programs? Estimated to impact at least 1,438 individuals. This is from expectations of the number of childcare providers that will participate and the number of families they will serve, in addition to the number of families serviced at each small business. This number is an approximation and will likely increase as we see program success.
What kind of success are you anticipating from this program? We expect to see an increase in provider participation in WeeCare, which will provide them with support for their business, particularly surrounding filling and managing their capacity and connecting with more families. We also expect participating providers to fill to maximum capacity which will help them maximize their revenue and ultimately more families will be serviced and less families will be turned away. Additionally, we expect to see an increase in workforce participation as families are more able to find affordable childcare and return to work. This increase in accessibility to reliable childcare will positively impact the small business employers of Cathedral City because they will see less employee turnover and missed work days due to childcare challenges. Currently, employers in Cathedral City experience $5.13 Million in annual losses due to absenteeism and $27.37 Million in annual losses due to turnover and replacement costs, resulting in a total loss of $32.5 Million each year due to childcare related challenges. Additionally, an estimated 240 employees with families leave their job each year due to a lack of adequate childcare. The economic impact of this program is expected to be significant due to increased workforce participation. Even a tiny 1.25% increase in the Cathedral City's workforce participation rate by families with young children would result in 562 more jobs 54, $11,056,788 Million in additional wage earnings, and $1,028,281 in extra annual tax revenue.
What is the long-term goal of this program? What happens at the end of the contract? In short - Economic Empowerment. The goal is to create a more sustainable childcare ecosystem in Cathedral City by giving providers the tools to manage their business successfully and incentivizing businesses to become part of the solution by offering childcare benefits, which will ultimately influence the overall economic development of the city by reducing economic losses caused by childcare challenges. Currently, Cathedral City is experiencing $5.13 Million in annual losses due to absenteeism and $27.37 Million in annual losses due to turnover and replacement costs, resulting in a total loss of $32.5 Million each year due to childcare related challenges. Additionally, an estimated 240 employees with families leave their job each year due to a lack of adequate childcare. WeeCare’s program aims to increase female participation in the workforce by increasing access to childcare, as well as reduce the massive costs currently being incurred due to high turnover and absenteeism. This will help employers struggling with staffing shortages, retention, and hiring challenges. Another goal of this program is to ensure families have equitable access to high quality childcare including families having backup and long-term care options that meet their cultural needs. Ultimately in the long-run, this program will help to create a more viable urban community for Cathedral City.
What level of involvement will the city have?
Ideally the city will have minimal involvement as childcare providers and businesses become self-sufficient using the tools and navigating the ecosystem throughout the course of the contract. WeeCare is here to do a bulk of the work in supporting participating childcare providers and small business employers, while the city would help set up the qualifications and determine program eligibility to align with the consolidated plan and strategic goals of CDBG funding. Another area of support from the city would be providing access to updated business contacts and lists as well as establishing the meeting cadence to ensure we remain in alignment throughout the course of the contract.
We are able to enforce and support with implementation, recruitment, reporting, etc.
Why are we putting money into providers and not directly into families? A healthy childcare ecosystem relies on a solid and supported childcare workforce. To establish long-term solutions, WeeCare aims to support families by first supporting childcare providers in establishing and operating sustainable businesses. This will help providers remain open, optimize their capacity, subsequently reducing the number of providers leaving the industry, and ultimately serve more families. The subsequent ripple effect will positively impact families by increasing their access to reliable childcare.
Why not just subsidize the childcare slots and give money to the families? In Cathedral City currently there are 1,801 children in need of childcare assistance but aren’t receiving it. If the city were to use this money to subsidize care, at $350/week for the typical rate of subsidized childcare, the city would only be able to service 8 children, leaving 1,793 without the care that they need. This program allows for greater impact on the childcare ecosystem in Cathedral City as a whole because we’ll be setting providers up for future success and reducing economic losses throughout the city.
Why are small businesses being targeted for childcare benefits? Small businesses don’t have all the resources and finances that larger businesses do to provide benefits to employees, let alone childcare benefits. This program will give small businesses the means to offer these benefits and will see the positive outcomes that offering childcare benefits will have on the success and sustainability of their business. There are 652 small businesses in Cathedral City that will have the opportunity to participate in this program. The US Chamber of Commerce found that 20% of businesses would like to offer childcare benefits, and 48% would be more likely to offer benefits if there was some kind of government incentives or assistance.
How will the public receive their benefit?
There will be dedicated landing pages for childcare providers, small business employers, and small business employees to opt in to the program, which will be sent out in an email campaign by WeeCare and advertised by the city. WeeCare outreach will go out to family childcare providers and small business employers and will include links to the landing pages, more information about the program, and letting them know that the city is providing these benefits to them. Once providers, employers, and employees opt into the program and sign up with WeeCare, they will receive the services paid for by the city. The city will be set up with a single admin account and dashboard for small businesses to join and receive childcare benefits for their employees, which will be managed by a WeeCare account manager. Employed families will then utilize WeeCare and our childcare coordinators to search for and enroll in childcare locations that best fit their needs, using the benefits provided by their employer to pay for the childcare. Childcare providers that opt into the program will have access to WeeCare’s platform to manage tours and enrollments, communication with families and with WeeCare support, as well as post-enrollment experiences including health and safety checks and photo and video updates.
How will your program ensure social equity and accessibility? WeeCare doesn’t discriminate against any underserved population and celebrates the diversity of the populations that we serve. Every childcare provider and family that comes to WeeCare for assistance with childcare is given equal opportunity and access to WeeCare’s resources. Additionally, WeeCare ensures accessibility by providing resources over the phone, via text, in-app messaging, and through web browsers. We are also able to support multiple languages, including Spanish.
What does it take to be a licensed daycare provider?
To become a licensed family childcare provider in California, providers must attend an orientation and fulfill all the licensing requirements put forth by the Community Care Licensing Division of CDSS. There are two types of family childcare (FCC) homes, small and large. FCC(large licenses) homes are licensed for either up to 8 children (small licenses) or up to 14 children at any given time. Licensees must be 18 years or older, live in the home they are licensed for care, obtain a criminal record clearance, obtain a tuberculosis test, complete 16 hours of Pediatric Health and Safety training. If applying as a large FCC home, licensees must provide proof of one year of experience as a small FCC home provider or as a teacher or director of a licensed childcare center. After completing an orientation and becoming familiar with all Title 22 regulations and health and safety codes, providers must apply and pay all necessary fees. The final step is a pre-licensing inspection, during which a Licensing Program Analyst will inspect the home. Licensed FCC providers are then required to comply with announced and unannounced inspections of the FCC home to maintain an active license. If a provider violates any laws and regulations, their license may be suspended or revoked.
Are there a significant number of providers no longer in business? If so, why? Almost a third reduced California’s childcare workforce at the start of the pandemic. Although many providers have returned, the workforce is about 10% smaller. Childcare providers are leaving the industry at an alarming rate for several reasons, including low wages, safety, school closures, staff shortages, and being overworked. Additionally, many providers are quitting childcare because they’re worried about getting sick with Covid or infecting close family members; in addition, many providers shut down their daycare so they could stay home and care for their children that were home due to school closures. Staffing shortages also lead providers to work extra hours for little pay, which is causing overworked providers to leave the industry altogether for better opportunities (source).
WeeCare addresses many of these blockers by helping providers actualize their full revenue potential and fill their location. WeeCare does this by using our matching algorithm to place families at childcare locations that accommodate their preferred care schedules while ensuring providers fill up all their slots. WeeCare’s high-level view of the childcare landscape, including accurate depictions of supply and demand, allows for efficient matchmaking and capacity optimization. Additionally, WeeCare provides daily health screening tools to maintain the health and safety of each location. These health screening tools help families, and their children avoid unnecessary sickness. It also protects providers from illness, which allows them to remain open more often than not and provide more consistent care. WeeCare’s business tools also remove a significant workload from providers, giving them a break from administrative tasks and removing the extra, time-consuming burden of running a sustainable business.