After waiting since June for missed payments from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia-area child care providers have finally received the money — in some cases thousands of dollars.
"We have never asked for special treatment, only what is owed to us for the services we provide to our communities and the families we serve,” said Victoria Glover, owner and operator of Vicky’s Tiny Tot’s and a child care provider for over 18 years. “Nobody does this work to get rich, but we have business expenses that come every month just like anyone else.”
This is a huge win for Child Care Providers United – Pennsylvania (CCPU-PA) workers, who raised the alarm about the missing payments months ago. Members subsequently informed the commonwealth that they would go to the Pennsylvania Board of Claims if the payments weren’t issued promptly. CCPU-PA members are determined to hold the commonwealth and Caring People Alliance, the vendor responsible for the payments when they came due, accountable. They also are calling for changes to the Pennsylvania child care system, so providers are the ones making decisions about their industry.
“We are still pursuing legal action against Caring People Alliance for what they have put providers through,” said Tonya Sears, a provider who has been serving Philadelphia families for 12 years. “It’s unacceptable that it’s taken nearly five months for these wrongs to be righted. No one should have to work without a paycheck, and that is what we were told to do. Some of us had to close doors, and it will take a lot of work to get folks back on their feet after this. Some may never reopen.”
Sears did not receive a payment from the commonwealth in June. She’s one of two providers that the union knows about from whom Pennsylvania is withholding payments citing what Sears characterized as a technical error.
In a time when child care is in crisis and costs the commonwealth $6.65 billion each year due to lack of options for child care and preschool, CCPU-PA members say Pennsylvania should look for solutions to get more providers to open their doors, not close them.
The first step to doing this is getting providers to the table to negotiate an updated memorandum of understanding (MOU), Pennsylvania’s version of a contract for child care providers. CCPU-PA has been attempting to set dates for these negotiations since May of this year.
“I hope that Governor (Josh) Shapiro and OCDEL learn from this and work with us to improve conditions for child care providers and ensure this doesn’t happen again,” said child care provider Kathy Pugh, referring to the Office of Child Development and Early Learning.
“Our industry is in crisis. We need more providers out here supporting our children and families, not less,” Pugh added. “Coming to the table with us to negotiate our MOU and find ways to recruit and retain good quality providers is so important to our future economically in Pennsylvania.”