Reducing Barriers for Childcare Facilities, Part 1

High-quality early childhood education and care strengthens child, family, and community stability and resilience. Longitudinal studies indicate that every dollar invested in high-quality preschool for disadvantaged children from birth to age five delivers a 13% annual return on investment.

How can local governments support the growth of diverse childcare options in their communities and what is the role that planners can play in this process?

Background

In Washington, 63% of residents currently live in a “childcare desert,” meaning there are more than three times as many children as licensed childcare slots available in that census tract. A 2019 report commissioned by the Washington State Department of Commerce found that employee turnover and missed work due to childcare access issues cost employers an estimated $2.08 billion annually, and that 27% of parents quit their job or left school or training due to child care issues, pre-pandemic.

The childcare industry is made up of primarily small, private businesses whose essential services allow busy parents to pursue work and educational opportunities. High-quality childcare in the U.S. is labor-intensive and highly regulated, with thin profit margins for providers. Regardless, childcare can feel unaffordable for some families, especially in communities with high market rates. For a two-income family, the market rate for full-time care of an infant and a preschooler can equal 35% or more of the family’s income — while the federal standard for affordability is 7% of income.

After staff, the facility costs — mortgage (or rent) and property tax — come in as the second highest operating expense for a childcare program. However, the economic and capacity challenges for childcare providers limit their ability to invest in their facilities. Like housing, costs for land and buildings are escalating across the region, making the siting and development of childcare facilities increasingly challenging. Increased access to sustainable and affordable real estate and development opportunities for childcare businesses can free up revenue for other critical costs, thereby making access to care more accessible and affordable for families. Local governments can further support more affordable childcare through policies, programs, regulations, and incentives that support more childcare facilities in more places throughout their communities.

Types of Childcare Facilities

It is important to define terms as they appear in the state statutes (see RCW 43.216.010), since licensed childcare facilities can vary widely in their size depending on the type and number of children served:

• "Child day care center" and "childcare center" means an agency that “regularly provides early childhood education and early learning services for a group of children for periods of less than 24 hours.”
• “Family day care provider" or "family home provider" means a childcare provider who offers early childhood education and learning services for not more than 12 children at any given time in the provider's living quarters (except as provided in RCW 43.216.692).

Typically, licensed childcare centers are larger group settings, with an average licensed capacity of 68 children, whereas licensed family-home providers serve far fewer children (12 or less).

Some childcare arrangements, as defined by RCW 43.216.010, are informal or license-exempt by the state. Examples include informal parent cooperatives; family, friends and neighbors who provide occasional care; in-home nannies and au pairs; preschool programs (ages 2.5-5 years) that operate less than four hours per day; private schools for school-age children; seasonal camps, and any program operated by a unit of government. However, this blog series focuses on licensed childcare centers and family home providers specifically.

How Local Government Can Support Childcare Facilities

Childcare is not a required or integrated part of land use planning considerations reserved for other “public goods” like parks, public schools, transportation, employment, and housing. However, new development in these areas affects childcare demand, and land use policies and regulations impact the expansion of childcare facilities.

Because childcare is often operated by small businesses, local governments cannot require that childcare facilities always be available in particular areas — but zoning rules, revised maps, and processes could both allow and incentivize its creation — and core planning principles would suggest targeting areas where people live or work.

Since 1997, the American Planning Association (APA) has provided recommendations on the inclusion of childcare policies in local planning policies and zoning reforms, and APA’s 2022 Equity in Zoning Policy Guide asserts that zoning has the potential to create or perpetuate inequity by creating difficulty in accessing certain services (such as childcare) and that the “serious shortages of convenient childcare have a disproportionate impact on single-parent, often female-headed, households.”

Many local governments currently allow childcare facilities in certain commercial or residential zones, but local plans don’t often fully address a community’s childcare needs. Access to childcare is inextricably linked with housing, transportation, and employment needs. Lack of access and unaffordable childcare may lead to a parent dropping out of the workforce, while access to convenient, affordable childcare can create economic advantages for both families and communities. This is particularly true for women, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2022, women accounted for 82% of childcare-related work absences, and lack of reliable, affordable care remains a critical component in persistent wage gaps.

To meet ambitious affordable housing goals, many local governments have recently begun to waive fees, expedite permitting timelines, and create additional regulatory flexibility — and such policies can be replicated to support the development of cost-effective childcare facilities. Further, planners can support the development of childcare programs by reducing regulatory barriers to locating such programs in buildings or on lots that already satisfy licensing and building, fire, and health code requirements.

Long-range plans

Long-range plans (e.g., comprehensive and subarea plans) set the framework for regulatory and programmatic change, so it’s important to evaluate these plans for areas that may need more policy support for childcare facilities.

The first step in any successful planning process is to conduct a local conditions analysis. In the case of childcare facilities, planners should identify the scope of the problem by:

• identifying the locations of existing facilities,
• collecting census data on the number of families with children,
• identifying where new facilities are allowed and where they are prohibited, and
• determining who should be included in community engagement processes.

As part of this process, planners should also determine what analyses on the supply and demand of childcare and facilities already exist or are currently underway at the state and local level, via the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. National organizations such as the Center for American Progress also provide maps and resources on U.S. Childcare Deserts that can be analyzed down to the local census-tract level.

Including owners and operators of childcare facilities and families with young children in local-level planning processes can help create more thoughtful and impactful changes that can then be folded into plans and policies reflective of their needs. Planners should offer engagement events at times and locations that are convenient for providers and families, like at drop-off and pick-up times at childcare facilities and/or through online forums that can be accessed at any time. They can also provide childcare and snacks at public meetings to make it easier for busy parents to attend.

With the local conditions analysis and input from engagement opportunities, new goals and policies that support childcare facilities can take shape. These policies can take many forms, like stating that the city or county should allow childcare in more zoning districts to address the growing community need, and can be located in various plans, including comprehensive plans. For example, Land Use Strategy 34 of the Land Use section in Bellevue’s Comprehensive Plan includes a goal and several policies related to childcare. Renton includes supportive policies in its Housing and Human Services Element (see goals HHS-H and Policy HHS-25), while the Economic Vitality Chapter of Redmond’s Comprehensive Plan states in EV-10: “Allow, as permitted accessory uses, support uses, such as childcare, workout facilities, or restaurants in office and other commercial buildings.”

Zoning and development regulations

Once policy support has been established, planners can start to explore ways in which their land use codes can be updated to support childcare facilities. Zoning and development regulations that severely limit where these facilities can be located (e.g., prohibiting them in certain zoning districts) and under what circumstances (e.g., through a conditional use permit) can add time, expense, and uncertainty to a project.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, where we take a deeper dive into supportive regulations and incentives.