Progress on a Long Path State Child Care and Early Education Updates 2022

The budget also included another $100 million for VPK programs that agree to raise VPK teachers’ pay to a minimum of $15 an hour, adding another $618 to the BSA, for a total increase of $935 for VPK programs that agree to the $15-an-hour minimum for teacher pay.19 Additionally, the budget includes $156 million for the child care assistance (School Readiness) program. [...] The funding will be used to continue support for programs created at the height of the pandemic to mitigate the damage done to the child care industry and address parents’ child care needs. [...] The state also capped copayments for families receiving child care assistance at 10 percent of their income over the federal poverty level; increased payment rates for child care providers serving families receiving child care assistance from the 69th to the 80th percentile of market rates; and removed the work requirement for post-secondary students as a condition of receiving child care assistan. [...] The measure also prohibits localities from enacting child care regulations that are stricter than the state’s and increases the number of children a family child care provider may care for without being required to be certified from five to six.87 Vermont’s budget includes $7 million in retention bonuses for teachers and staff working in regulated child care programs; $4.9 million for the state’s. [...] With the new funding for child care, the state increased the income eligibility limit for child care assistance for families with children under age 5 to 85 percent of state median; began allowing families to qualify for child care assistance while searching for a job; reduced copayments for families receiving child care assistance; and eliminated the 72-month time limit on receiving assistance.