Oklahoma's Child Care Crisis is a Workforce Crisis

Child care is not a special interest, it is essential workforce infrastructure. Oklahoma is experiencing a escalating child care crisis that is closing hundreds of child care businesses and leaving communities without high quality and reliable care that is needed to support working families and the Oklahoma workforce. 

Licensed child care providers are essential infrastructure for Oklahoma’s economy. We enable parents to work, pursue education, and contribute to the labor force knowing their children are safe, supported, and learning. Yet today, that system is being undermined by continued reductions to the state’s child care subsidy program administered by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

These cuts are not hypothetical or a rare occurrence. The impact is here and it is real. Providers are already closing their doors. Others are operating on the brink of insolvency. Each closure eliminates child care slots that working families depend on, and once those slots are gone, they are extraordinarily difficult to replace.

Oklahoma’s child care subsidy program exists to support eligible working parents, helping them afford care while they work, attend school, or attend job training. These public funds do not operate as an entitlement for child care businesses. Instead, they function as parent assistance that follows the child into private, licensed child care programs that voluntarily contract with the state. Most of those businesses are women-owned small businesses. 

When Oklahoma reduces subsidy rates or alters payment structures, the impact is immediate and severe,  because parents lose the ability to pay for care they rely on to remain employed and programs can't deliver vital services because they are not being paid at a rate that covers the cost of care. 

Child care businesses serve as the delivery system for this support, yet they have very limited control over pricing or revenue.

The Reality Providers Face
Child care providers that accept subsidy payments  must comply with strict state requirements, including:

·      State-set reimbursement rates, with little to no provider input

·      Prohibitions on charging parents more than the state-approved rate, even when that rate is below the true cost of care

·      Contractual obligations that limit flexibility while costs for staffing, insurance, food, rent, and compliance have skyrocketed and continue to rise. Payroll costs have increased 35-50% in the past 5 years.  Insurance costs have doubled and tripled for most.

This means providers cannot simply “raise tuition” to absorb cuts or changes made by Oklahoma Department of Human Services. When subsidy payments fall short of actual operating costs, providers are forced to make impossible choices: reduce services, limit enrollment, stop accepting subsidy families, or close altogether.

Many already have. 

Why This Is a Workforce Crisis

Child care is the workforce behind the workforce.

Oklahoma’s economy depends on parents being able to show up to work consistently and productively. When child care becomes unstable or unavailable:

·      Parents are forced to reduce hours, decline promotions, or leave the workforce entirely.

·      Employers face increased absenteeism, turnover, and hiring challenges.

·      Entire communities lose economic momentum. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly two-thirds of mothers with young children participate in the labor force, a reality made possible only when reliable child care exists. When subsidy funding is cut or destabilized, it is not just child care businesses that suffer; Oklahoma’s entire workforce does. In fact, businesses looking at relocating to Oklahoma or staying in Oklahoma, ask one question first, What is the availability of child care so that we can attract and retain our workforce? 

The Solution & Call to Action

The responsibility, and the solution,  rests with the Oklahoma Legislature. Lawmakers have the authority to act immediately by revising the state budget to restore and strengthen child care subsidy funding on an emergency basis. Doing so would stabilize existing providers, prevent further closures, and protect access to care in communities across Oklahoma. It would also ensure that low-income working families are not priced out of the very support systems designed to help them succeed. This impacts every working parent that rely on the child care delivery system as a lifeline. 

This is a defining moment. Continued inaction will accelerate provider closures, shrink the labor force, and place Oklahoma at a competitive disadvantage. Strategic reinvestment in child care, however, will strengthen the economy, support families, and safeguard the development and well-being of our youngest Oklahoman's. Oklahoma child care has been in the Top Ten for decades, let's not crash to the bottom.

We urges Oklahoma lawmakers to act now to restore and increase child care subsidy funding and protect the system that working families and employers depend on. Oklahoma cannot build a strong workforce without a strong child care system.We must stand together and let lawmakers know we can't exist any longer without bold and swift actions to restore funding.  Please sign this petition to ensure that the Oklahoma child care industry, through child care businesses, can continue to serve children and families.  This protects our children's futures and helps Oklahoma communities grow.  We ARE the workforce that supports all other workforces.