Parents, child care providers march at Oregon State Capitol for accessible child care
About 100 people marched Tuesday from Amiguitos & Family Child Care Center in Salem to rally at the Oregon State Capitol before lobbying legislators to support bills that would improve access to affordable child care.
Marchers chanted "Care Can't Wait" and "Si se puede," meaning "We can do it," banged on drums and carried signs with slogans like "Every family deserves quality child care."
The march was organized by Family Forward Oregon, which describes itself as a "feminist organization committed to racial, gender, and economic justice," as well as the Child Care for Oregon Coalition and the Oregon Working Families Party.
According to Family Forward, the waitlist for Oregon's Employment Related Day Care includes more than 10,000 families. The subsidy program helps working families afford child care. Advocates said the program is currently only funded to support about 12% of eligible families and ERDC needs an additional $500 million to meet Oregon's needs.
Marchel Marcos, 32, of Hillsboro, said as a single mom raising two children she was never able to find child care she could afford.
Marcos, the political director of Family Forward, said she was consistently denied access to care for her sons, now 13 and 9, because her sons' father was viewed as an available parent even though she said he was a domestic abuser.
"They still saw the parent at home, who was my abuser, as an available child care provider, which kept me in that relationship until my kids were elementary age," Marcos said.
Her sons, Royce and Kenji, joined her at Tuesday's march, leading the way with drums.
Iyania McClendon, 24, said she had her son, now 3, a year after moving to Portland from Louisiana.
McClendon said she couldn't find anyone to watch her son and her six-month old daughter until her mother moved from Louisiana to watch them.
McClendon is a poet who goes by Soulful Sista Solflower. She does freelance and short-term work as a performer and coach, and said she had difficulty finding a full-time job where she could work while watching her children.
"It sucks to know that I'm not alone in this, but it's also good to know that I'm not alone in wanting to fight against it," McClendon said.
Maria Ceci Hinojos Pressey, the deputy director of PCUN, Oregon's farmworker union, spoke at the march. She said the inaccessibility of child care prevents people from getting raises and promotions because they have to stay home and take care of their children.
"The people that make sure we have food on our table face a child care desert every single day," Pressey said. "Many people have to pull out of the workforce because they can't find child care."
Parents and care providers lobbied lawmakers to support several bills to improve access and affordability for child care, in addition to asking for a budgetary increase for ERDC. Those bills include:
House Bill 2593 would require the Department of Early Learning and Care to report enrollment in ERDC and identify strategies to increase enrollment. It's scheduled for a possible work session April 3.
House Bill 2452 would strengthen the referral system that helps connect families with child care resources and providers. It's scheduled for a possible work session April 1.
House Bill 2450 would require the DELC to prepare a child care impact statement when legislation is being considered that could impact the workforce and increase child care needs. No hearings or work sessions have been scheduled.
House Bill 3008 would provide funding for the recruitment and retention of child care providers in Oregon. It's scheduled for a work session April 8.
Isabel Funk covers breaking news and public safety for the Statesman Journal. Funk can be reached at ifunk@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @isabeldfunk
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Parents, caregivers lobby lawmakers to fund Oregon child care
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