United Way of Santa Barbara County has released the second round of funding for the Brighter Futures Childcare Scholarship Program, supporting working families struggling with the rising cost of childcare.
“Receiving the scholarship has been an incredible blessing for our family,” said one scholarship recipient. “High-quality childcare is absolutely essential, but the financial burden is a massive hurdle for working parents. This support has given us peace of mind, allowing us to balance our professional careers while knowing our son is in a safe, nurturing environment. We are deeply grateful to United Way for recognizing this need and investing in local families like ours.”
Since launching the program, United Way has awarded over $220,000 in scholarships to support nearly 40 local children and their families across the county. The program targets households in the “missing middle,” those making too much to qualify for public assistance programs, but not enough to afford the high cost of quality care for their children in Santa Barbara County.
“The high cost of childcare remains a significant barrier for working families,” said Christian Patterson, Manager of Early Care & Education at the Santa Barbara County Education Office. “United Way’s Brighter Futures Scholarship Awards are helping relieve that burden by expanding access to quality childcare, supporting a stronger workforce, and creating brighter futures for children and families throughout Santa Barbara County.”
Studies have found the national economic toll of a struggling childcare sector to reach $172 billion annually. In Santa Barbara, the financial impact has been measured between $200 and $300 million each year, with high costs and limited availability causing working parents to leave or limit their participation in the workforce, employers to struggle with recruitment and retention, and childcare providers challenged with sustaining a profitable business and robust workforce.
Nationwide, experts recommend a family spend approximately 7% of their household budget on childcare costs. In Santa Barbara County, recent data showed that local families spend up to 30% on childcare costs alone, rivaling other high-cost line items such as rent or essentials like food and transportation. The region’s unique blend of high cost of living, limited expansion potential for new facilities, and provider pay and pipelines have caused significant disruption in the sector’s functionality and profitability, leaving working parents and caregivers struggling to find, afford, or maintain quality care for their children.
“Childcare is essential community infrastructure,” said Rose Levy, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Advancement at United Way. “The cost of a struggling sector impacts not only working parents, but those running childcare businesses, employers recruiting and retaining the workforce, and the children themselves, who deserve access to high-quality early learning experiences to build a strong foundation for future success.”
In 2023, United Way and the Santa Barbara Foundation were awarded $2 million in reallocated dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support and rebuild the struggling childcare sector in Santa Barbara County. The initial funding was intended as a launchpad for sustainable, long-term growth for childcare. United Way and partners achieved essential success in kickstarting systems-level solutions for the childcare space, including new facilities and spaces, business development and support for providers, an emergency childcare plan for first responders, and family scholarships.
The scholarship program is a key component of United Way’s continued work in the sector, with families relying on the essential fund to afford the quality care they need to promote early learning and development for their children, stabilize household budgets and financial security, and to engage fully in the workforce.
Parents, providers, and employers looking for more information on the Brighter Futures Childcare Initiative are invited to connect with United Way’s Brighter Futures Childcare Manager Lisa Nelley at lnelley@unitedwaysb.org or (805) 965-8591, or to visit the initiative website at https://unitedwaysb.org/brighter-futures-childcare-initiative/.
