Sedgwick County has $2 million for affordable child care — and no plan to spend it

It’s sad, really.

Given $2 million to help families find affordable child care during the COVID-19 crisis, which has shut down in-person learning in many schools, Sedgwick County and area school districts couldn’t make it work.

We have the money, thanks to a grant of nearly $100 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security — CARES — Act.

We have a Dec. 31 deadline, by which time the county must spend the money — and comply with federal guidelines — or risk having to pay it back to the federal government.

And we have a pressing need: Since local school districts voted to send students home amid rising COVID-19 cases, Wichita-area parents have been scrambling to find someone to supervise their children while they work. Some youngsters, no doubt, are home alone.

But County Manager Tom Stolz reported Wednesday that despite numerous calls and conversations involving county officials, school leaders, nonprofit groups and businesses, they couldn’t make it work.

Blame bureaucracy — and the pandemic.

“With the rules of CARES and (U.S. Department of) Treasury guidelines, it was just very difficult — impossible, actually,” to come up with a plan to help working families, said County Manager Tom Stolz.

By Saturday evening, after three straight days of talks, “It just became so insurmountable that we just couldn’t make it happen,” he said.

It’s no surprise, given the challenge that caring for 80,000 public school students poses during normal circumstances, much less quickly and amid a pandemic. Logistical and legal concerns — including staffing, spacing, accountability and liability — made it impossible, Stolz said, even with a $2 million budget.

If only cities, counties and school districts had started planning for this months ago. Gov. Laura Kelly ordered Kansas schools shut down in March. Sedgwick County got its CARES Act money in April. Working families were scrambling then, too, and school districts noted from the start of this academic year that a move to full-remote learning was a possibility.

County Commissioner Lacey Cruse, who has a school-age daughter, echoed the frustrations of thousands of Wichita-area parents Wednesday:

“I think it’s really unfortunate for the children in our community, who, regardless of what the situation is, in reality are at home right now without supervision,” Cruse said.

Working parents who live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford emergency child care have told her, “’All I need is $300 to get my kid to a safe place,’” Cruse said.

“And we weren’t able to accomplish that, when there’s money sitting there,” she said. “It’s a sad day when there is money there but we can’t provide it to our community.”

The money may be there, but a comprehensive plan isn’t — and it never was. For decades, child care advocates in Kansas have warned about funding and access issues, and they’ve tried to make child care a top priority.

Because finding child care isn’t just a dilemma for working parents and families; it’s an economic problem and a collective, social responsibility. Our current crisis has made that painfully clear.

It’s too late now, given federal deadlines and pandemic complications, to rescue Wichita-area families with a large-scale child care option for low or no cost. Several local organizations, including the Sedgwick County Zoo and Exploration Place, have stepped up to provide safe spaces and other resources for children in remote learning programs, and hopefully more will do so.

In the meantime, local and state leaders and school districts should use this setback as inspiration to make child care a priority and to do more — or at least be ready to.

This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 8:07 AM.