66 | Removing Barriers to Child Care for Parents in Education and Training Programs

On the Evidence

In the United States, education and training programs are available to help adults with low incomes secure better jobs and earn higher wages. But, of an estimated 21 million parents with low incomes nationwide, only about 1 in 10 participated in such programs. One reason the participation rate isn’t higher? Inadequate supply of affordable and convenient child care options. The lack of child is a major barrier for parents with low incomes who want to engage in training, acquire new skills, increase their earnings, and advance their careers. In 2016 the U.S. Department of Labor launched a five-year federal grant program called the Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) to remove barriers to child care for parents with low incomes who wanted to participate in education and training programs. SWFI provided 13 grantees in 12 states with up to $4 million each. The grantees were a mix of nonprofits, local workforce development boards, institutions of higher learning, and municipalities. As part of the initiative, Mathematica provided technical assistance to SWFI grantees to assist them with identifying areas for improvement, co-creating solutions, and assessing progress. The latest episode of On the Evidence explores lessons from SWFI that can inform federal policies and programs, as well as cross-sector community partnerships at the local level that help parents participate in education and training by removing barriers to child care. This episode features the following guests: • Robin Fernkas, the deputy administrator for the Office of Workforce Investment at the U.S. Department of Labor • Shalonda Jackson, a working mom in Mississippi who completed a pre-apprenticeship training program and found a job in the shipbuilding industry afterward • Carol Burnett, the executive director of Moore Community House, a SWFI grantee in Mississippi that provides workforce training to women as well as early childhood education • Ruth Mazara, a program manager at Moore Community House • Nick Schultz, the executive director of the Pacific Gateway Workforce Innovation Network, a public agency in Long Beach, California, that received a SWFI grant • Sandra Dafiaghor, who directs OAI Chicago Southland, a workforce development agency that received a SWFI grant • David Moore, who directed the SwiftStart program for Total Action for Progress, a workforce development agency in Virginia that received a SWFI grant • Nickie Fung, a researcher at Mathematica who provided technical assistance to SWFI grantees Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/removing-barriers-to-child-care-for-parents-in-education-and-training-programs Learn more about Mathematica's work on SWFI here: mathematica.org/projects/strengthening-working-families-initiatives