As they trickle in from the cold this winter morning, their parents give them snacks and kiss them goodbye for the day, and the children at the YWCA Lolie Eccles Childcare Center in downtown Salt Lake City are comfortable and happy.
They hang their coats neatly in their lockers, and some children pick a puzzle or a favorite toy, while others find friends to giggle with or sit quietly with a book.
Their diversity is manifested in their faces and their clothes.
The children don't know, and likely wouldn't care even if they did, that some of their parents get a little extra money each month so they can be there.
In fact, 13 of the 49 children enrolled at the YWCA receive a subsidy through the state's child-care and development block grant. The number mirrors the statewide figure, where an estimated 26 percent of Utah households use paid child care.
"Every single person who loves a child in this state needs to realize that this money is very important," said Carolyn Forbush, director of the Y.'s child-care program.
In the upcoming legislative session, advocates will work to convince lawmakers that every Utah child deserves such a safe, stable environment. Voices for Utah Children has received a two-year United Way grant to work toward securing full funding of the program, which uses state dollars to draw down federal funds.
Last year, the Legislature appropriated $2.7 million in one-time monies to the grant program. Had lawmakers fully funded the program, with about $6.5 million, the state would have received another $12 million from the federal government. That money, advocates say, could have helped many thousands of Utah parents ease the financial — and emotional — burden of child care while pumping millions of dollars into the state's economy.
"We proclaim to be a very family-oriented state, yet our public policy doesn't always reflect that," Voices' Robyn Lipkowitz said. "This is a really hard issue for families and has a real economic impact on families."
In his budget released in early December, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. recommended that the program receive $3.5 million in ongoing funds.
In October 2006, 7,784 Utah families — with 14,714 children — were directly served by the state's child-care and development block grant, according to the Department of Workforce Services' Office of Work and Family Life, which administers the grant.
To qualify, parents must make 56 percent of the median income. For a household of two, one parent and one child, that is less than $2,007 a month. The monthly income for a household of three cannot exceed $2,479.
The average subsidy is $280, but the actual amount depends on several factors. Darcy Murphy receives $87 a month, which covers a little less than half of her child-care expenses.
Murphy learned about child-care assistance while staying at the YWCA with her nearly 3-year-old daughter, Devi. The program was a "life saver," Murphy said, enabling her to place her daughter at the Y.'s Lolie Eccles Childcare Center.
Within months, the benefits of the program's structured environment and focus on early education began to show, Murphy said. Devi was counting to 10 on her own, and her mother "noticed a complete difference in her verbal skills."
Devi had been staying with a relative in a much less structured environment while Murphy, a student at Salt Lake Community College, attends classes during the day. "You get what you pay for," Murphy said. "I was comforted to know that she was being taken care of well while I was doing what I needed to do."
Even those families that don't receive the child-care aid, however, recognize the value of the assistance.
It is in a community's best interest to have children in a safe, stable and mentally stimulating environment, said David Sidlow of Salt Lake City. Sidlow and his wife, Stacia, selected the Lolie Eccles Childcare Center for their son, Finn, after visiting about a dozen other facilities.
"It was not a fun few weeks for us. There are some day cares out there that we would not feel good about putting Finn there."
Unfortunately, Sidlow said, "For so many people, that's the only choice they can make."
The federal government has suggested that states establish child-care subsidies in the 75th percentile of a state's market. In Utah, the subsidies, which have not been increased since 2001, are well below that benchmark.
According to the Office of Work and Family Life, the current infant subsidy rate is at 42 percent and the toddler rate at 50 percent. The low rates mean that families, even with a subsidy, can only afford about half of the child-care facilities in their area.
As long as money dictates quality, said parent Karen Klucznik, policymakers should work to level the child-care playing field.
"I feel very strongly that, to the extent we can, we pretty much have a societal duty to provide that opportunity to as many children as we can," said Klucznik, whose 2-year-old son, Dean, is in the same YWCA class as Murphy's daughter.
Proponents of the program say the money helps more than just low-income families, a fact they will try to impress upon lawmakers when they convene Jan. 15. Millions of dollars each year go toward quality initiatives for the child-care industry, which creates more than 40,000 jobs annually and has an estimated $820 million "ripple effect" on Utah business.
"While child-care subsidies support those low-income families who qualify, the child-care quality dollar supports everyone," said Lynette Rasmussen, director of the Office of Work and Family Life.
For every dollar invested in the child-care industry, the Department of Workforce Services estimates a $17 return for the state's economy. Rasmussen cites research showing that children in quality child-care programs have greater mathematical ability, better attention skills and fewer behavioral problems.
As adults, she said, they also tend to be more productive citizens and less of a burden on their communities and the economy. "There's just so many reasons why we need to be investing in children and high-quality child-care programs and high-quality after-school programs."
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com