Smart Start–even the name of it sounds right on target–is an early child-care program initiated by the State of North Carolina in 1993. It pairs public funding with private dollars and is run by a non-profit umbrella organization, the North Carolina Partnership for Children.
Its success is an example of what states can do and are doing to bridge the gap between job and family responsibilities for working people. And the involvement of a state is an indication of where governmental efforts to support working families may be heading.
“In the states–that’s where the action is on these issues,” said Ann E. Beaudry, chief executive of the Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington, D.C., a public policy and leadership development center that focuses on progressive issues in the 50 states.
“States and their communities are where families live and increasingly there is financial funding in place in these locations. Though much of the money comes from federal funds, the states can allocate block grants for things such as child care, transportation, health care and earned income tax credits.”
The need for states to take action is imperative, according to Beaudry, formerly the founder and principal of two communications and public affairs firms, “because we’re going to face political gridlock in the U.S. Congress, just as we have in the past. That means we won’t get major initiatives passed. But states can expand coverage and resources for benefits such as family leave. They can close the wage gap, which helps working families.”
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Family support benefits “will be a major issue in state legislatures in the next few years, particularly when the new welfare changes of 1996 really begin to take effect,” said Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago). Currie has been a representative since 1979.
“States can do a lot in this area, and ever since the days of the Reagan presidency, more and more responsibilities have, in fact, shifted to the states,” she said. “The current philosophy is that of decentralization, based on the belief that the federal government should be limited in its objectives and programs.”
Illinois, too, has “a strong record of helping to pay for quality child care for low income working families,” Currie said. “We’ve also adopted a state earned income tax credit. But we haven’t put enough emphasis on job training and creation.”
Other states “doing well” on work/life balance issues, the representative says, are California, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington. More attention, she believes, will be paid by states to medical care and family leave. “We’re going to be looking at a substantial number of unmet needs,” Currie said.
If states do come through, they will be directly responding to the desires of their constituents, according to a 2000 poll of 1,576 adults nationwide by the Center for Policy Alternatives.
“The results show the main concerns are about issues related to work, wages, benefits, education, child care and elder care,” Beaudry said.
Based on these findings, the center, which has a staff of 35, has started a new program, the Work and Family Investment Initiative. Its aim is to “develop a comprehensive policy agenda that covers the balance between work and family and to move a family investment strategy forward in the states, most of which have budget surpluses as well as unspent federal monies,” Beaudry said.
The center will focus on expanded coverage for family leave benefits, equal pay, use of state earned income tax credits, use of funds from the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and public-private partnerships.
Only a few years ago, few people thought that states would be at the forefront of family benefits. “But the tide is turning,” Beaudry said. “States are where innovation is coming from and is likely to come from. Their leadership is key.”
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Carol Kleiman’s column also appears in Sunday’s Jobs section. Watch her Career Coach segments Sunday and Tuesday mornings on CLTV. Send e-mail to [email protected].