Santa Clara County's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a countywide Childcare Blueprint on Tuesday, September 15, a policy roadmap meant to tackle the cost, access, workforce and facility shortages squeezing families across the region — with South County singled out as an especially dire childcare desert.
The blueprint, developed by the county's Office of Children and Families Policy, is designed to strengthen how organizations support children and families, particularly those already connected to county services, according to San José Spotlight. District 2 Supervisor Betty Duong said childcare costs and the high cost of living are pushing families to the breaking point, per the same report, and argued the county must invest in raising wages for childcare providers and expanding professional development opportunities.
Duong also framed the stakes in broader economic terms, saying investing in childcare means investing in children, the workforce and working families' ability to remain in local communities. The county wants to increase the number of childcare facilities through capital investment and strategic site development, while also advancing provider compensation and workforce strength, the outlet reports. The plan prioritizes families with infants, toddlers and children with disabilities.
South County's Childcare Desert
District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas voted to move the blueprint forward but raised concerns about the low number of parents surveyed for the roadmap. Arenas said South County is a childcare desert with an enormous need, noting that families there often hold childcare vouchers they cannot actually use because there aren't enough local centers to accept them, the report states.
Santa Clara County's earlier Childcare Expansion Grant Program, funded by $15 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars allocated in February 2023, supported childcare expansion across the county, according to the County of Santa Clara's announcement about Britton Middle School. That grant program, administered through the Valley Health Foundation, helped create nearly 700 new licensed childcare spaces across more than 50 providers countywide.
The blueprint's roadmap drew on 12 focus groups involving 95 people, held by the Clarity Social Research Group under contract with the county. Participants included parents and caregivers, former foster youth, families facing housing insecurity and domestic violence, young mothers affected by the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, and CalWORKs families, per San José Spotlight.
The Money Problem: Unused State Funds
District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said she wants the county to utilize its childcare funding streams to the fullest, and the county will now analyze its different funding streams to avoid returning unused childcare dollars to the state, the outlet notes. That effort follows San Mateo County's recently released childcare blueprint and its study of funding streams, according to 4Cs of San Mateo County. Santa Clara County may now partner with San Mateo County on an advocacy plan to push for greater state investment in childcare.
To carry that work forward, Santa Clara County will create an Action Implementation Committee tasked with maximizing and prioritizing current federal and state childcare funding streams. Heidi Emberling, director of the county's Office of Children and Families Policy, helped shape the blueprint after the county consulted childcare providers, healthcare partners and academic institutions that train early childhood educators, according to the County of Santa Clara.
Waitlists and the Real Cost of Care
Veronica Goei, executive director of Grail Family Services, said her East San Jose organization has no openings in any of its childcare settings and maintains waitlists across the board, San José Spotlight reports. The county asked partners like Grail to develop their own local childcare goals, strategies and related actions as part of the blueprint process. Officials say the childcare system needs a mixed delivery model — center-based care, licensed family childcare homes and weekend care — to actually work for families, providing quality choices that fit their lives.
The numbers behind that strain are steep. San José Spotlight reports the median annual cost of center-based care for preschoolers in the county is $23,652, while infant center-based care runs $30,399 a year; home-based care costs $20,810 for infants and $19,990 for preschool-aged children. Subsidized childcare helped 10,801 Santa Clara County families in 2023, yet only 13% of children ages 0 to 2 in qualified families received care, rising to 36% among qualified children overall.
Separate market data paints an even starker national picture. Center-based infant care in Santa Clara County averages $27,411 annually, according to Daycare Cost Guide, consuming roughly 18% of the county's median household income of $153,792 — more than double the 7% affordability benchmark set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Supply Gap Persists Despite New Facilities
Even with new capacity coming online, supply is not keeping pace with demand. Independent research from Beverly Research shows Santa Clara County has approximately 39 licensed childcare slots per 100 children under age five with working parents, well below the national benchmark of 73 slots per 100 children. Officials warn that when families can't find care, they may reduce work hours, turn down jobs, leave the workforce entirely or put their education on hold.
State and local rules are shifting too. The article also discusses state and local childcare policy, including San Jose's Council Policy 6-14, and references what Hoodline previously reported.
Whether the new blueprint moves the needle will hinge on the Action Implementation Committee's ability to raise provider pay, retain early childhood educators, and simplify how low-income families access vouchers in the first place. For now, the unanimous vote advances the county's plan, with the Action Implementation Committee tasked with improving a system that, by its own numbers, is failing far more families than it serves.
