Tandem and Kidango Host A Virtual Roundtable With Congressman Eric Swalwell on Childcare
On July 31, 2020, Tandem was honored to partner with Kidango to host a virtual roundtable with the U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell. Congressman Swalwell represents California District 15, which includes the communities of Hayward, San Leandro, Union City, Dublin, and Livermore, all of which fall in Tandem’s service area. He is also the parent of two children under five, a three-year-old and one-year-old respectively.
During this roundtable, which was moderated by Tandem’s Executive Director Savitha Moorthy, parents, providers, and advocates shared their experiences and challenges related to childcare. Parents pointed out that it was critical to have safe, affordable options for childcare both for the well-being of their children and for their own participation in the workforce. Scott Moore, the CEO of Kidango, offered the provider perspective, highlighting the tension between declining revenue, caused by lower enrollment, and higher costs caused by the new health and safety requirements, that all childcare providers are facing.
The combination of high costs and low enrollment could force many programs to close permanently, especially the childcare centers operated by providers of color. In a nationwide survey conducted by the NAEYC in June, two out of five respondents — and half of all minority-owned child care providers — said they are certain they’ll have to close if they don’t get some kind of government help. Only 18 percent of programs said they expected to last longer than a year without public support.
Panelists expressed appreciation for Congressman Swalwell’s support of federal childcare relief efforts, including the Childcare is Essential Act, which allocates $50 billion to be used as grants to childcare providers to help facilities open safely during the pandemic, and the Childcare Economic Recovery Act, which aims to provide assistance to childcare providers and to make childcare more affordable for families. They urged the congressman to ensure that these relief measures are included at the same (or higher) levels of financial support in the final versions of the bills that are passed in Congress—and encouraged him to become a loud and vocal champion of childcare in these and other upcoming efforts.
Savitha Moorthy
Executive Director
Savitha was brought up to leave the world a little bit better than she found it. For her, this has meant dedicating her life to improving learning opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for young children, especially those growing up in under-served communities. Savitha holds a PhD in Education from Stanford University and a Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad, in India.
