This child care owner laid off staff after Indiana's funding cuts. Now she's protesting

A small crowd of mostly women, some with children in tow, gathered on the steps of the Indiana Statehouse on Friday to protest what they say are catastrophic cuts to child care funding.

Indiana slashed public funding for child care this year, after temporary federal money ran out. Now, centers that serve low-income families have fewer children, and the state is paying them less for care.

Amanda Cox owns two child care centers in Martinsville. She’s been forced to lay off two staff members and cut wages for others. 

"Wages are the only thing we can cut, utilities, groceries, mortgages, rent, insurance,” Cox said. “None of that can be changed."F

It was the first time that 44-year-old Cox had been to a protest. She’s afraid the funding cuts will force child care centers like hers to close. 

The state announced last month that it would cut Child Care and Development Fund vouchers. Known as CCDF, the vouchers provide federally funded subsidies to pay for childcare for low-income parents who are working or going to school.

Indiana used pandemic aid in recent years to expand the state preschool scholarships and CCDF vouchers. But when federal aid ran out, state lawmakers did not fill the gap, and instead created a waitlist for new vouchers.  

The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported in August that the state has not enrolled any new children in the program since. According to the state dashboard, more than 29,000 Indiana children are currently on the waitlist.

Tumikia Gilbert, who owns two child care ministries on the northeast side of Indianapolis, said her enrollment has dropped by half since the state froze participation in the voucher program. 

The cuts to child care funding are so severe she has stopped paying herself, Gilbert said. “I am thankful to have another business that can bring income in for myself.”

Contact WFYI Education Reporter Dylan Peers McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org.