Utah Child Care Bill To Increase Both Tax Credit And Unlicensed Childcare Capacity

A proposed Utah Child Care Bill is now headed to the governor’s desk. Though this seems like a win for a more serious policy discussion about child care, it’s also prompting a concern for the child safety that this proposal would entail.

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Utah Child Care Advocates Worries That The Proposed Bill Poses A Safety Risk

House bill 153, if passed, would provide a $2.3 million tax break to parents but would also increase the capacity of children that an unlicensed day care center can take. Starting May 1, unlicensed child care center can take eight children. Right now, they can only take six children, reported by Public News Service.

Anna Thomas of Voices for Utah Children said that the Utah Child care bill would compromise the health and safety of the children. Eight children are a lot in one home-based center even with one person with knowledge of CPR and first-aid training. She notes that there should be mandatory background checks and even suggests limiting the number of 3-years old and below to only 2 children as part of the maximum total capacity. According to her research shows that loosening the standards does nothing to improve the cost or the availability of child care.

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$2.3 Million Tax Break for Utah parents

The proposed Utah child care bill, House Bill 153, would provide a $2.3 million tax break for some Utah parents. Anna Thomas of Voices for Utah Children said that the bill may contain some wins when it comes to tax credits.

She admitted that many of the families in Utah opt for unlicensed home-based child care because this is the only affordable option for them. She argued that the proposed Utah child care bill does not effectively address that high cost of child care and that the state should try to moderate it. According to Anna, parents must realize that this is a system problem and not a parent problem.

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