This is an update of a local market survey of child care rates which, according to federal regulations, must be conducted by states at least every two years. In 2000, Washington State's Department of Social and Health Services subsidized part of the child care costs for about 68,800 children a month. The study finds that the number of children receiving DSHS subsidies has tripled in the past decade and about two-thirds of children with DSHS-subsidized child care attend licensed family homes or child care centers. The proportion of children in licensed care whose care is subsidized by DSHS – after remaining at about 15 percent from 1990 through 1996 – rose to 19 percent in 1998 and to 25 percent in 2000. Annual attrition for employees of child care centers was estimated to be 53 percent; 18 percent of teachers and 40 percent of aides had been hired in the past six months. The number of licensed family homes declined from 8,600 in 1996 to 7,159 in 2001, a decline of 17 percent, with the greatest declines (36 percent) seen in King County. Statewide, 29 percent of children in licensed family homes in spring of 2000 were subsidized by DSHS. For children cared for by Hispanic or black providers, the rate was 73 percent.
