There are almost 108,000 young children in child care in Tarrant County every work day. These children are in centers, family child care programs or being cared for by a neighbor or family member.

• 25% of employees with children have problems with child care availability 3-5 times in a 3 month period.
• Employers nationally pay $3 billion a year due to absenteeism directly related to child care.

Children who were enrolled in high-quality programs are:

• Less likely to participate in at-risk behaviors as teens;
• Have a lower rate of unemployment.
• Show potential for higher lifetime earnings.

In 2002, the State of Texas allocated $2M to improve the quality of care in Tarrant County . By 2005, that funding had dropped to less than $300K.