Child care is not a luxury. For parents across Indiana, it is what allows them to work, attend school and provide for their families. For employers, it is what keeps a reliable workforce in place. And for our children, it is the foundation for lifelong learning and social growth. Yet this fall, the state announced deep cuts to child care voucher reimbursements and paused new enrollments in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). Those decisions threaten to unravel a system that is already hanging by a thread.

Earlier this month, the Family and Social Services Administration announced reductions to reimbursement rates by as much as 35% for school-age children and 10% for infants and toddlers, beginning Oct. 5. At the same time, the agency said it would halt new CCDF enrollments in 2025 to focus funding only on current families. The result is fewer resources for providers, longer waitlists for parents and more uncertainty for Hoosier children who deserve stability and care.

These are not just budget numbers on a spreadsheet. For centers and family child care providers across Indiana, including many here in Muncie, these reimbursements can determine whether a program stays open. Reduced payments force providers to either cut staff, raise parent fees or close altogether. Most cannot absorb the losses without sacrificing quality or accessibility.

The human toll falls hardest on the families this program was designed to help. Working parents, who are teachers, fast food workers, restaurant servers, check out clerks, and other hourly employees, now face impossible choices between paying for care and keeping their jobs. My colleague State Rep. Carey Hamilton has rightly pointed out that these cuts put families in an impossible position, and she’s exactly right. When child care disappears, so do paychecks and economic stability. Communities like Muncie cannot attract or retain workers if parents don’t have dependable care for their kids.

State officials point to the end of pandemic-era federal funding as the reason for these cuts. But budgets are a reflection of priorities, and Indiana has chosen to expand private school vouchers and accelerate tax cuts while reducing support for working families. Protecting current voucher families while blocking new ones from enrolling might sound fair on paper, but it creates a ripple effect that will weaken the entire child care network over time.

We can do better. Lawmakers should restore reimbursement rates to reflect the real cost of high-quality care and reopen enrollment for families on waiting lists. We must also invest in the early-childhood workforce with fair wages and professional development so providers can continue doing the work that shapes Indiana’s future.

For Muncie families, these choices are not hypothetical. Local employers are already struggling to find workers because reliable child care is too expensive or too hard to find. Parents tell me they feel trapped between earning a paycheck and caring for their children. The providers who have kept their doors open through every challenge deserve more than budget cuts and broken promises.

Recently, I visited United Daycare Center here in Muncie after an employee reached out to my office about the impact of losing voucher funding. The center added 3 new classrooms last year to expand space for additional children to receive their high quality care. Now with the reduced access, due to the child care voucher waitlist, that low-income families need, the center can’t add children. The new rooms remain empty. This is exactly what happens when state policy fails to match community needs.

Indiana’s children and families deserve better than this. If we truly value work, family and a strong economy, we must treat child care as the essential infrastructure it is. Restoring this funding is not just an investment in parents — it’s an investment in our state’s future.

Sue Errington serves as an Indiana House Representative for District 34.