Historic election will improve quality of child care for thousands of Pennsylvania working families

PHILADELPHIA- Today a majority of 20,000 home-based child care providers casting ballots voted to unite for a stronger say in delivering affordable, quality child care by forming their own union with Child Care Providers UNITED (CCP UNITED). Ballots were counted Friday by the American Arbitration Association. Over 95 percent of child care providers casting ballots voted to join CCP UNITED.

This is an exciting day for family child care providers and the working parents who depend on us,"said Sherrie Richardson, a child care provider from Philadelphia.

"Now we have one strong voice and can work with the state to improve regulations, increase training opportunities, and win other changes that will raise the quality of child care in Pennsylvania,"concluded Richardson.

The election victory is part of a nationwide movement of child care providers uniting to transform this low-paid, poorly funded work into the valued service it should be for America's parents, children, and providers. Since 2005, 10 states have given publicly funded providers the freedom to form a union, and Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington have already approved union contracts that also improve parents' access to affordable, quality child care.

Gwenetta Dickens, a provider from Erie stated, "The only thing parents will notice is that quality will improve and it will be easier for them to find quality child care when they need it."

For Pennsylvania, this is the second such union election by child care providers in eight months. Friday's vote by relative/neighbor providers who receive state funding to care for up to three children follows a vote in October by 3,700 providers registered to care for up to six children.

"We are transforming the child care industry here in Pennsylvania,"said Bonnie Caldwell, a child care provider from Clearfield County and Executive Director of CCP UNITED. "Studies have linked quality childcare in the early years with better academic performance and less problematic behavior among schoolchildren, and with our new unified voice we'll be able to raise child care standards across the entire state."
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