Are you a construction union apprentice or a recently graduated journeyman with kids? You could be eligible to get significant from the state of Oregon help paying for childcare.
Oregon’s Child Care for Construction program is meant to support parents who are getting started in construction careers. The program is run by the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) with funding from the Oregon Business Development Department. It pays a subsidy directly to the childcare provider to keep childcare costs at or below 7% of a worker’s household income, or even less for very-low-income households. The childcare can be provided by a licensed childcare facility or by a family member, friend, or neighbor who goes through some basic training.
And the program isn’t just about full-time care for infants and toddlers; it also pays for summer programs and before- and after-school care for school-aged children up to age 12, or even up to age 17 for children who have special needs. Not only that but the subsidy is available for both current apprentices and for those have completed an apprenticeship in the last five years. It’s meant to help parents get into a career in construction — and stay in.
Penny Painter, who manages the program for BOLI, said about 45 apprentices and 14 journeymen are enrolled in the program so far. BOLI would like to increase that to 200.
Childcare can be a major financial burden, rivaling rent or a mortgage as a household’s biggest expense. But in the Child Care for Construction program, a single parent making $60,000 a year could expect to pay just $350 a month, with the state paying the rest.
For Alexxis Lee — a single mom with kids aged 5, 9, and 14 — the program makes all the difference. Lee learned about it from a dispatcher at Operating Engineers Local 701. Now she’s a third-term apprentice operating engineer.
“If this child care program didn’t exist, this industry would not even be an option for me.” Lee told the Labor Press. “It was like a godsend, honestly.”
Lee said starting out, she had nothing. Now she works 12-hour days running a front-end loader for McDonald Excavating on the City of Portland’s Bull Run water treatment plant project and is making progress toward journeyman status.
“This is a life changing career. This completely changed the trajectory of my entire family.”
HOW TO SIGN UP For details and assistance with the application process, contact Penny at 503-205-4769 or [email protected].
