How Child Care in Oregon is Saving the Construction Trade

There has been a construction boom in Oregon. Demand in the trade continues to rise yet 90 percent of construction companies say they don’t have enough qualified workers to meet demand. As part of an effort to boost the worker pipeline, the state offers no-cost apprenticeship programs, which can lead participants to a more lucrative construction job. But without reliable child care coverage, too many working parents couldn’t find a way to make it through the program.

Then Oregon found a solution.

Since 2011, three state agencies in Oregon have come together to create one of the country’s most generous and comprehensive child care subsidies to support worker training and development through the state program: Apprentice-Related Child Care (ARCC). ARCC is funded by a portion of Oregon’s federal state highway funds. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) signed an agreement with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to manage it.

To support workers in the apprenticeship program, Oregon offers some of the most generous subsidy reimbursement rates in the country – up to $2,500 per child per month, and in some cases, without any co-pay from the families. While over a quarter of the beneficiaries are women, most of the workers who take advantage of the program are men. Many have spouses who also work, and some are single fathers, explains Larry Williams, operations and policy analyst for BOLI.

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