March 10, 2019, Arlington, VA – The Libertarian Party of Northern Virginia (LPNOVA) board voted to endorse the Arlington Child Care Initiative aimed at lowering the cost of child care by reducing the regulatory burden on child care providers within the county. The LPNOVA board voted to endorse the initiative noting they hope local governments will also take action to reduce the regulatory burden placed on numerous other local businesses. The Arlington Child Care Initiative aims to make it easier for child care providers to attain and maintain licensing, increases the number of families a provider may serve, and decreases the burdensome requirements for licensure- changes which should lead to lower child care costs for Arlington families.
“The Child Care Initiative’s research, particularly the ‘Risk and Reach’ Study, confirmed that Arlington’s childcare crunch isn’t just an anecdotal challenge for individual families, it’s a systemic problem that affects Arlington’s economic competitiveness, and our goals of achieving equitable outcomes for all our kids and families,” said Board Member Katie Cristol, who proposed the initiative as the Board’s 2018 Chair. “These proposed changes to our Zoning Ordinance and Childcare Codes represent a coordinated, comprehensive approach to the problem, and reflect nearly two years of dedication, analysis and compromise among stakeholders in the initiative.”
LPNOVA Chair, Adam Theo, stated: “This is a great move on the part of the Arlington County staff to try to streamline and even eliminate over-regulation of occupational licensing requirements for Lead Teachers at local Child Care Centers. I have no doubt this change will open this career path to many more dedicated people who otherwise could not have afforded the lengthy and cumbersome requirements that are currently imposed. This will result in greater quality of teachers and other child care providers while bringing down costs and increasing availability of child care in every neighborhood of the County. We commend the hard work of County staff and their willingness to tackle this problem through smart legislation and urge the County Board of Directors to approve this initiative.”