Free child care? Yes, but only on election day

Parents in Los Angeles don’t need to let child care costs prevent them from voting in person Tuesday — especially with the future of child care funding at stake.

Olympic track and field star Allyson Felix is teaming up with national and local nonprofits, including the Chamber of Mothers’ Vote Like a Mother project, to offer free child care to parents on election day.

In L.A., Brella, a child care center with three locations, is offering a free full day of child care so that parents can get to the polls. And Bumo, an online marketplace with hundreds of partner child care facilities across Southern California, is donating $10,000 in child care services that parents can access with the code “VOTE” at checkout.

Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.

Election day child care options can be found through Politisit, a national nonprofit that has been providing free child care to voters since 2020, with drop-in sites across the country. In 2022, the group provided more than 1,000 hours of free child care to families.

Free child care options can also be accessed at the website electiondaychildcare.com.

“Wrangling small children in crowded, long lines is not an easy feat,” said Emily Teixeira, Politisit’s executive director. “In some areas, polling locations are in hard-to-get-to areas, or you have to wait in line along a busy street, and it’s just not accessible for working families who have to decide if they’re going to go pick up their kids from the babysitter or go vote because they can’t do both.”

Bumo, which has primarily served California families, expanded to nearly 10 states in time for election day. The online marketplace said its child care centers have been more than enthusiastic to participate in the initiative.

“It’s something that people really care about,” Bumo Chief Executive and co-founder Joan Nguyen said. “Not only enabling and empowering people to vote, but also empowering parents to vote.”

To claim a spot at one of Brella’s three locations, parents must fill out a Google form to express interest and then work with someone from the team to fill out enrollment forms. The process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours, co-founder and co-CEO Melanie Wolff said.

“Families are just grateful for the opportunity to have free child care on this day,” she said. “I think it’s just viewed as a really positive initiative for the community in a really divisive time.

The centers have capacity for 120 children, according to Wolff.

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“I think we have a real moment and a real opportunity right now,” said Erin Erenberg, CEO of Chamber of Mothers. “Women’s rights have been front and center, much more than in previous years. And I think we really have an opportunity to look at what unites us.”

Child care issues have been widely highlighted in the presidential campaign, with Kamala Harris promoting a new care economy for working families and former President Trump touting his past record. Harris has proposed a child-care plan in which working families would not pay more than 7% of their income for child care.

Trump has not offered details for improving the child-care system, and the GOP campaign platform does not mention the issue. Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s governing playbook, would eliminate the Head Start program, which serves more than 800,000 low-income children across the country.

Neither Politisit nor Chamber of Mothers offers guidance on whom mothers should vote for.

“You should never have to choose between your profession, your passions, and motherhood,” Felix said in a statement. “I’m honored to partner with Chamber of Mothers to tell moms that this election, you don’t have to choose between voting and motherhood. This election, you can do both.

This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.