Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Aliyah Garcia, 4, left, worked a computer program for children with Jake Mena, center, and Diego Lopez at the El Papalote Inclusive Child Development Center at 1101 E. Schuster. Bea Vargas, owner of the center, estimates 80 percent of the children enrolled in the nonprofit center are from low-income families. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)

There is a simple formula for getting out of poverty: Get more schooling, then land a better job.

But for many struggling parents, none of it is possible without affordable day care.

Carol Guerrero, a recent divorcee with a 4-year-old daughter, said day care would be out of reach on her $9-an-hour wage if it weren't for subsidies.

"I would have to have two jobs -- one to pay for day care and the other to pay for everything else," she said.

Each day in El Paso, 1,500 to 3,000 working families are on a waiting list for affordable day care, according to the YWCA. The YWCA is contracted by the Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board to manage $20 million in annual federal day-care subsidies in El Paso.

The problem is not a shortage of space -- El Paso has 600 day-care centers and home day cares.

But with a median cost of $16 a day, full-price day care is out of reach for people in poverty. A family of two living under the poverty line makes $37.50 a day. Day care would eat up almost half of daily earnings, leaving a meager $21.50 for necessities such as food, rent, gasoline, utilities and clothing.

The YWCA's Child Care Services program helps the families of 6,200 children pay for day care every day.

But that's only enough to help one out of eight qualifying families.

"We know we don't have enough money to help all the poor families," program administrator Barbara Als paugh said. "We try to make sure we help the ones that need it the most."

A study by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, found that the Child Care Development Fund, the federal grants that trickle down to pay for El Paso's Child Care Services program, is one of the most underused programs for the poor around the nation. Only 28 percent of families that qualify to receive the benefits do so.

Alspaugh said it's because the program is severely underfunded.

People on the waiting list in El Paso must wait -- usually three to five months -- for a space to open up. This happens when a child grows out of day care or when a parent is dropped from the funding for losing her job.

To qualify for Child Care Services funding, a family must make less than 175 percent of the federal poverty level, and each parent must work at least 30 hours a week. Some funding is available for parents pursuing an education, but it's limited.

Parents must contribute 9 percent of their gross income toward day care, and the YWCA pays the rest. For a family of four making $35,000 a year, it means the YWCA pays $10 out of a typical $16 a day.

El Paso has few other options for day-care help. Last year, Upper Rio Grande @ Work paid for day care for 139 clients going through job training under the Workforce Investment Act. El Paso Community College also helps with the day-care bills of more than 50 students on financial aid, school officials said.

Bea Vargas, owner of El Papalote Inclusive Child Development Center on East Schuster Drive, said 80 percent of her parents get financial help from the state. She dedicates part of her week to "hustling for grants," as she calls it, gathering money to offer as "scholarships" to parents to complement the state's subsidies.

"My parents are working poor. They are out there struggling," she said. "Then when they start making a little money, the state says, 'OK, you're making a living. You don't need the funding anymore.' They don't take into account the $375 a month they'll have to pay for (unsubsidized day care). It puts them right back in poverty again."

In the private sector, Las Palmas Medical Center is the only business in the city with an on-site licensed child-care center for its employees.

The center, which opened last year, is operated by Michael Hicks, owner and operator of Flying Colors Learning Centers. He said Las Palmas gave him a break on rent so he could offer high-quality, affordable day care to Las Palmas employees.

But few companies are willing to make the investment, Hicks said.

"It's a problem in El Paso," he said. "We don't seem to get these businesses interested."

This article was published in Week 5 of the El Paso Times Poverty Series.