Savannah Dobson spent a Wednesday morning in May loading up her SUV for an Amazon delivery shift in Stillwater. And accompanying her, like all other shift days, was her 7-month-old, Shiloh.
Dobson said she usually takes several shifts a week. Aside from the occasional attacking rooster or awkward route, she's got the routine down.
"It should only take me two hours," Dobson said as she scanned packages and placed them in the back of the car. "So, if I need to stop and feed her or change her, I can do that. We've had multiple side-of-the-road backseat diaper changes."
It's not Dobson's preferred line of work. She worked full-time at a medical center. When she got pregnant, she planned to stay on remotely after maternity leave. But two weeks before, her job prohibited remote work.
Twelve hours after Shiloh was born, she started having seizures. They are quiet, happen without warning, and Shiloh stops breathing.
Dobson isn't comfortable putting her baby in a big daycare center because of the specialized monitoring Shiloh requires. She said a highly recommended home-based daycare costs $1,600 a month — well out of Dobson's price range.
"If I were to go back to work, the position that I would have to be [in] would have to pay significantly higher than I've found positions seem to be willing to pay," Dobson said.
Childcare costs are soaring. Infant care at childcare centers rose by 27% from 2023 to 2025, according to the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness, a quasi-government research and advocacy organization.
Dobson said despite her preparedness, her family has ended up in the same position as many Oklahoma families — they earn too much to qualify for state subsidies, but not enough that childcare is affordable.
"At the time I chose to have a baby, I was in a good position to have the baby. And then my baby ended up in the NICU having seizures. And the job situation that I was promised fell through two weeks before I gave birth," Dobson said. "What was I supposed to do?"
As daycare prices skyrocket to all-time highs, state lawmakers are deploying a patchwork of measures to change the industry. But some Oklahomans say the state should do more to prioritize affordability for families.
Rising costs for providers, less assistance for families
Depending on the county, the average weekly cost of caring for an infant at a daycare center ranges from $95 to $253. Statewide, that averages to $208 per week.
Infant care is often the most expensive because it requires significant staffing and resources. It is also the age in highest demand, with zero- to one-year-olds making up 22% of all care sought statewide. A larger age range, three- to five-year-olds, make up 24%.
Oklahoma ranks in the middle nationwide for infant childcare at No. 33 out of 50 states and Washington D.C. But the state ranks higher in the share of annual family income spent on childcare, at No. 21. On average, Oklahomans spend 15.4% of their income on childcare.
Grace Kelley, executive director for OPSR, said there has been a perfect storm of issues culminating in the pricing crisis facing Oklahoma families.
"It's the expiration of the federal funding that was put in place to support [families] during the pandemic, the rising cost of providing childcare, the supply and demand that happens in the market, and then, regulations," Kelley said.
During the pandemic, the federal government provided states with extra dollars to support families with children in childcare.
One part of that funding paid for a $5-per-day, per-child "add-on" to childcare providers' subsidy rate schedule. The program was phased out, completely ending for children of all ages in April.
StateImpact reported the Licensed Child Care Association of Oklahoma argued DHS' characterization of the funding as limited to the pandemic has changed. The association is the state's largest trade organization for the childcare industry.
"It was relayed to providers that there would be a continuation of that funding," said Katie Quebedeaux, administrator at Faith Learning Center in Guymon and association board member. "So obviously, providers had based their business off of that. They had their yearly budget. They had planned to have that money, and then it was just kind of taken away."
Quebedeaux said reimbursement rates have not increased since 2018. That means despite rising costs, the state's portion paid to providers for subsidy-enrolled families has not changed for eight years.
"You can't reimburse us at what was acceptable in 2018, 2019, and expect us to pay costs of 2026," she said.
Rachel Proper said her seven childcare locations at Child Care Inc. saw about an 18% income reduction. Because so many of her families have subsidized care, she cannot increase rates. Instead, she had to resort to cost-saving measures like reducing the benefits package for staff, hours of operation, dinner service and providing essentials like baby wipes.
"We had to cut quality measures and really kind of get down to doing basic child care, as opposed to really doing those things that are exceptional and bring magic to our classrooms," Proper said. "We're just back down to basics, really."
DHS also altered subsidy income eligibility, which is set to take effect in October. Instead of families qualifying for assistance if they earn up to 85% of the state median income, the new policy will reduce that threshold to 55%.
"You're going to have more families not eligible, [and] they're going to be lower-income families," Kelley said.
Proper said one example of the policy's impact is a family at one of her locations with a $400 monthly copayment. Their cost of care is set to jump to $1,400 a month.
"When almost all of one parent's salary is going to pay for childcare, at that point, I think we're going to see a lot of parents leaving the workforce to do childcare within the home because they can't outsource anymore," Proper said. "It just makes it really cost prohibitive to have children."
Providers say rising costs are also associated with new regulations regarding DHS' Quality Rating and Improvement System, known as the Stars Program. It awards ratings to programs based on curriculum, child outcomes and learning environments. Ratings are tied to reimbursement rates for subsidies.
Now, five-star programs are required to get national accreditation, or face a demotion in rating and reimbursement.
"We're talking thousands of dollars just to go through the process of becoming accredited, not to mention the additional staff, the additional equipment — all of the things that it takes to maintain a nationally accredited program," Quebedeaux said.
Another culprit of rising costs is a familiar one — inflation. Overall prices rose by 24% from 2021 to 2025, and child care prices matched pace at 23%. She said insurance, food, transportation and other operational costs have caused centers to close down.
DHS originally requested about $70 million for child care, including more than $57 million to reverse recent cuts and $11.5 million for an early childhood teacher recruitment program. Ultimately, it received an additional $7.5 million in subsidy program funding and $4.5 million for the recruitment program.
"Our funding numbers have not changed," she said. "Our subsidy rates don't match market cost of private pay. We're in a situation where it's costing us more to operate than we're receiving reimbursement for."
Lawmakers step in with a patchwork of responses
One measure passed this spring aims to address the gap between what the state pays providers for families on subsidies, families' copays and the actual cost of services.
Subject to federal approval, House Bill 4298 by Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa, would allow licensed child care facilities to charge families on subsidies a "differential fee" on top of the families' existing copay, as long as the total does not exceed 10% of the families' household income.
Critics point out this places the rising costs on the backs of families whose income is already low enough to qualify for subsidies. Schreiber said the measure is about keeping facilities open amid ever-increasing expenses and regulatory burdens.
"We're in a transition phase of trying to figure out what [the state]'s role is going to be in the childcare industry," Schreiber said. "The state needs to figure out what the right amount of investment is for it."
Childcare provider Proper said she will not be opting into the differential pay program. She said she already lost families when her facilities stopped paying for baby wipes because families could not afford to buy them.
"I don't like the burden that it puts on our working families. I'd much rather our state come in and invest in families and invest in children than trying to ask parents to figure it out," Proper said.
Schreiber's bill could also lower staffing costs for facilities. The new law changes existing policy requiring a certain number of master teachers in relation to building capacity. Instead, DHS will now establish master teacher-to-student ratios for two- through five-star facilities.
An early childhood recruitment program, called the Oklahoma Strong Start Program or Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program, could also make a difference. It's a three-year pilot program administered by OPSR that expands access to subsidies for employees of child care facilities.
OPSR's Grace Kelley said early returns are promising, with more than $2.37 million in benefits awarded to nearly 1,000 child care professionals, helping approximately 1,400 children. She said over 10% of applicants have been working in child care for six months or less, pointing to successful recruitment.
Quebedeaux said while the program seems well-intended, she feels it was "implemented poorly" due to a delay in reimbursements. She said she is still owed back pay for some employees from when the program first started.
"What's happening now is providers are still eating the cost of providing the free care for the employees," Quebedeaux said. "Some employees actually have started and left, and [providers] still never received payment for their children. Some providers have gotten to the point where they are continuing to charge the employees until they get the money from the program because they can't eat the cost."
Provider Rachel Proper said she has not experienced issues with reimbursement delays.
A spokesperson for OPSR told StateImpact that while there were "challenges" when the program was first launched, most outstanding back-pay requests were paid in early May. A "small number" of claims are still under review, primarily due to verification of attendance records and claim details. The spokesperson said OPSR anticipates being caught up in June.
"Some payments have taken longer than anyone would have liked, and we recognize the burden that has placed on providers who have continued serving employees and their families while awaiting disbursement," the spokesperson said. "We are grateful for the patience and partnership providers have shown throughout the startup phase of this pilot program."
Other lawmakers have pushed a measure to potentially revamp Oklahoma's childcare industry. Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, carried House Bill 1979 this year, which establishes an Early Childhood Task Force.
She said among several priorities, the task force would explore the drivers of the childcare affordability crisis and how the state could step in.
"Is it a mandate that is the number of students to adults? Is it the training for adults? Is it the mandates for the business itself? … I think those all play a piece in the affordability issue," Ranson said. "That task force will be looking at all of those things and creating procedure ideas of what we should do. But, it ultimately is the legislature's job to go to that next step to actually implement."
While not directly related to early childhood education, one other measure has drawn attention from families facing the affordability crisis: House Bill 3705. It raised the allocation cap on the Parental Choice Tax Credit from $250 million to $275 million. The program provides a tax credit back to families whose children attend eligible private schools.
Bethany resident Jennifer Williams is one of those residents who questions the state's prioritization of the Parental Choice Tax Credit over helping families with younger children.
She said her family misses the cutoff for subsidies by less than $10,000. She left her school counseling job to stay home with her two boys. A tax credit for early childhood education would have made a big difference to her family.
"I don't fully understand why so much is allocated to that, and there's not as much being allocated to maybe even the same type of system but for younger families," Williams said.
In between story time and play time with three-year-old SJ and two-year-old Skyler, Williams recounted the difficult decision her family made once Skyler, who was unplanned, was born.
She works at her local church's Mother's Day Out program for some extra money. She said even if she were to return to work as a teacher, it would not be enough to cover daycare for two children.
While the state is shelling out hundreds of millions a year through the tax credit for families with older children in private school, she said it is not doing enough to help families like hers.
"I do think there should be more help from the state," Williams said. "Some kind of process that helps people kind of in the middle more. I'm not looking for just completely free daycare and a handout, but some kind of help to make it more affordable."
Just a half-day drive to the west, one state is prioritizing childcare affordability for all of its residents: New Mexico.
The 'Land of Enchantment' ponies up big for early childhood education
Starting Nov. 1, 2025, New Mexico became the first — and so far, only — state to offer no-cost universal childcare. The state's program is available to all residents, regardless of income.
The path to universal wasn't immediate. In 2019, Gov. Lujan Grisham moved childcare eligibility to 150% of the federal poverty level to 200%. Her administration also moved from part-day to full-day funding for pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds, and then expanded it to three-year-olds.
During COVID, Grisham's administration created the Early Childhood Trust Fund, which started as $300 million of surplus oil and gas revenues. It distributes 5% of the corpus of that fund or $500 million, whichever is greater. New Mexico voters also passed a land grant permanent fund in 2022.
The childcare reimbursement rates are set by the state, based on the true cost of care, rather than what parents can afford to pay, which is the traditional method. Secretary for Early Childhood Education Elizabeth Groginsky said the move was a "game changer."
"Our rates increased significantly. That allowed some breathing room within the childcare sector," Groginsky said. "Our main strategy was better rates set to the true cost of care and then expanding access to more families."
In the spring of 2022, the state moved to cover families who earned up to 350% of the federal poverty level. The following year, it was moved to 400%. Groginsky said the level covered about 80% of New Mexico families with young children.
The plan took some workshopping, Groginsky said. Eventually, the state began offering an enhanced rate for providers to opt into, which requires them to pay a $16-19 minimum wage, depending on the star level, to staff and be open 10 hours each workday.
Groginsky said about 87% of providers have opted in to participate in the program, and almost 50% have opted in to the enhanced rate.
In March, the policy that had been in the form of agency rules became a law through the legislative process.
"It's the shared responsibility around making sure that childcare is available for those families who need it," Groginsky said. "That it's quality. That it's safe. That it's available when they need it."
A system in which the state sets prices for providers could be a tough sell to lawmakers in Oklahoma. But Kelley said her organization is looking at states like New Mexico and others for innovative ideas on how Oklahoma can tackle the burgeoning crisis.
For instance, several other states have implemented a "tri-share" model, in which the state, family and employer chip into childcare costs.
She said ultimately, lawmakers will need to prioritize early childhood education for the good of Oklahoma families and businesses.
"We need to look at those solutions and what makes sense for us," Kelley said. "Our legislature and our state agencies are having to make really difficult policy decisions, and I get that. But I also think childcare is the backbone of our economy, and we need to support childcare. No easy answers."
