Child care is chronically scarce in these Tarrant County ZIP codes
Six ZIP codes in Tarrant County are considered to be chronic child care deserts, according to a state advocacy and research organization.
The ZIP codes — 75050, 76022, 76106, 76114, 76115, 76164 — are part of 263 statewide where the demand for care has been three times higher than the available supply, spanning from 2022 to 2025. Some of these areas include the Northside and Diamond Hill neighborhoods of Fort Worth, in addition to Bedford in northeast Tarrant and the portion of Grand Prairie that’s in eastern Tarrant County. Across Texas, 64% of child care deserts are considered chronic.
The data on chronic child care deserts was released on Thursday, April 9, by nonprofit Children at Risk in tandem with other metrics that underscore the continuing struggles of Texas child care providers and the families they serve. The sustained lack of access for families forces them to either leave the workforce or rely on unregulated child care, which then strains employers and local economies, said Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk.
“Even though the number of overall seats have really stayed relatively stable, the number of children who need child care is growing much faster. There’s this widening gap between supply and demand across our state,” Sanborn said during a virtual press conference on Thursday.
Out of 74 ZIP codes in Tarrant County, 15 are child care deserts, an increase of one compared to the previous year.
On a brighter note, the number of quality providers is increasing in Tarrant County and statewide. In Tarrant, the number of programs participating in the state’s quality rating and improvement system, Texas Rising Star, increased by 153. At the same time, Texas Rising Star deserts increased by 5% in Tarrant; this accounts for areas where demand for subsidized care is three times greater than the supply of programs enrolled in Texas Rising Star.
“It’s clear that quality is not the key problem here. What we have is really this access problem that continues to grow,” Sanborn said.
Shari Anderson, vice president of the Dallas-based Child Care Group, noted that Dallas County and the city of Dallas both passed 100% property-tax exemptions for qualifying child care providers starting in 2024, which she called “a significant savings.”
Tarrant County and the city of Fort Worth approved 50% and 100% property-tax exemptions for qualifying child care providers the same year.
Child care advocates noted on Thursday that there’s been legislative progress in Texas, such as the $100 million investment in child care subsidies allocated by lawmakers last year. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also launched the Taskforce on Early Childhood Education and Care in January, but advocates and providers say there’s more that needs to be done.
Policy recommendations from Children at Risk include better coordination among the multiple state agencies that regulate and oversee the child care sector, in addition to minimizing red tape and providing public data on where families stand in line for the state’s subsidy waitlist.
“We know that this is a precursor to academic success. Many times we talk about education being the great equalizer. Well, if there’s a silver bullet to low-income kids performing better in school, K-12, it’s high-quality early education,” Sanborn said.
