For West Jordan resident Azteca Druce Valerio-Bedolla, childcare assistance has meant paying around $180 a month for two of her three children to attend daycare.

But under new rules that took effect Thursday, that subsidy is going away, and their monthly bill will skyrocket to $2,800 — 15 times more than their current payment.

Valerio-Bedolla and her husband, Tanner, who both work, are among hundreds of Utah families facing tough decisions — like whether she’ll need to quit her job — because they’re expected to lose childcare subsidies.

Utah is lowering its income eligibility limits for childcare subsidies after two consistent years of reduced federal funding, according to a presentation from the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

The limit for new applicants is dropping to 50% of the state’s median income. That’s about $51,400 a year for a family of three, based on new funding tables. Families already getting assistance can continue receiving aid if they make 65% of the median income — about $66,840 a year for a family of three.

The funding reductions come with projected enrollment growth, according to another presentation to the Child Care Advisory Committee in which the Office of Child Care recommended the changes. These changes, the presentation argues, will focus resources “on the highest-need populations by prioritizing low-income families needing full-time childcare.”

Because eligibility and monthly co-payments depend on household size, household income and the number of children receiving care, the changes won’t affect every family the same way.

The state is notifying families whose benefits will be affected. Families won’t lose assistance immediately; instead, changes will occur as they reach their next annual review.

More than 900 families

The state estimates the changes will affect 934 families with a total of 1,573 children.

Valerio-Bedolla believes the number will end up higher than that. She has a family member who will make $100 more than the limit.

It has been hard for Valerio-Bedolla’s family — even with the subsidies. She and her husband have had to leave work early to pick up their kids because daycare only goes until 5 p.m.

“Our kids are our priority,” she said. “There’s no winning at this point.”

A similar scheduling conflict, but this one with school, makes childcare critical for Kyra McDonald, who lives and works in Roy.

A single mom, she works until 6 p.m., and her daughter’s school ends at 3 p.m. Losing her subsidy would mean cutting her hours to accommodate that time difference because she wouldn’t be able to afford before- and after-school care — or care during nonschool days — without it.

That means she would be scrambling and struggling to pay other bills such as rent, utilities and groceries.

“As a single working parent,” she said, “there really isn’t much room in the budget to absorb a sudden new childcare expense.”

‘Detrimental’ to pull kids out of childcare

Lots of parents are going to face a similar struggle, Valerio-Bedolla said, and children are going to suffer as well.

Kids rely on routine, she said, and pulling them out of daycare would be “detrimental,” especially because you can’t easily explain the reason to a child.

“They don’t understand finances,” she said. “They don’t know why it’s happening.”

The uncertainty left her family trying to plan for a substantially larger expense even before the change took hold. It might mean quitting her job even though working outside the home is good for her mental health.

“I am a better mother, Valerio-Bedolla said, ”when that’s not the only thing I’m allowed to be.”

The changes don’t just affect parents and children, McDonald said, but also spread to the overall workforce.

She pointed, for instance, to a dental hygienist with a 7 a.m. appointment who might not make it because she can’t afford childcare in order to take a child to school. That means her employer has to shift schedules or a co-worker has to cover, she said, or the appointment gets moved.

“Childcare does not exist in a bubble,” McDonald said, but instead has a ripple effect, and “you are somewhere in that ripple.”