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Advocates and state administrators agree: affordable child care is key to keeping families together — and kids out of foster care.

But last year, lawmakers failed to accept $56 million in no-strings-attached federal funding that would help low-income working families afford childcare for their kids.

All the while, more than a thousand families are on a wait list for the available state funds to help pay for childcare.

And, for those who lucky enough to receive funds, the help is minimal. Arizona’s payments to families are among the lowest in the nation.

To talk more about this seeming paradox, The Show reached out to Mary Jo Pitzl, who’s latest piece for The Arizona Republic sheds light on all of this.

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