CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Finding affordable child care has long been a challenge for most families but it's about to become a crisis we're all going to feel if something doesn't change by the end of the year, experts warn.
Emergency federal money has been keeping many day care centers open the last two years but that money will run out in December. Experts fear many facilities will be forced to close, leaving parents in the lurch.
"I've wanted to be a mother my whole life," Spencer Lash, an executive producer at WCNC Charlotte, said.
But Lash never expected how tough the journey to parenthood would be, experiencing three miscarriages, two rounds of artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. Finally, last year, Lash and her husband Ian found out they were having a baby.
Despite the positive news, neither parent was breathing easy.
"I won't let myself relax until we cross the line because of everything else," she said.
Still, they knew they needed to start looking for child care right away. With both parents working full-time jobs out of their home, they were shocked at what they heard when they began visiting day cares in the Charlotte area.
"Some were like, "We don't have any spots this year. Next year? We have no idea,"" Lash said.
Many facilities had no openings and long waiting lists.
"I've been saying it since we started looking, the child care industry is a racket," Ian Lash said. "The price they make you pay, the waiting, the hoops they make you jump through."
The couple finally found one just a few weeks before welcoming their son, Benton.
"I don't know if there's words to describe it," Spencer said of motherhood.
There's now a new concern on the horizon for the Lashes and parents everywhere. Experts compare it to driving full speed over a cliff.
"It's a crisis," Smart Start of Mecklenburg County CEO Mike Blackwelder said. "We are approaching a child care crisis, a child care cliff and if we don't get funding by the end of this year, we are going to see what the end of that cliff looks like."
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailing money@wcnc.com.
The federal government stepped in to help keep child care centers open in the fall of 2021 with a historic $1.9 billion in emergency funding. Mecklenburg County alone received $106 million. Statewide, over 4,300 facilities received a total of $875 million. The money runs out in December and industry leaders say it may force many child care facilities to close.
"Absolutely," Blackwelder said. "The funding that came in through the stabilization grant affected 5,300 jobs, so if that goes away, there's a case where 5,300 jobs could go away or even more, just in Mecklenburg County."
Blackwelder is among a group of child care leaders who sent a letter to state legislators asking for money, and he published an op-ed in the Charlotte Observer calling on lawmakers to invest in early child care. So far they haven't come through. Gov. Roy Cooper also sent a letter to congressional leaders saying in part, "Across the country employers are ringing the alarm that the shortage of available child care options is hurting our economy." Cooper's letter was also signed by several other governors, including leaders in Colorado, Kansas, New Jersey and Washington state.
Blackwelder says everyone would feel the impact of a child care crunch if a long-term, nationwide fix doesn't come soon.
"It's going to affect all industries," he said. "The economy, every industry will be impacted by this because people can't go to work if they don't have child care."
As for the Lashes, Spencer has been enjoying maternity leave. She'll be back at work soon, and although she's nervous to leave Benton, she's grateful she a found a place their family is comfortable leaving him.
"I'm so grateful," she said. "It was a weight lifted off our shoulders. I remember walking out of there and feeling so much better."
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told WCNC Charlotte of the more than 5,400 child care centers statewide, almost every one of them has applied for emergency funding, meaning if the funding goes away, there's no telling how many of the centers would be in danger of closing. NC DHHS also said current proposals for the state budget lack sufficient funding for child care.
"While North Carolina’s child care crisis is exacerbating the state’s labor shortage, the budgets currently proposed by the NC Senate and NC House would leave investment in early care and learning at a level that has changed very little since 2011," their statement reads. "In every part of North Carolina and across political affiliation, voters want the state to act, including increasing state funding, so more families have access to affordable, quality child care."
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte's Where's The Money series is all about leveling the playing in the Carolinas by helping others and breaking down barriers. WCNC Charlotte doesn't want our viewers to be taken advantage of, so we’re here to help. Watch previous stories where we ask the question “Where’s the Money” in the YouTube playlist below and subscribe to get updated when new videos are uploaded.