NORTH CAROLINA, USA — The clock is ticking for when day care centers in North Carolina will lose their stabilization grants -- money that is currently helping keep many day cares stay afloat.
A recent study by the North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council found almost 30% of programs expect to close when these grants run out in June. If this happens more than 91,000 kids would be left without care. Those who stay open say they would most likely have to increase fees for parents.
It’s leaving those parents and the day care centers asking where’s the money?
Taking care of children is a labor of love Eleanor Toliver, the owner of First Ward Child Development Center, knows too well. She has been in the industry for about 40 years.
“It’s our future, and we need to care of them ... if not us then who is going to take care of them,” Toliver asked.
When children don’t have the care they need, it hurts families and the domino effect continues from there.
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“To be able to provide care for them, a nurturing environment for them and to provide them a safe place,” Sundra Hanna, a family child care home provider for Sunny Kids Academy, who got into child care after college, told WCNC Charlotte about the importance of access to child care in the community.
But now, child care providers are feeling the weight of pandemic-era grants coming to an end.
“It enabled me to increase staff salaries and give quarterly staff bonuses to help with benefits for staff,” Toliver said.
With the funding expiring in June, Toliver said she’s already been forced to make tough decisions.
“We just increased fees on Monday and we had to … because we have to maintain costs,” Toliver said.
So has Hanna, who said her families will also be looking at higher rates.
They are not the only ones. A new survey of more than 1,500 child care facilities in North Carolina found 88% of programs plan to increase tuition.
Additionally:
- 52% of the survey respondents have already raised tuition.
- 58% say they will increase their fees after June.
- Some increases could be as high as 17%.
On top of this, there are expected cuts in teacher hours, transportation services, and more.
“We’re the backbone of this economy,” Toliver said. “If we’re not here taking care of these children, parents can’t work, businesses need to realize that, and the government needs to realize that."
Providers say day care teachers are overworked and underpaid and something needs to be done to stabilize this industry.
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Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.