TAMPA, Fla — Emergency childcare funding from the pandemic will expire at the end of September. The funding, which was part of the American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021, included more than $20 billion in childcare stabilization grants.
“The initial reaction is, what are we going to do?” Toni Boyd, Director of the College Hill Church of God and Christ Preschool, questioned. "We were able to do bonuses, but. We weren’t able to do things that were sustainable. If it impacts our families the way it's anticipated, that’s going to bring more of our income down because we basically operate on fees," Boyd explained.
“We are trying to see where we can cut costs, minimize some things. We're already a very small operation,” Boyd said.
The Century Foundation projects that 3.2 million children and families will be left without childcare.
"It's heartbreaking because, you know, most kids get their meals in school, and when they're not in school, they don't have their meals," Patrice, a mom of three, explained.
Patrice took her son out of daycare before because she said she couldn’t afford it as she tries to put herself through nursing school. Now, she worries what a lack of funding could mean for her.
"It definitely will hurt not only me but other parents. It will hurt the business because people are barely making ends meet nowadays. It's tough," Patrice said.
Century Foundation projects more than 70,000 childcare programs will likely close.
"Childcare was a broken market before the pandemic. So there has long been an issue of high rates for families, low wages for early educators, and just not enough child care slots and programs,” Laura Valle-Gutierrez, a fellow at the Foundation, said.
Here in Florida, it expects more than 212,721 kids to lose childcare and around 2,196 childcare programs to close.
"We don't want to raise our rates too much. Part of our mission for us personally was to make good preschool education available for children in this surrounding community... We're going to have to raise our rates right now. We're trying to figure out how much,” Boyd added.
Boyd said while funding helped, there needs to be sustainable assistance in order to protect the future of our children, their education, and well-being.
“I need those who are making these decisions to better understand what the impact of their decisions are," Boyd said.
