During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has authorized more than $50 billion in temporary emergency funding for states to assist struggling child care facilities. But according to a survey done by The National Association for the Education of Young Children over the summer, half of those surveyed said they would have closed without public assistance.
On the west side of Chicago, the well-established Carole Robertson Center for Learning is struggling, despite a footprint in dozens of communities and a $40 million budget.
“We have a robust waitlist, it’s about 100 families. But we can’t yet open this classroom because we have to hire three qualified teachers,” Bela Moté, CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, told CBS News’ Jan Crawford.
She said the organization is struggling to hire staff at numerous locations, and at the height of the pandemic, she worried the center may be on the “brink of collapse.”
But solutions at the state level helped her center and others avert disaster. Tapping into federal emergency pandemic money, Illinois has allocated more than $1 billion in child care grants. That’s led to relief for child care workers and parents like Avonna Brown.
“I felt helpless when I thought that I wouldn’t be able to work because I couldn’t find child care and I know a lot of people didn’t have the option that I have, I was grateful that I work at a child care center,” said Brown.
It’s one approach meant to solve a critical problem made worse by the coronavirus: Helping parents find affordable child care while helping the centers attract and keep quality workers.