12/9/2023 0 Comments Crunch daycare hoursThat hasn’t happened so far, largely due to a big infusion of local, state and federal support. There were predictions of a massive wave of child care center closures. this spring, panicked parents pulled their kids out en masse. She’s one of thousands of workers trying to keep the child care system running in the face of a dual pandemic punch: lower enrollment combined with higher costs to clean and staff facilities.Īs the pandemic first gripped the U.S. “It’s been a gradual build-back,” Idacavage said. Idacavage scrambled to keep parents enrolled with discount offers to hold spots for those who kept their kids home. Struggles with enrollment: At Kids ‘R’ Kids of Charlotte, attendance dropped from about 275 children in March to 40 in April, as lockdown orders took effect. “A strong and safe child care system is essential to our recovery,” N.C. Without a robust child care system, many parents would struggle to work full-time, further imperiling the economic rebound. That matters for more than the tens of thousands of families who send their kids to child care each day. Although only a small number of local child care centers have closed permanently, many are struggling, and state and local officials warn more closures could be on the way this winter. The latest round of aid will run out soon, and nobody knows when more is coming. Local child care centers are facing an array of complicated challenges that boil down to simple math: Enrollment is down. “Trying to focus on the things you can control, instead of the things you can’t, helps.” ![]() “It’s insane,” said Idacavage, who has worked the past eight months to keep her center open and staffed as enrollment fluctuated wildly. Now, they’re $125 - if the supplier can even get any, a search that requires driving as far as Virginia. Harris Boulevard, it’s also the price of gloves: Child care centers go through a lot of plastic gloves, between diaper changes, cleaning and food preparation. For Idacavage, school director of Kids ‘R’ Kids of Charlotte off W.T. It’s not just the daily temperature checks, or the omnipresent face masks, or the fact that no parents are allowed in the school. But there are reminders everywhere of how Covid-19 is still disrupting the child care industry in Charlotte. ![]() For child care providers like Kristen Idacavage, life has settled into a new routine since the start of the pandemic.
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