ROANOKE, Va. – Federal funding for childcare is ending at the end of this month. Now, the community is wondering how this will affect facilities.
Abby Hamilton, the President and CEO at United Way of the Roanoke Valley said, “But, it’s also going to impact those families that were relying on that childcare to begin with.”
The funding that was approved during the pandemic for childcare is coming to a close this month. For families that work, it could be detrimental.
Amanda Saunders, the owner and director of Backyard Bears Day School said, “It’s basically gonna put a lot of families in a position where they are going to have to choose, am I going to pay my mortgage or am I going to pay for daycare?”
This upcoming expiration may even hike up prices for these services more than they already are. Owner and director of Backyard Bears Amanda Saunders said they had to increase costs for the sake of the facility.
“We’ve had to go up across the board,” Saunders said. “As a childcare community, we’ve had to go up across the board in order to make ends meet. While it does seem like it’s expensive or maybe that childcare centers are price gouging people it’s not that there are a lot of things that go into it.”
With the funding ending, finding a way to keep doors open and have childcare accessible is needed.
“The childcare workers that you need,” Hamilton said. “If you don’t have the childcare workers, you can’t really open the business. you will not have the required elements to be a licensed or be a safe place for people to leave their children. Continue to advocate for increased spending around early childhood and childcare providers and early learning in general.”
She tells us investing in childcare is important in economic development and having these facilities allows for the parents to be involved in the workforce.