Federal pandemic funds helped child care providers raise salaries, buy new supplies and pay bills. They also boosted payments to childcare providers so parents could go to work. The funding ends Saturday.
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NOEL KING, HOST: We know that a lot of workplaces can t find enough employees right now for a variety of reasons - among the employers, child care providers like day care centers. Here s Michelle Jokisch Polo of member station WKAR in Lansing, Mich.
MICHELLE JOKISCH POLO, BYLINE: During the pandemic, tens of thousands of child care centers across the country were forced to find new ways to work. They had to embrace physical distancing and masking requirements while finding enough workers to keep their doors open. Many could not. Others reduced hours and availability. Elisabeth Tobia runs EC3, a day care company operating in downtown Lansing for nearly 40 years. Before the pandemic, Tobia was managing two locations and the care of nearly 200 children. Today, the second location has closed, and enrollment at EC3 has been cut in half. Despite increasing demands for child care, Tobia says she s struggling to fin
The boost in spending – made possible primarily through federal COVID relief funds – is an acknowledgement of a growing child care crisis in Michigan that threatens to hobble the state’s economic recovery.
The crisis has grown during the pandemic, with many child care centers still closed, or reopening at reduced capacity because of staff shortages and to allow for greater social distancing.
Whitmer called the funding increase a “game changing investment” in early learning that could help low- and moderate-income families. The funding will “Immediately, and directly helps parents continue working while giving them the peace of mind to know that their kids are continuing to grow and learn, Whitmer said Thursday