Money Running Out for NC Childcare Providers

It’s Monday, July 1.

Support the INDY Press Club.

Good morning, readers. 

State lawmakers are at a budget impasse and, despite a stopgap measure approved last week, time is running out for childcare providers across North Carolina who have seen federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) expire.

In Durham, Stephanie Smith, a childcare provider with 20 years’ experience, is closing Kids Rising Into Success Childcare, the home day care center she has owned and operated for eight years. Smith couldn’t afford to hire an assistant with a bachelor’s degree and pay them $15 an hour or more. 

“I’m in a boat where I don’t want to increase my tuition because parents aren’t able to afford to pay the parent fee,” Smith says. 

While state house and senate versions of the budget include $135 million and $136.5 million for childcare respectively, it’s still far short of the minimum of $180 million needed to preserve access to affordable, quality childcare, according to the North Carolina Justice Center. The state is spending the last of $1.3 billion it received in childcare stabilization grants from the federal government during the pandemic.

Smith has already raised rates for families and doesn’t feel like she can raise them any more. 

“When I increased tuition, I lost students,” Smith says. “If I increase it anymore, I won’t gain any students, so it’s better for me to find another job in childcare consulting or childcare advocacy.”

Smith’s is one of an estimated 30 percent of childcare centers across that are set to close without continued funding. 

Read more here. 

—Jane

Love the INDY? Support it by joining the INDY Press Club.