By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Three child care centers in Ellis County recently received grant funds to expand, but in-home providers are saying that expanding centers in Hays is leaving a glut of openings for their businesses.
Erin Gibson, an in-home child care provider in Hays, said she doesn't have any openings in her child care, but she knows plenty of local in-hone providers who do.
Gibson runs the Ellis County Daycare Openings Facebook page. Parents can find child care openings and contacts on this page.
She said she is seeing fewer parents on the page looking for care and more providers posting openings.
"I'm concerned for all of my fellow providers, who some of them have upwards of four openings that they can't fill," Gibson said.
Tia Miller, in-home child care provider, said she had three spots open recently but was able to fill two of them. She will have another spot opening next month.
When in-home providers have open spots in their child care businesses, their household incomes can be significantly affected, Miller said.
"It's stressful because we can't pay our own bills if we don't have our spots filled, and that's sad to see," she said.
Miller said Hays doesn't need any more new child care centers.
"I've spoken to other providers who have been doing this for 20-plus years, and they've contemplated shutting down because it is a struggle right now," she said. "You can't pay your bills if you can't fill your spots."
Andrea Hoss, in-home child care provider, told the Child Care Task Force of Ellis County at its monthly meeting Tuesday at least 21 providers in Ellis County have openings.
Child Care Aware of Kansas is the official tracker of child care openings in the state. It also serves as a referral service for parents who are looking for child care openings in their area.
As of last week, Child Care Aware was reporting a need for 500 child care spots in Ellis County. That service updates its data quarterly. Child care providers, including in-home providers, can update their information more frequently with the agency if they have openings.
This does not take into consideration the child care projects that are in the works but have not opened, Wasinger said.
Those pending projects include the new Learning Cross center, HaysMed's child care center, which is nearing completion, Holy Family's early childhood program, and The Grove's child care center.
Gibson said the providers she knows personally are keeping their profiles up to date with Child Care Aware.
Gibson and other in-home providers who contacted the Hays Post said Child Care Task Force of Ellis County needs to shift its focus to in-home providers and away from centers.
"What we are saying is that they need to pump the breaks on opening more centers and concentrate on filling the spots for in-home providers and the centers have," she said. "I think opening more would just cause a huge issue."
Both the state and local task force have engaged in ad campaigns to encourage more providers to enter the indusrty.
"I also feel we no longer have a crisis and the ads statewide need to stop," Jean Basgall, in-home child care provider, said. "There are now too many home day cares, and we can’t fill our open spots."
Sarah Wasinger, task force facilitator, said the task force has been seeking grants to support both in-home and center-based child cares. However, no grants have been available for in-home providers.
Miller said state grants were available during the pandemic, which she used to pay for cleaning supplies and outdoor play equipment for her child care business. However, those grants are no longer available.
The task force recently launched an in-home provider spotlight on its Facebook page.
It also is working with state and federal officials on issues affecting in-home providers.
Many local in-home providers take advantage of a federal food program. During the pandemic, all providers received the same reimbursement. However, now the program has reverted to its pre-pandemic model with a tiered system of payments.
Most local providers are receiving lower payments under this model.
Wasinger said the task force is preparing a letter to U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R.-Kan.; and U.S. Sens. Roger Marshall, R.-Kan, and Jerry Moran, R.-Kan., which will encourage them to vote to increase funding for the food program for child care providers.
The Farm Bill, which includes the child care food program, is under review this year, and Wasinger said lobbying Congress for improved funding is crucial this year.
Miller said inflation has increased the price of food for her child care but federal funds through the nutrition program have not increased proportionally.
"Most of us had to up our weekly tuition just to cover groceries," she said. ... "The food program helps but it definitely does not cover what we spend."
The task force also is working with state agencies and legislators to change state child care regulations.
Although local in-home providers may have spots available, they are usually unable to take children younger the age of 18 months. State regulations limit the number of children a provider can care for.
Children 18 months and younger are weighted so the provider has to reduce the number of children in their care.
Gibson and other in-home providers said they would like to see the infant age lowered to children younger than 12 months.
State child care regulations are under review for at least another 10 days. Wasigner urged providers, parents or anyone interested to comment on the regulations by following the link Child Care Licensing Regulation Review - Kansas Department of Health & Environment on the Ellis County task force's website.
Recommended changes are soon to be forwarded to the Kansas Attorney General and Kansas Legislature for review. Changes could take up to 24 months to implement, Wasinger said.
Gibson advocated for in-home child care as being a more home-like atmosphere compared to centers and in some cases more affordable.
"In my opinion, kids go to school long enough," she said. "They need a home environment where they can play and learn and socialize."