Yakima County child care providers are struggling amid coronavirus pandemic. Will they rebound?

May 26--Child care providers throughout Washington have been forced to close their doors in large numbers because of the coronavirus pandemic as they've faced reduced attendance and a lack of essential supplies.

Experts and providers alike worry that the essential-business closures may not all be temporary, further hurting an industry widely regarded as broken.

There are small glimmers of hope. Public relief efforts have been rolled out in response to the struggles, and other sectors in the state are beginning to reopen, meaning more children have returned to child care centers. Statistics show providers are beginning to bounce back and reopen as well.

But that may not be the case in Yakima County, where dozens of child care programs remain closed and others report being on the brink. Local providers say they need help -- fast.

Existing shortages

Even before the pandemic, the child care sector in Washington was dubbed a broken market for failing to meet the needs of child care providers, families and their employees. Research by a state-mandated task force in 2019 found that child care providers statewide had the capacity to serve just 17% of children younger than 13. The state's economy lost billions of dollars in 2017 alone due to unstable child care services, it found.

Around that time, Washington had the sixth-highest share of people living in child care deserts of all states, according to the Center for American Progress. Those deserts are defined as "any census tract with more than 50 children under age 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots."

In Yakima County, the issue has been acute. About one-third of the 12,400 local children younger than 5 were potentially unaccounted for by the child care industry in 2018, estimates from Child Care Aware and U.S. Census Bureau data show. The Center for American Progress found that much of the county is considered a child care desert.

And when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Washington, the sector began to carry additional burdens.

Pandemic impact

Stay-at-home orders announced by Gov. Jay Inslee in mid-March meant that many parents were remaining home with their children, reducing attendance in child care programs. At the same time, child care was pronounced essential. The state asked public schools and existing programs to provide care for the children of first responders and health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic, including those children who would otherwise be in school. They were also told to adjust care to allow for social distancing and increased sanitation.

Providers have struggled.

Child care providers reported being unable to purchase bleach, sanitizer, toilet paper and other materials required to operate, according to Child Care Aware, which has been charged with overseeing child care coordination during the pandemic.

Others saw attendance decline or flatline altogether as bills from rent and mortgage to water and electricity mounted. And social distancing among young children proved challenging, especially in in-home care programs with limited space to accommodate smaller teacher-child ratios ordered by the state.

As a result, many programs closed.

The closures

By mid-April, over 1,300 child care programs had closed their doors across the state due to COVID-19, further reducing care capacity by more than 59,000 slots, according to Child Care Aware. Vacancies remained amid limited attendance, and Child Care Aware has worked to connect families in need of care with available spots in programs that have remained open.

But there are concerns that not all closures are temporary.

A survey of 11,500 providers across the country conducted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children the week of the stay-at-home announcement in Washington in March found that 50% of providers were unable to survive a closure of more than two weeks without help. Another 25% said they didn't know how long they could close temporarily without support in reopening.

Recent data shows small signs of improvement statewide, with programs beginning to reopen. As of Friday, Child Care Aware was aware of 1,258 closed child care programs statewide. The re-openings mean capacity has grown by 800 slots statewide.

Marcia Jacobs, the organization's communications director, said the reopening of some industries like construction allows for the children of those workers to return to care, she said. In other cases, programs may have closed temporarily for deep cleaning or for a potential-exposure quarantine period and are now able to reopen.

But in Yakima County, there doesn't appear to be the same rebound. In mid-April, 31 child care centers and in-home programs had closed due to COVID-19, according to the same Child Care Aware data. By Friday, there were 51 closures.

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Coronavirus Cases

county Yakima County

state Washington State

Source: Covid Tracking Project

Source: Yakima Health District, Yakima Herald-Republic reporting

Last week, one Yakima provider held a close-out sale, admitting small numbers of people in her former child care at a time to purchase equipment and supplies that were no longer needed as she closed permanently.

Lorena Miranda, a child care provider, said she had to lay off her care assistant after attendance dropped dramatically. She hopes to rehire her when things turn around.

In Mabton, Maria Ysenia Rivera, who has been a child care provider for 24 years, has remained open but without children in her care since the beginning of April. She worries about defaulting on payments and losing her home -- which is also the site of her in-home child care -- when forgiveness on bills ends as the economy reopens.

"I can honestly tell you I have my mortgage on hold, I have my electricity on hold, my water is on hold. A lot of my bills are not getting paid," she said.

Efforts to help

Several efforts have been launched in response.

The state Department of Children, Youth and Families announced it would continue paying subsidies to child care providers who received payments for caring for low-income children, even if attendance was down or the program was forced to temporarily close. Originally intended to stretch through April, the help has been extended through June.

Child Care Aware created a fund to purchase and distribute goods like hand soap, toilet paper, bleach and paper towels to providers who expressed a need.

On Tuesday, the state Department of Commerce began distributing small business emergency grants in 20 counties to businesses with up to 10 employees, including child care providers. While Yakima County businesses were not among the initial recipients, grants to additional counties are expected to be distributed this week, said department spokeswoman Penny Thomas.

Earlier this month, the Department of Children, Youth and Families launched a $29 million grant program expected to support 3,800 providers statewide. Grant amounts vary based on licensed capacity and can be used to cover costs including facility or space rent, utilities, health and safety or cleaning supplies, staff compensation or benefits, and food. Mortgage payments can be included if they are prorated to account only for the portion of the property dedicated to child care, according to the department.

The grants are available through June 30, or until funds run out, to providers who remain open at least through July 31. As of Thursday afternoon, the department had received applications from 3,513 providers. Of those, 518 were from Central Washington and 233 were from Yakima County.

"The overwhelming response to the grants highlights the need for funds for providers during this time," said Nicole Rose, director of eligibility and provider supports for the Department of Children, Youth and Families. "We remain optimistic state leaders and the federal government will continue to prioritize child care investments through the emergency and into recovery."

Call for help

While Yakima Valley providers are aware of the resources, not all have felt their benefit.

Miranda, who is a representative of SEIU Local 925, a state education union that includes child care providers, said she was able to get supplies through the Child Care Aware program. But she said she is concerned that Yakima providers haven't been prioritized in the distribution of small business grants.

"There's quite a few that haven't closed down, they're still working, but we're still struggling," she said. "There are still a lot of concerns."

Without significant financial relief, Miranda worries existing closures will be permanent, and more providers will join the trend.

Rivera, who is a mentor to other providers, said she has regularly received calls from area providers asking for help applying for resources or for advice in how to weather this challenging time. She said she does everything she can to help, but she too is at a loss. Since mid-March, she said she has kept tabs on available relief resources and applied to each one without luck. The only support she has received is the continued subsidy from the state for four of her enrolled children. That provides her less than a third of her usual income.

"They keep saying the help is out there. I've literally (clicked on the) link to everything they send me and (applied but) I've seen no help. I don't know where the help is at," she said, adding that countless other providers in the area are in the same position.

The new Department of Children, Youth and Families grant is her last hope, she said.

"I'm counting on it," said Rivera. "I've been hit pretty hard, and it's scary. It's scary."

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Reach Janelle Retka at jretka@yakimaherald.com or on Twitter: @janelleretka

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