1,700 NC child care centers expected to close, 155K kids impacted when American Rescue Plan funding ends in September

Parents know all too well it's already hard to find affordable childcare.

At the end of September, more than 4,000 child care programs in North Carolina will stop receiving federal funding from the American Rescue Plan.

The loss in funding could wind up force about half of those centers to close their doors.

“If we didn’t get some support, we wouldn’t have made it,” said Kimberly Shaw, owner of Raleigh-based A Safe Place Childcare.

Shaw opened the day care center 25 years ago in her basement. She has two locations, 22 employees and serves about 100 kids during the school year.

Shaw is among the thousands of child care providers who took advantage of grants offered through the American Rescue Plan Stabilization Program. She was able to give her employees a 20% raise, increase their benefits package and increase their paid time off.

Katherine Medina has taught at A Safe Place Childcare for four years. She also has had three kids attend the day care.

"We were provided dental coverage as well as vision and life insurance as well, and honestly, that was a big help,” Medina said.

When the funds expire Sept. 30, a Century Foundation report found 3.2 million kids nationwide will lose access to child care. The report states that in North Carolina, more than 155,000 kids will be impacted and more than 1,700 child care centers are expected to close.

“It would be devastating,” said parent Rob Stephens.

Stephens’ 3-year-old son, Jeremiah, has been enrolled at A Safe Place Childcare since he was 8 months old.

Stephens said he would stay home with Jeremiah if the center closed.

“I'd stop working as much,” Stephens said.

Shaw said they are already making tough financial decisions, increasing tuition and doing their own cleaning. She's also applying for grants and holding fundraisers.

"At the point that we can't meet payroll or our debt obligation, we will do what we need to do to close the business,” Shaw said.

Business groups are pushing North Carolina legislators to make up for the loss with state funding. It's also possible that Congress could pass new child care subsidies.