'Astronomical need' for day care in St. Clair County amplified by COVID-19 pandemic

If it weren't for St. Clair resident Julie Currier, some doctors, a single mother who works for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other essential workers couldn't have gone to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currier said people don’t look at child care as an essential job, but while many other industries shut down or moved to working remotely, her day care stayed open.

“Day cares, there’s a huge shortage and we need more,” she said.

And that's something local officials say can impact the economy and workforce. 

The need for day care

There was a shortage of day care facilities in the county before the pandemic, said Dan Casey, CEO of the Economic Alliance of St. Clair County. 

And the pandemic has exacerbated the problem. It's estimated as many has half of St. Clair County day care facilities closed and some providers let their licenses lapse.

According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, there are 77 active licenses for child care centers and homes in St. Clair County. That’s six fewer than there were in August 2020.

And another one is closing in June. Currier is retiring after 30 years in the business.

She said she's seen the industry and culture change over three decades.

“It just seemed easier then,” she said, and there’s a lot more paperwork involved with the job now with documenting things like children's medications.

Early in her career she'd have interested families call about once a month. Now it is two to five calls a week, if not more, asking if she has openings.

“The demand right now is unbelievable,” Currier said.

Maddie Mead, who owns Miss Maddie’s Daycare in China Township and is hoping to buy Currier’s current day care home, said she has seen the “astronomical need for child care,” since she was babysitting over 60 hours a week in her teens.

She’s owned her day care for over two years and when she started she wanted to start slowly, with six kids and one full-time employee. Within a month they were at capacity with 12 kids.

She has a waiting list with about 15 families on it and a family could be waiting for a year for an opening.

Mead said she tries to send families to other day cares, but they’re all full too.

“There’s such a huge need for it, it’s literally unbelievable,” Mead said.

Possible solutions?

Local officials recognize there’s a day care shortage and are trying to find ways to fill the demand.

The St. Clair Technical Education Center announced in March it will offer a new two-year education program for the 2021-2022 school year designed to meet the local demand for skilled child care workers.

The program offers students the opportunity to earn a certificate in either Early Childhood Education or PreK–12 Education. First-year students explore careers in education, develop independent learning skills and job shadow a professional for a day. Second-year students intern in a local school district, preschool or child care setting, working under the supervision of a licensed professional or certified teacher.

Pat Yanik, director of career and technical education, said this design allows students to go to the center for the learning part and then are placed with a local child care center or teacher for the work-based learning.

Students are encouraged to get their Child Development Associate Credential and can be a teacher or work in a child care capacity, he said.

Increasing child care options was also recently established as a priority by the Blue Meets Green committee, a group of community leaders and stakeholders.

“Prior to the pandemic, many area residents were struggling with finding available child care options. This issue has exploded since the pandemic,” according to an organization press release. “Without additional child care options, more St. Clair County residents will be forced to leave the workforce, creating an even tighter labor market for the county.”

Casey said the lack of day care facilities during the pandemic forced more families to make tough decisions about taking care of their children versus going to work.

 Also, many day care workers found other means of employment and replacing them is challenging because they are certified to work in the industry, he said.

Blue Meets Green’s project is to bring an online training program to people in the county that will help them become certified to work in the field. Having a pipeline of certified day care workers will help to solve the worker shortage and allow more day cares to start or restart operations, Casey said.

“Increasing the number of day care facilities will allow more people to go back to work,” he said. “It’s just one of the ways that we hope to increase the labor force and fill open jobs.”

According to salary.com, a market data and analytics provider, the average child care worker salary in Michigan was $33,282 as of April, but the range typically falls between $30,089 and $39,483.

In Detroit, the average annual pay for the day care workers jobs category was $24,323 a year as of May, though some salaries were reported as high as $43,230 and as low as $15,900, according to employment marketplace ZipRecruiter.

Child care during the pandemic, moving forward

Mead said she’s glad to hear about the TEC program and Blue Meets Green initiative raising awareness and exposing people to the job.

There’s a lot of perks to having your own home day care. The kids are funny, loving, open-minded and you can’t work with them for a whole day without laughing.

“It’s hard not to be happy when you’re around kids all day,” she said.

When kids were gone during the pandemic, it was hard for her to cope. But it only lasted three to four months before parents were bringing their kids back.

“Parents can’t work from home with a 2-year-old, they’re crazy,” Mead said.

Currier said during the first two months of the pandemic her numbers were down slightly, with a couple families working at home, but she had some essential workers' kids throughout the pandemic.

They took precautions to avoid the spread of the virus and some essential workers would pick up their kids from the garage to limit exposure.

Currier said she hopes the day care shortage doesn’t continue, but in St. Clair, she’s retiring and other providers are full.

“Now what’s going to happen?,” she asked.

Contact Bryce Airgood at (810) 989-6202 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.