Childcare centers pinching pennies 4 months after COVID-era grant expired

Tori Gessner
·2 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Some childcare centers are struggling to stay afloat and others have been forced to close their doors for a good four months after a COVID-era funding source, the Childcare Stabilization Grant, expired.

The Childcare Stabilization Grant provided $24 billion in financial aid to more than 220,000 childcare centers to help cover operations costs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding ended Sept. 30, 2023, and experts estimated 70,000 childcare centers across the country would close down as a result.

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The data for the number of childcare centers that have shut down in Tennessee since the grant expired is unavailable, however, the ones that have managed to stay open, like Priscilla’s Creative Daycare in Hermitage, are pinching their pennies to offset costs.

The owner, Priscilla Norman, told News 2 she had to raise her rates by $10 on top of other cost-saving measures.

“We were buying paper plates because of the COVID, and paper cups and napkins and all of that stuff,” Norman said. “I had to stop that because it would save money by just washing plates…We’ve had to just change a lot of things that we do…It’s penny-pinching.”

Norman has applied for other grants, including a safety grant and enhancement grant, which she said has helped stretch her dollar.

“I haven’t gotten my safety grant yet, but I did get my enhancement grant, and I was able to buy some supplies for the daycare for the children to enhance their learning experience, so that helps with some of the funds, getting it that way,” Norman said.

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In addition, the Tennessee Department of Human Services Child Care Services Unit recently announced the NEW Care Partnership Grant, which is a three-year pilot providing $15 million each year to match investments employers make to increase access, affordability, and quality of childcare for their workforce. Under the grant, nonprofit childcare providers will work with private employers to come up with ways to address the childcare needs of the workforce, whether that is building an onsite childcare center, paying for childcare slots, and providing existing employer facilities to create new, licensed childcare capacity.

For more information about the grant, click here.

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