At Small Wonders Grant Park in Portland, 15 3- and 4-year-olds in the 鈥淥wls鈥� classroom are getting ready to sing songs with teacher Julia Pitner.
As they sing and dance in a circle through each song, other classroom staff 鈥� teacher assistant Miranda Feuer and teaching aide Emma Francioch 鈥� clean surfaces around the room. At the same time, they set up for snack and nap time, and take students 鈥� one at a time 鈥� to the bathroom.
鈥淲e do a lot of things all at once,鈥� Feuer said as the kids sang through a rendition of 鈥淭winkle, Twinkle, Little Star鈥�.
Inside Small Wonders鈥� classrooms, kids are singing and learning all day, every day, completely unaware of all the other tasks the adults are doing. That鈥檚 intentional, owner Allison Morton said.
鈥淭he teacher鈥檚 job is to focus on the play and the projects like we always have so that the preserved world of kids is still happening,鈥� Morton said.
But outside of the classroom, Morton and her administrative staff are doing all they can to keep the school going. They call the state to follow up on background checks for new employees. They respond to messages from interested families. And they keep track of staff absences to make sure they鈥檙e staying within state-mandated student/teacher ratios.
Throughout the pandemic, Morton has sent messages to state officials, seeking support. Meantime in Salem, roles were changing, with the head of Oregon鈥檚 Early Learning Division leaving to accept a role in the Biden Administration. At the end of October, Morton鈥檚 message to ELD bore the subject line 鈥淐risis point, need help鈥�. The message was about background check delays that kept newly hired employees from starting work.
Small Wonders鈥� difficulty with background checks is just one of a number of problems facing large child care centers and small home-based providers alike, as Oregon鈥檚 fabric of support for families with young children has continued to fray through the pandemic. Some of the problems are institutional 鈥� with the state鈥檚 small early learning agency unable to keep up with the demands from the private sector 鈥� while others are tied to Oregon鈥檚 tight labor market, affecting both potential staff and clients.
After an abrupt short-term closure for child care facilities when the pandemic first started last year, the state has encouraged centers to stay open. But not all of them have.
Commissioned by Oregon鈥檚 Early Learning Division, researchers from institutions including Portland State University . Directors said programs were operating at two-thirds capacity, with about half of them reporting at least one closure since March 2020.
And while child care is similar to other small business sectors still reeling from the pandemic, Oregon Early Learning Division Director Alyssa Chatterjee said something sets child care apart from other industries: It鈥檚 a critical service for the state鈥檚 workforce, but it鈥檚 in the hands of private companies.
鈥淥ne of the difficulties of our child care system, which is not unique to Oregon, is that this is a private market, and it is largely run on the backs of parents,鈥� Chatterjee said.
From the state, providers report delays, lack of support
Child care centers rely heavily on parents for tuition, but the state also plays a big role 鈥� from offering financial support to enforcing regulations.
Through the pandemic, child care providers have had to absorb the cost of following COVID-19 safety protocols and changing regulations with fewer paying clients.
Isabel Arroyo started her Spanish immersion child care program in Beaverton in December 2019 鈥� just a few months before the pandemic shut her business down. She used savings and credit cards to pay for things, but that only went so far.
鈥淚 need to pay for the mortgage, I need to pay for everything,鈥� Arroyo said.
She did receive some initial state and federal funds in 2020, and she was able to accept a few children again. Arroyo also applied for federal stabilization funds, but some of those payments have been delayed 鈥� including hers. As she waits, Arroyo says her financial picture is getting worse 鈥� she鈥檒l have to use the federal money to pay a pile of mounting bills.
鈥淚 need to pay the water, the gas, the food for my kids when they鈥檙e coming.... I need to pay for everything, for the tables, for the chairs,鈥� Arroyo said.
Arroyo has asked the state for answers, and she鈥檚 also asked her union. Oregon AFSCME Local 132 said it鈥檚 heard from a number of providers that are going into debt, caring for the state鈥檚 children.
Chatterjee said the state of Oregon is facing 鈥減rocurement challenges鈥� that have caused the delay, including staff vacancies and an outdated system to pay providers directly. ELD has had to process thousands of grant agreements individually.
Chatterjee is hopeful that if it passes, President Biden鈥檚 can provide another financial opportunity for providers.
But financial help isn鈥檛 the only thing providers want to see from the state 鈥� they want to see more support, coaching, and collaboration rather than what Morton calls a 鈥減unitive鈥� relationship.
鈥淭his is a time where we could really use an 鈥榦omph,鈥� than to be pushed down,鈥� Morton said.
She said her program was reprimanded recently for an enrollment error. She said she鈥檚 also tried to ask ELD questions about how to manage COVID-19 in child care settings, but has been redirected instead to the Oregon Health Authority.
Portland child care provider Anita Rea-Davis would like to see more provider input in ELD decisions. She cites the constant rule changes at the beginning of the pandemic, which she said left providers scrambling to keep up.
鈥淪ome things just aren鈥檛 logical,鈥� Rea-Davis said.
ELD has held several provider information sessions over the last few months in both English and Spanish. Those will continue in 2022.
While providers like Arroyo are waiting for government help, ELD reports most providers have received their first stabilization grant payment. Of more than 2800 providers approved to receive child care stabilization grants, more than 2300 have received a first payment.
AFSCME organizer Aimee Olin worries about the impact these delays may have on providers still waiting, like Arroyo.
鈥淭hese are stabilization grants, so they鈥檙e supposed to stabilize, and our fear is by the time they hit people鈥檚 doors, will they be in this cyclical crisis again?鈥�
For parents, a lack of availability and affordability
Two recent surveys from two different state agencies point out the effect child care鈥檚 difficulties are having on families and the workforce. The Early Learning Division earlier this year, in which parents spoke about high costs and lack of available care, and the need for culturally responsive programs or care for children with disabilities.
ELD and a from the Oregon Employment Department show child care is a big barrier to parents reentering the workforce.
According to , 88,200 Oregonians reported caring for children not in school or daycare as the main reason for not working.
That鈥檚 the case for Levi Rogers. He鈥檚 been a stay-at-home dad for his two daughters since he lost his job last year.
Rogers鈥� older daughter goes to preschool part-time. He鈥檚 had trouble finding full-time care for her and his infant daughter.
Rogers wants to go back to work, but he says it has to make sense financially with the cost of care.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of just weighing the cost of committing to be a stay-at-home parent, or finding a job that pays enough that makes child care worth it,鈥� he said.
While some providers are open to new children, others have long waitlists. Morton at Small Wonders said she gets several inquiries every day from families looking for a spot. She tells them they may have to wait until next summer or fall.
That comes back to staffing. Without a full staff, centers can鈥檛 be fully open to families.
From March 2020 to April 2020, jobs in child care plummeted from 13,000 to 8,400, . By June 2021, numbers rebounded a bit, to 10,800 jobs. But a gap still remains.
Finding 鈥� and retaining 鈥� staff is not a new problem in the child care sector, said ELD director Chatterjee.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 been exacerbated by the fact that since everybody is now struggling with recruitment and retention, we鈥檙e competing with sign-on bonuses, or with Amazon, or with some of the benefits that Starbucks can offer,鈥� Chatterjee said.
Staff show passion, recruit others
At Small Wonders, a whole classroom sits empty and dark because Morton can鈥檛 find three teachers to staff it.
鈥淚 think child care notoriously sees a lot of turnover, and so it sort of snowballed into this whole other realm,鈥� Morton said.
She pays for online ads. She brought in students from a nearby high school for paid internships during the summer, and after-school jobs during the school year. She asked former teachers, like Pitner, to come back for a year.
Morton herself has had to take on teaching full-time at Small Wonders in addition to her administrative duties. Other administrators have had to add snack time or 鈥渂reaking鈥� for teachers on top of their daily responsibilities.
She said all the competition for the same applicants makes finding staff now more difficult than ever.
鈥淚f you have child care and a few other job areas that pay basically a comparable rate, people are gravitating toward other jobs that are a little bit more passive, or jobs you don鈥檛 have to take home with you, versus child care which is a physical job, it鈥檚 really active and busy, but there鈥檚 a big emotional piece that ties into it,鈥� Morton said.
Children notice when teachers don鈥檛 stick around, said Small Wonders teacher Jacky Reyes.
She鈥檚 trained new teachers in her classroom who have stopped showing up a few days later.
鈥淚t can be challenging at times, just because it鈥檚 like, over and over again, and I can see how, in some of the kiddos, it can be a little difficult to get attached to some of the new teachers, and then having them leave,鈥� Reyes said.
鈥�...But when they do connect with someone, it鈥檚 great, because you can see the connection they have with this awesome teacher.鈥�
Before starting at Small Wonders, teaching assistant Miranda Feuer worked at a grocery store.
鈥淭alking to adults every day who are mad that we didn鈥檛 have plastic bags was just, so not fulfilling in my life,鈥� Feuer said. 鈥淣ow, coming here, I鈥檒l have a bad day鈥︹��
Feuer recalls a student who gave her a big hug, making her day better. At lunch, kids tell her about their pets or their new toasters.
She said her job at Small Wonders is the best job she鈥檚 ever had.
Next year, she鈥檒l be a teacher, taking over the Owls room from teacher Julia Pitner, who鈥檚 been filling in.
鈥淚t is a very busy job, but it doesn鈥檛 feel busy,鈥� she said.
Providers and employees working in child care will tell you they don鈥檛 do it to 鈥済et rich.鈥�
鈥淵ou do it because you have a heart for what you do,鈥� said Anita Rea-Davis, the director of All Families Welcome, which consists of her home in North Portland and a center in Northeast.
She said she鈥檚 sad for the child care providers who have lost their businesses over the last couple of years.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very valuable to our community because they are, most of them women of wisdom,鈥� Rea-Davis said.
Rea-Davis鈥� program serves children and families with high needs, offering child care to families in crisis 鈥� whether it鈥檚 related to mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse, or housing.
She鈥檚 slowly restoring pre-pandemic supports, such as offering 24-hour and weekend care and bringing in community partners to help. The center actually opened during the pandemic in 2020, with furniture she picked up from a child care center in Corvallis that closed.
But, like Morton, staffing continues to be her biggest issue. And while Rea-Davis said she鈥檚 had 鈥渂rief thoughts鈥� about leaving the field, she said she stays in business to help families that need it.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the one thing people needed right now is consistency,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey needed a safe, consistent place for their children to go to while they were trying to figure out their crisis.鈥�
And while providers and teachers may not get into child care to 鈥済et rich,鈥� that does not mean they want to be underpaid.
ELD director Chatterjee hopes this national conversation on child care will revolutionize the system, 鈥渞edefine the child care sector鈥� as she puts it 鈥� and fund it differently.
鈥淚 think, on principle, everybody hopefully agrees that child care providers should be earning a living wage, that they should have access to healthcare and retirement ...substitute pools ...they should be treated the way our K-12 educators are treated,鈥� she said.
In Oregon, she wants sufficient capacity statewide so that families can have more choice in child care, rather than choosing out of necessity. In short, Chatterjee wants investments to support existing child care centers and recruitment to create more of them.
Provider Allison Morton said those ideas are good, but she said what current providers need is immediate help.
鈥淲e aren鈥檛 going to be able to do that if there aren鈥檛 enough programs, if we can鈥檛 make it through this little bit,鈥� Morton said.
鈥淎nd so, I would encourage a little bit more attention on the here and now so that we can sustain programs and get to that side where growth can happen.鈥�
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