DANVILLE, Pa. — A child's early years are critical when it comes to long-term academic and social success, but a severe shortage of child development professionals is putting kids in jeopardy. It's happening all over the country.
"Early child care workers have always been underpaid, underappreciated, underfunded," said Shannon Lewczyk, executive director of the Danville Child Development Center. "However, with the COVID pandemic, once we closed our doors for the mandatory shutdowns, when we reopened a lot of people chose not to come back into the industry.
Lewczyk and Site Supervisor Annie Chappel are part of the Danville Child Development Center, where two classrooms are now empty.
"The classroom that we're sitting in right now is currently empty," Lewczyk said. "We need ten toddlers to fill this classroom, however, I need two teachers to be able to do that and that's not happening."
Data from advocacy group Start Strong PA shows it's not uncommon. More than 1,600 classrooms in the commonwealth are closed, as nearly 7,000 staff positions have not been filled.
Executives from Danville claim it's all about low wages; with the average child care worker making just $11 an hour.
"If we do get a bite and they come in and they do an interview, as soon as they hear that salary, that's a deal-breaker," Lewczyk said. "They can go to pretty much anywhere with less skills, less education, less knowledge and be able to secure several dollars an hour more."
That's why this week the pair joined other childcare professionals in Harrisburg, asking legislators to back a $115 million budget increase. That would raise wages by $2 an hour, without passing the cost directly to the families.
"It's already very difficult for parents to pay and if we raised our rates, then we would probably lose a lot of families; which would be great for all the people on the waitlist, but not for everybody else," Chappel said.
Lewczyk said parents are growing more desperate in their search for child care.
"A few weeks ago we had a mom meet our enrollment director at closing time in the parking lot, begging to know when there was going to be an opening," Lewczyk said.
She hopes an increase in wages could attract more staff and help parents get back to work.
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