ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Some families are scrambling to find last-minute childcare, after a center in Orchard Park shut down some services for the next month, according to a mother who uses the facility.
This shut down could add even more stress to an already difficult decision for parents finding childcare.
"It was kind of shocking just to have that news," Bobbie Szkutak said.
Szkutak is a first-time mother to 9-month-old Ellie. She and her husband are working full-time, so daycare is crucial for them which is why they chose to Ellie to Doodlebugs in Orchard Park.
"My daughter she just loves going there she's built just really good relationships," Szkutak said.
After just three months of care, Szkutak got a call Thursday afternoon that she was not expecting.
"And they told me the unfortunate news that they're going to have to be closing their infant rooms down for four weeks," she said.
She said Doodlebugs told her the shut down is due to a lack of staff, so this left Szkutak scrambling for a solution.
"I kind of stopped everything I was doing and solely focused on that because if I didn't have that I couldn't work," she added.
This issue is nothing to the Western New York area.
"We've been hearing stories like this all the time," Cathy Creighton, director of Cornell University's IRL Buffalo, said.
Creighton recently contributed to a study on childcare in Erie County.
"What we found was pretty startling," she said.
According the report:
- The annual average wage for the more than 500 child care providers in the county comes to $23,000/year
- Since 2018, 20 percent of our childcare workers have disappeared
- 31 percent who work full time rely on medicaid
"Their wages are poverty wages and they left the industry as a result," Creighton said.
She said the Western New York area is not alone, this is a nationwide issue and the pandemic only made the situation worse.
"Everyone's vying for workers and when you are in a really low paying job you have other choices and people are taking those choices and leaving childcare," she added.
Creighton said making childcare a public benefit could be a solution, but making it work could be difficult.
As for Szkutak, she found a quick fix to hopefully solve this temporary problem.
"I have a friend that's going to watch her for me for the next four weeks so I was very lucky to be able to find a solution very quickly that's the thing about mom's somehow we always figure it out," she said.
7 News did reach out to the Orchard Park facility to confirm the staffing issue and infant room closure, a staffer declined to comment. 7 News also let contact information to get in touch with the corporate office and have not heard back.
