MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin’s childcare institutions are encountering enrollment and staffing issues.
Bianca Velasco finds it difficult to run a daycare.
“This isn’t an easy job. It is challenging. “You have to be 100%,” Velasco remarked. “I make breakfast in the morning. I’m the director, administrator, accountant, and floater. I’m helping out here and there; I do what I can.”
Velasco is the director and owner of Like Home Learning Center on 19th and Forest Home Avenue. The daycare faces issues such as low enrollment, personnel shortages, and families trying to pay for childcare.
“Right present, I have 24 children. But, as you can see, they aren’t even here,” Velasco explained.
Velasco is being forced to close a classroom with 1 ½ and 2-year-old students.
“That is a difficult decision that I was forced to make.” Because of the challenges of not having the numbers or the finances. “I just can’t do it,” Velasco explained.
Velasco’s center is one of 60 percent of providers in Wisconsin that have closed classrooms due to staffing shortages.
“With that cut in funding, we have seen a skyrocketing in price center base care goes up by 11%, and family care almost goes up by 14%,” said Jeff Pertl, Wisconsin Secretary of the Department of Children and Families.
Officials from Gov. Tony Evers’ office told FOX6 News that they had submitted a formal request to the Joint Committee on Finance to release the authorized $15 million to support childcare providers and families in the state for the 2023-2025 biennial budget. The request was denied.
With four teachers, providers such as Velasco are trying their best to hold down the fort.
FOX6 News reached out to the Joint Finance Committee, but officials declined to comment at this time.
