Child care workers press NC legislators earlier this year to fund their industry as federal stabilization grants sunset. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
As many as 55 childcare centers in Western North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helene will remain closed for the foreseeable future, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). More than 200 facilities in the 25 counties declared major disaster areas were impacted by the storm.
“Even before Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, our child care facilities were in financial crisis,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. “Quality child care is a critical resource not only for children in storm-impacted counties, but for parents working to rebuild their homes and lives.”
Gov. Roy Cooper and DHHS Sec. Kody Kinsley receive an update on Mission Hospital’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene. (Pool photo: Paul Barker-Governor’s Office)
The governor said work is underway to help programs reopen quickly, but additional funding from the General Assembly is needed to address both the immediate hurricane impacts and to ensure the long-term viability of North Carolina’s child care system.
Hurricane Helene struck as state emergency funding to replace federal COVID-relief child care funds are running out. Cooper has warned that the state’s child care centers, teachers and parents will be in trouble unless lawmakers provide additional funding to help stabilize them financially.
“North Carolina relies on high-quality early childhood education and child care to support children’s healthy development and learning, allow parents to work and keep businesses running,” Cooper said earlier this month. “But these programs are now in crisis and we need the legislature to step up and make real investments before more child care centers close, more early childhood educators quit and programs become unaffordable for too many parents.”
The federal government poured $1.3 billion into North Carolina during the pandemic to help keep child care facilities open. The grants, which were funded by the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan, ran out in June. The Republican-led General Assembly provided $67.5 million to help fill the gap through Dec. 31, but industry representatives have said this amount was inadequate.
NCDHHS said that efforts to safely reopen child care centers align with Cooper’s executive order, which allows regulatory flexibilities in storm-impacted counties so that critical services can resume supporting families, even as facilities recover and rebuild. Regulated child care facilities that lack usual sources of power, drinking water, wastewater treatment or have lost records, documents or other paperwork may be able to reopen under an Emergency Operations Plan developed with their child care licensing consultant from the NCDHHS Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE). DCDEE is collaborating with the Division of Public Health (DPH) to develop environmental health guidance for child care facilities to reopen quickly and operate safely.
“As our friends, neighbors and communities in Western North Carolina begin to recover, we are committed to helping child care facilities reopen safely,” NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley said. “We want children to have access to quality early care and learning, and parents to return to work confident their children are safe and cared for.”
For families impacted by Hurricane Helene seeking child care options, NCDHHS has partnered with Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies to activate the Find Child Care NC hotline. Families can call 1-888-600-1685 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for help finding an open child care facility near you.