A Letter to the Editor from a worried parent
As a working parent and teacher in Allegany County, I’m alarmed by the deepening child care crisis in our region. State funding for child care subsidies has run out, and families are now left scrambling to cover costs or make impossible choices.
Our county has already been declared a child care desert. In our town, there are no daycare centers. The only program in the town where we work is a Head Start, but its hours don’t match the typical workday—especially for educators like myself. Because of this, our family drives 30 minutes every morning to bring our children to daycare, then another 20 minutes to drop off our school-aged kids, all before heading to work.
We’re fortunate to have access to quality care at the YMCA in Wellsville, where the staff are dedicated and loving. But without the subsidy, our cost will exceed $2,000 a month for two children. And we’re both educators. If we can’t afford it, how can other families?
The result? Parents are being forced to leave the workforce, enroll children in unregulated care, or move elsewhere. If we want families to stay, work, and thrive in Allegany County, we must invest in affordable, accessible, and high-quality child care—and pay providers the wages they deserve.
There isn’t a shortage of jobs in our county. There’s a shortage of child care, and it’s keeping people from working.
Submitted by a local teacher and parent who understandably wishes to remain anonymous
