CSRA parents say it’s hard to find adequate child care
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Parents across the country are struggling to find adequate child care, and organizations find it hard to keep up with demands, especially in the summer months.
On Tuesday, at the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce in Evans, there was a roundtable discussion between child care center owners and elected officials discussing some of the specific problems the CSRA is facing when it comes to child care and the opportunities that exist.
Leaders said today this is something that isn’t just impactful for parents, but something that impacts everyone in the CSRA.
They want people who want to work to be able to work, and they’re trying to come up with solutions for that.
“To really impress upon our elected officials that this is an issue that impacts the entire community, and when I say the entire community, it means the business community as well,” said Russell Lahodny, president and CEO, Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.
One mom says she has to stay at home because child care is too expensive.
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While supplying a place for filling prescriptions, they have been a designated United States Postal Service substation, and provide food products.
With care costs rising, child care workers are struggling to adapt, and owners are being forced to make tough decisions.
“I am a stay at home parent because I haven’t had a job that has made enough money to cover child care costs for me to go to work, and I am also a little bit picky about my child care costs, so I wanted to have certain things and the other certain things I am looking for are expensive,” said Lauren Dunham, mom.
“And it’s like picking from a pool, it’s really who can afford to pay us and who cannot, and I don’t think that should be on the table for any child that needs care,” said Chonda Ray, child care center owner.
The hesitancy of parents finding child care that they are comfortable with can be hard. A boy died after choking on a watermelon in May 2024, which prompted a new child care safety bill in February.
There has been a lack of 24-hour child care in the CSRA for some time, so this is not a new problem.
“We are from out of state, so we don’t have family to watch our kids. We rely on babysitters, so just finding people we really like, that costs money, so we don’t use them very often, but that’s our only option at the moment,” said Dunham.
In January, we told you that South Carolina state lawmakers asked for $1 million in the next state budget to help with child care.
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