Frederica Freyberg:

Already finding and affording childcare in Wisconsin is difficult for many families and now state budget action this week de-funded a pandemic subsidy program that Governor Tony Evers wanted to make permanent. The Childcare Counts program and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support to childcare providers for staffing and to maintain costs for parents. The federal dollars go away fully in February but are steeply reduced for providers starting this month. We check in with one childcare provider in Richland Center for her reaction to the end of the Childcare Counts program. We’re joined by Jenni Schrock. Thank you for being here.

Jenni Schrock:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you have some staff intensive care because you provide infant care, I understand, the only such center where you are. What will the loss of the federal dollars mean to your center and the families that you serve?

Jenni Schrock:

I’m going to have to raise fees for the families because I’m not going to be able to budget correctly to give the teachers that I2 have the quality pay that they need to keep the quality teachers. I will have to cut my budgets, my supplies, we won’t be able to update any equipment. I mean, it’s going to be a tight go of it without this money.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you expect that, given that you have to raise fees, that some families will make the choice to forego childcare as a result that you will therefore lose families?

Jenni Schrock:

I do. I do. I feel people will not be able to afford it, they will not be able to work. It’s going to be a domino effect.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you were describing that under the program, you were getting about $10,000 a month. What were you able to do with that extra federal money coming to you through this program?

Jenni Schrock:

That money was paying the payroll taxes that I have to pay for having my staff, and also I was updating things. I recently opened this Richland Center area and provided three more rooms for infant care, but that was with Childcare Counts money helped pay for the taxes and then we also had the Partner Up, and that helped pay for that three extra doors. Partner Up is still going through, I believe — I don’t remember. One more year through next year. And with this Childcare Counts cuts off in February.

Frederica Freyberg:

How difficult is it to maintain staffing levels even with the federal subsidy?

Jenni Schrock:

It’s hard. It’s hard. I don’t pay near what I would like to because of — I mean, I have very, very good staff, very good girls that love their jobs, they love the kiddos, but I can’t pay them what a factory would pay or somebody down the road, the hospitals can pay, but they love their jobs and they love what they do. It’s hard to compete with the outside.

Frederica Freyberg:

What you do is so vital and so important and such hard work. What is your message to the legislature about this program and its importance?

Jenni Schrock:

I’m really hoping that they can revisit it and, you know, find a way to put it into the budget. It’s something I feel has helped families. I mean, the funds — we’ve opened up 200 slots within the last two years just with these funds and the help of these funds, we’re helping lots of families get back to work. We are in the Richland Center area. They were not able to find childcare. We’re moving people from other states up to Wisconsin because of this childcare. I just had a family sign up from Georgia, someone moved from Texas. So, I mean, this program, I don’t rely on federal money, but it is very helpful to keep my doors open and keep the high-quality care that we give here at Sunshine.

Frederica Freyberg:

One of the Republican co-chairs of the budget committee says they will be banking $45 million available in aid for low-income families and $15 million for a revolving loan fund for childcare center upgrades. Is that something that you think sounds would be helpful?

Jenni Schrock:

The low-incomes families, yes, but you’re really missing the middle-income families or the — or the middle-income families that don’t qualify for those programs, and that’s where I can keep my fees at a decent level for those families.

Frederica Freyberg:

We appreciate your time, Jenni Schrock. Good luck.

Jenni Schrock:

Thank you.