Summer childcare can be hard to find in the Valley

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - As many children are anticipating their last day of school across the Valley, some parents are left with anxieties about child care during the summer months.

In the last few weeks, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Child Daycare has experienced high call volumes than any other summer before.

“It does feel like the calls have increased a lot more here within the last weeks, we always are getting calls but it does seem like we’ve had a higher volume of calls just within the last few weeks,” Delores Jameson, executive director at Harrisonburg-Rockingham Child Day Care Center, said.

Whether it be the approaching summer, or many COVID restrictions being lifted and parents returning back to an office setting, Jameson said the need for child care is high.

“There are just not enough child care spaces to fulfill the need that is in our community,” Jameson said.

Not only are many childcare spaces in need of more rooms for kids, but also they are facing a teacher shortage.

”I’m part of a like coalition of the child care directors and all of our programs are full and if somebody does withdraw everybody has a long waiting list of children,” Jameson said.

However, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Child Day Care Center is set to expand its space in 2023.

Jameson’s best advice to parents is to get their child on a waitlist as soon as possible. Many waitlists can take two years to reach the top.

Jameson is encouraging parents to put their child’s name on the list when they are a newborn so when they reach the eligible age for daycare, which is two years old at HRCDCC, they are near the top of the list.

”Go visit the program, make sure the program’s a good fit for you and your child, and just continue to call and put your name on waiting lists,” Jameson said.

Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.