Lack of child care sends parents in search of solutions

Nicole Hammer is faced with a child care conundrum that has no easy solutions. As her unemployment benefits run out, she needs to find a job. But finding someone to watch her son is proving to be difficult.

Without a day care center and with few home-based child care providers, Wrangell parents have had to get creative when it comes to finding someone to watch their children while they work. In some cases, they've had to quit working. Or, in Hammer's case, she can't accept a job offer until she has day care.

"It's come to the point where I have to go back to work, but how does one go back to work when there's no child care around?" Hammer said. "It feels like it's just my problem, but it turns out it's a problem for multiple families."

There were times when Brooke Leslie, whose family owns 56 Degrees North and Alaska Waters, would need to bring her daughter, Lola, into work with her. tour operations manager Katie Powell would have to bring her son in, as would store manager Shawna Buness. So, all three would have their children at work with them. All three women had their children within eight months of each other.

"From a business owner and management position ... what does maternity leave look like for a small company? What does a flexible work schedule look like? What does the bring-your-kid-to-work thing look like," Leslie said. "We embraced more of a progressive work model for working moms."

She said it was easier to bring their children to work when they were all babies, but as they neared the 1-year mark, and businesses started opening again after the pandemic shutdown, bringing the kids in became more of a challenge. Powell had to continue bringing her son in to work because she had no child care at all, Leslie said.

Most of the at-home child care providers only take a maximum of four children unrelated to the provider, so that they're not required to get a state license. Any more than that, and a provider must meet several requirements and be licensed.

However, licensed providers can qualify for subsidized support programs like child care assistance, child care grants and the child care food program, and their low-income clients can qualify for assistance.

What if parents have day care secured, but their provider has an emergency? Kim Wickman, an IGAP technician with the Wrangell Cooperative Association, has a 2-year-old son in day care provided by Jayme Howe. Depending on the time of year, Howe might go on vacation or have an appointment or emergency arise which makes it unable for her to watch Wickman's son.

"Couple weeks ago, (Howe) went on a family vacation, and it was great because their family needs to have vacations ... but there was no backup plan for us," she said. "So, after a certain point, you can only (rely on) family so much, and I have a wonderful support family, but there's no backup."

Even finding a drop-in slot for the day isn't possible, Wickman said. "The few people who do have day cares right now are completely full."

Wickman is fortunate in that she can work from home if needed, and her son can accompany her on various fieldwork trips. Her husband, Daniel Rohr, works in two-week stretches with two weeks off between. Inevitably, however, his time off doesn't coincide with those day care emergencies.

At one time, Kelly Buness was licensed with the state. She said the requirements, such as insurance and inspections, can be daunting for those considering opening a day care business. "It's a lot of work, but it's definitely doable. I think people are scared when they look at all the regulations and paperwork, but once it's done, it's done," she said.

Although Buness has provided child care for 25 years, she gave up her license to focus on foster care, while still providing at-home child care. "Wrangell is not a huge place, and there's not a huge amount of kids here, but at one time I had 28 kids on my wait-list."

And when Buness goes on vacation or has to shut down, "the parents I do have struggle to find backup."

She said she has had three people reach out to her over the past year for advice on opening a day care center, one of whom is a stay-at-home mom watching a couple children.

In July, Leslie started researching various day care facilities throughout Southeast. She's advocated to create a day care center in Wrangell that could handle multiple children, but she said it's a matter of bringing all the key people to the table.

"I think what Wrangell needs is a long-term, established child care center that has a learning curriculum," she said. "Ideally (with) a cultural component because we live in Tlingít Aaní, Tlingít land and territory, and I think having that cultural component is very relevant here."

Leslie served on the borough's economic development committee and convention and visitor bureau committee before COVID-19. Through her time on both committees, she said the business and household needs were identified in Wrangell, with child care being among the top priorities. After COVID-19 hit, the need became even more evident.

She has reached out to WCA and SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, believing that the support of both organizations could help efforts to get a day care center established.

"I feel like this is a mutually beneficial thing. Basically, what I heard is they are aware of the need, and they would support that project," Leslie said. She believes further action can't be taken until "key stakeholders" come to the table.

That effort could take some time.

"I think the hardest part is getting people to realize it's feasible," Wickman said. "Because when you look at doing a day care center, the requirements are extremely intimidating. It's this huge puzzle, and people immediately see it and they're like, 'Oh, we don't have the capacity to do this.' But I think we do. And there are enough people that have a need, that when they get to the table and they bring in Tlingít & Haida and the borough to help out, I think it could be very successful."

And child care services need to be affordable to make it practical for people like Hammer.

"I not only have to be able to afford child care, but I have to contribute to the bills at home," she said. "Which is what made unemployment so worth it. I got paid to stay at home and be with my son."