Hundreds of Florida child care centers forced to close due to COVID-19 pandemic

Hundreds of child care centers have been forced to close during the pandemic.

9 Investigates started checking in with day cares in March when COVID-19 caused panic and many families decided to keep their children home. Enrollment dropped drastically, and many centers couldn’t afford to stay open.

Channel 9 investigative reporter Daralene Jones followed up with the state to find out how widespread the problem is and what it means for parents.

READ: Florida health department says they’re not keeping list of day cares with COVID-19 outbreaks

Conway Learning Center in Orlando has a sign along Michigan Avenue encouraging families to enroll.

“Gone from about 400 to 60 students,” Director Carol Foo said.

She's survived financially only because of grants through Orange County and the Early Learning Coalition.

New data from the Department of Children and Families shows 1,645 licensed child care centers are not operating, mostly in the central and southern parts of the state.

Though they're not required to provide a reason, Mary Harper, with the Early Learning Coalition, expected this when parents started keeping their kids home because of the coronavirus.

“If you don’t have children in care, you’re not collecting fees, which means you can’t keep the doors open,” Harper said.

READ: How Central Florida day cares are being impacted by COVID-19

The coalition started offering grants of up to $20,000 in April with the help of the federal coronavirus relief package. They're now accepting a new round of applications from contract and non-contract facilities, but the center must be open.   

It's critical timing for parents with fewer options, especially if they've chosen a face-to-face school option for their child.

“That’s the sort of fallout of all of this. Without child care, parents don’t work. Without parents working, the economy doesn’t bounce back,” Harper said.

The coalition is currently accepting applications for a second round of funding, and Harper said they will continue accepting applications through Monday because of our reporting on the issue. The CEO anticipates the county will release more funding at the end of the month.

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Video: Florida health department says it's not keeping list of day cares with COVID-19 outbreaks There have been several outbreaks of COVID-19 at childcare facilities in Central Florida, but the Florida Department of Health said they are not keeping a list of the facilities with outbreaks of the virus.

Cox Media Group