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Day Care for Babies - It's Costly, If You Can Find It

Posted on: Monday, 31 March 2008, 09:00 CDT

They might start with flattery, then offer cash. They sometimes drop social connections and pull out photos of their adorable babies.

Some couples even get their names on a child care waiting list before they're pregnant.

Parents-to-be in South Hampton Roads will try almost anything to land the right day care for their infant. But in a market where demand for quality child care far exceeds the supply, nothing is guaranteed.

"The truth of the matter," said Katharine Kersey, director of the Old Dominion University Child Study Center, "is you may never get here."

Finding infant care is a problem around the country, and competition for coveted slots in local facilities is just as fierce.

About 28 percent of child care programs in South Hampton Roads offer care for babies younger than 12 months, according to a 2006 study commissioned by Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads, the latest year for which statistics are available. About 1,050 programs operate in the five cities.

That added up to about 3,400 spaces on the Southside, where more than 16,400 babies were born in 2006.

Since the early 2000s, the number of local births has been on an upswing, as it has been statewide. Suffolk saw an increase of nearly 25 percent from 2001 to 2006.

Day care providers have witnessed the boom firsthand.

"There's just a huge, huge need for quality infant care," said Krista Riddick, the director of Main Street Day Care in Suffolk, where the next available infant spot is in July 2009.

Not all babies will compete for slots; some will stay at home with their mothers or relatives. Others will spend months on a waiting list. If their parents are lucky, most of that time will pass before the newborn arrives.

"I have on two occasions found out the mom was pregnant before the dad did," said Jean Rockwell, director of Norfolk's Mustard Seed Child Care Center, where the infant room's waiting list exceeds 90.

Directors say infants are harder to place because the state requires at least one adult for every four children younger than 16 months old. That means infant classes tend to be smaller than other preschool rooms, where the required ratio is 1 to 10.

Because of the stricter standards, infant rooms often lose money, said Toni Cacace-Beshears, chief executive officer of Places and Programs for Children, which operates four Children's Harbor child care centers in South Hampton Roads.

The going rate for full-time infant care in South Hampton Roads ranges from $87 to $165 a week on average, depending on the city and the type of provider, according to another Smart Beginnings report from 2006.

That covers only a fraction of the true expense of providing the care, Cacace-Beshears said.

"In a perfect world, we would be getting paid what it costs, so we're not losing money on infants," she said. "That's looking at parents being able to pay $300 to $500 a week for an infant. How reasonable is that in this market?"

Even parents who are able to pay top dollar say the search is frustrating. Some centers offer space only on a first-come, first- served basis. Others give preference to siblings of children already attending or to congregation members if the center is affiliated with a church.

Even parents with connections are sometimes shut out.

Leslie Crocker thought her status as an Old Dominion graduate and an alumnus of the university's child care center would work in her favor when she sought care for her daughter during her maternity leave in fall 2006. Also, her uncle is an adjunct professor at ODU.

It didn't matter.

Ultimately, Crocker decided to stay home and care for her daughter and to serve as a nanny for another infant because she couldn't find another option she liked more.

"I was anxiety-ridden," Crocker, 32, said. "If I had known it would take eight or nine months to get my child into day care, I would have been looking into day care when I got pregnant."

Expectant parents sometimes cry foul when people are allowed on a waiting list before they're pregnant.

"We just remind them that no system is perfect," said Jennifer W. Hardy, a senior director with Children's Harbor, who worked at the center in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood. "Ultimately what happened is, that parent decided they needed care before you."

Savvy parents have learned to work the angles. For example, September can be a good time to find a slot - that's when some centers promote children from class to class, which can create openings in infant rooms.

Amy Cross said she thinks her August due date helped her secure a place at Mustard Seed. She's on the center's board and has another child enrolled there, but she still waited three months before hearing she'd probably have a spot.

She may have to pay tuition during six weeks of her maternity leave, even though her son will likely be home with her.

"Probably it was very fortuitous that I was having a summer baby that I could get into the fall roster," Cross, 33, said. "I think I was miraculously blessed."

The struggle for quality infant care is beginning to catch the attention of would-be entrepreneurs.

In the past six months, Smart Beginnings has fielded at least seven calls from people interested in starting local centers with infant care, Executive Director Lisa Howard said.

One new addition will be a preschool affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Norfolk. The center, opening this fall, will initially serve 20 children from 6 weeks to 2 years old, before adding classes for older children later.

"People are just desperate for child care," said Donna Killmon, chairwoman of the church's day school committee. "It will help."

Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com

the gap

South Hampton Roads day care facilities had about 3,400 spaces for children younger than 1 year old in 2006, according to the most recent figures.

That same year, about 16,400 babies were born in the region, although not all of their parents will seek to place them in day care. a hurdle

Directors say infants are harder to place in day care because the state requires at least one adult for every four children younger than 16 months old.

Source: Virginian - Pilot

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