CLEVELAND — Data obtained from Ohio's new Department of Children and Youth shows from 2020 to May 1, Ohio saw nearly 400 daycare facilities close across the state, peaking with 199 closing in 2023.
Kristina Hale and her Little Heroes Academy along Lorain Avenue in Cleveland was one of them.
"I was devastated," she said.
Hale points to staffing issues as the main reason she was forced to close her doors in February 2023.
"Things started going down south," she said. "It was hard to try to find good passionate workers. We never had an issue enrolling kids."
For context, Ohio currently has a little more than 4,400 licensed childcare providers.
The issue of childcare has become a focal point for many across the state. Governor Mike DeWine even referenced the issue during his State of the State in April.
"We do not have enough affordable childcare for working parents," DeWine said to News 5 on April 16. "If we want Ohio to move forward and we want people to work and we want kids to have a good start in life, we need better childcare. We have good childcare but we need more of it."
In Chagrin Falls, Kim DiMuzio never closed her doors at the Goddard School on Chillicothe Road during the pandemic but admits she understands the impact COVID-19 had on the industry.
"I see from the pandemic that so many smaller preschools have kind of died off," DiMuzio said. "They couldn't sustain what happened during the pandemic."
DiMuzio oversees 200 kids at the Goddard School in Chagrin Falls and sees firsthand just how far parents will go for quality childcare in today's society.
"Some come over a half an hour to drive here," she said. "Some parents are waiting a year and a half but they know it's worth the wait for sure to drop off their kids."
That was certainly a factor that Jacqlyn Winkler considered for childcare for her son, Max, who was born in 2020.
When Winkler first got pregnant, she said she felt prepared to deal with the demand that comes with finding childcare in Ohio.
"It was about 10 weeks [pregnant] I think that I got on the list," she said. "Some family didn't even know I was pregnant. My work didn't know I was pregnant."
But after her son was born, no amount of preparation could warn this mom about what would happen.
"Two weeks before my maternity leave ended the world shut down," the new mother said. "What are we gonna do? What are our options? Both my husband and I work full time so we don't have an option to just stay at home with the kids."
In the end, Winkler told News 5 that her son was admitted to their preferred daycare, but it took a while.
"We stayed on the list for [Max for] probably 2.5 years," Winkler said. "I wasn't ready to send him at six months [when they offered] because of COVID-19 and they took us off the list. So then we had to restart the whole process over again."
After a chaotic couple of years, daycares look at expansion
One year after closing Tiny Heroes Academy, Hale reopened at the same location, with staffing no longer holding her back.
"It seems like they’re finding me versus me trying to find them a couple years ago," she said.
Hale explained that the shift in staffing throughout the industry has allowed her to look at expanding her current location and even explore the idea of adding another location on the east side.
In Chagrin Falls, DiMuzio keeps tabs on a construction site less than seven miles away from her current location — where she's building another childcare facility for another 220 kids.
"We're getting at least three phone calls a day," she said. "We're already enrolling. There's just a sign up on the street. We don't even have a website yet."
Statewide emphasis on childcare
Statewide, legislators are pushing for more help to meet the demand for affordable daycare.
During his State of the State, Governor DeWine proposed expanding state funding to more families living near the federal poverty level.
He’s also asking for $85 million in federal funding to be diverted toward allowing child care providers to improve and expand their facilities.
There are also several bills in Columbus looking to help build more childcare facilities.
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard or on Facebook Clay LePard News 5.
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