Local daycare reacts to the freeze of childcare funds

DULUTH, Minn. — A local daycare is reacting to the Trump administration announcing that it is freezing child care funds to Minnesota.

The freeze comes after allegations of fraudulent daycares in the state.

Kallie Thomas, the Executive Director of Happy Time Daycare says the freeze could be detrimental.

Happy Time is a non-profit, with tuition only covering bills and staff. Thomas says there are parents who rely on funding to help cover the costs of tuition through Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program also know as CCAP.

So the freeze could lead to children being unenrolled and daycares closing.

“There’s going to be a significant drop in enrollment and jobs. People aren’t going to be able to work and so, and then we’re going completely backwards, and I don’t know when this is going to start, and when everyone’s going to see the change, but I think as soon as they freeze it, everyone that has CCAP families are going to lose them in a blink of an eye,” Thomas said.

Thomas also says daycare owners are in the dark with when the freeze will start, causing uncertainty for daycares and families.

“I’ve got no information. I’ve been checking my emails throughout the day constantly to see if we’d get something. I know the St. Louis County hasn’t heard anything quite yet about it, so I have no clue when this is going to start,” Thomas said.

The Happy Time Daycare center is the longest running daycare in Duluth, and Thomas says there has always been a stigma surrounding the importance of child care.