EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Family-owned Little Footsteps Daycare and Learning Center will be shutting its doors on Nov. 27, after nearly two decades in business, and the owner said it is due to challenges most privately owned daycares are likely facing.
“I think a lot of daycares – and they might not admit it – but I think a lot of us are struggling, with low enrollment and the high cost of groceries. The same obstacles that we faced, I think are being felt across the board,” said Blanca Gonzalez, the owner of Little Footsteps.
Gonzalez said they opened the daycare center 18 years ago with the idea of having a place to care for their own four children, instead of having to pay for a separate daycare center.
Gonzalez said that they have been in a constant state of having to increase their rates and that finally forced them to have to close down.
“It’s been a very difficult decision (to close). All of our staff is like family to us. We can’t keep up with (inflation). We can’t raise our prices anymore. We’ve fallen into a vicious cycle where we can’t raise our prices because families can’t afford higher daycare rates. And so we’re kind of stuck in the middle,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the most burdensome costs on them have been soaring grocery and gasoline prices. Little Footsteps provides four meals per day to children and offers transportation to and from school as well.
Gonzalez said low reimbursement rates from Texas’ Child Care Services, which cover part of the expense for low-income familiies who qualfy, also played a role in the closure.
“The main challenge this time around was the low reimbursement rate for subsidized child care. It doesn’t compare to what we charge private families,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez also noted how parents who have to rely on subsides from the CCS have to be on a waiting list for more than two years to be approved.
Gonzalez added that on top of these financial issues, they have also had to compete with the federally funded Education Service Center – Region 19 Head Start Program, which recently opened just a few miles away from their business.
Parents with children at Little Footsteps said they are worried about the high cost of child care and the challenge they are now facing to find someone who can provide the same care that Little Footsteps did.
“I’ve been here for nine years. My kids actually grew up here, ever since they were born. So Little Footsteps have been their daycare for a while. So it really impacted us in our routines. And to look for a daycare, it’s going to be hard,” said Blanca Martinez, who was on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know if my kids will feel comfortable (elsewhere). They have been here for nine years. Here (Little Footsteps), they treat them like family,” Martinez added.
Martinez said her main priorities in finding another child care center is that they provide transportation for her four children from school and that they are open as early as 5:30 a.m. so that she can head to work.
Ariel Chacon has three children at Little Footsteps and despite only having them enrolled there for less than three years, finds it difficult to find someone that can offer them the same detailed care.
“My kids came from a different daycare. They were mistreated and other things, and now that they’re here it’s totally (different).” Chacon said. “This daycare takes our kids to school, picks up our kids. They provide food and everything, and it’s just an extra help for all of us parents, especially the single mothers that are out here.”
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