SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego County is seeing a shortage of childcare facilities. The City of San Diego is trying to make it easier for families to find childcare by bringing services to local recreation centers and parks.
According to the San Diego Foundation, 77% of families in San Diego County say it’s a hassle to find childcare.
“When you sit down and speak to other parents, it's actually laughable on how much we actually are struggling,” says Jazmine Tyler, a Navy veteran and mother of two.
Tyler shares her little ones are 3 years old and 12 weeks old, respectively. She spent months trying to find childcare for for her eldest son. With her husband still on active duty, the family turned to the military, but it just wasn’t an option.
“The CDC alone has a wait list from six to 12 months, so that kind of forced us out into the city,” says Tyler. “To find something affordable, it took about probably six to eight months.”
But the Tyler family is not the only one with child care problems.
According toa study done by The San Diego Foundation last year, there are more than 150,000 children in San Diego county, up to the age of 5, who have working parents. That’s 64% of all kids in the county. But there is only a little over 79,000 licensed childcare spots available, leaving nearly half of this age group with no childcare options.
“There's a drastic shortage of childcare in San Diego, across the region and really everywhere,” says Tara Ryan.
Ryan is the Program Coordinator for the Office of Youth Success. She says the pandemic forced many childcare providers to shut down.
This is one of the reasons why San Diego voters passed Measure H. It allows public recreation centers and parks within the city to be used for childcare. Right now, the City of San Diego has over 40 sites they are looking at as possible locations.
“We've been looking at every rec center across the city to identify sites that have the potential to include license child care,” says Ryan.
“There are parents out there that need something right now. Not a year from now or two years from now,” says Tyler. “I think it's a good initiative. I think that it's a good idea, it would be great. What are the costs?”
The San Diego Foundation says families throughout the county can pay an average of $12,000 to $19,000 a year for licensed childcare.
When asked about how much childcare would be at the potential locations, Ryan says costs and subsidies will likely be determined on the location and needs of the community.
“Anything helps,” says Tyler. “It's a bucket of just stuff childcare, groceries, gas; You walk out of the house and spend 80 bucks just breathing. So anything would help.”
The City of San Diego is still surveying all of the recreation centers. Ryan says they envision to issue requests for proposals for licensed providers to come in to offer services this fall.
