After the COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted problems with securing child care, Denver still has a shortage of nearly 12,000 spots, creating issues for families and the economy alike.
About 22,560 children in Denver were in child care programs in 2023, according to a report by the Common Sense Institute Colorado, a conservative think tank. But roughly 11,700 more spaces were needed, said Shelby Mattingly, CEO of Denver’s Early Childhood Council.
The council, one of 35 statewide that helps coordinate services across agencies and child care centers, sees helping families and giving children a strong start in life as fundamental to thriving communities. And the organization sees the child care workforce as the linchpin of the system.
“What we believe very strongly is that the child care system is a foundational element for the entire economy, not just in Denver but everywhere,” Mattingly said. “If you are working in this country, you are relying on a system of child care whether you have a child or not because someone at your business is relying on that care.”
During the pandemic, when child care programs shut down, parents had to juggle taking care of their children while working from home or still going to work. The federal government provided millions of dollars to keep Colorado’s early childhood programs going, according to a Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s Birth Through Five Needs Assessment released in 2023.
But the pre-pandemic challenges of low pay for child care workers, centers’ tight financial margins and families struggling to cover tuition costs remained after the additional funds ran out. The Colorado Children’s Campaign said in its Kids Count report released this year that 62% of the state’s providers reported the closure of at least one child care center in their community.
“Colorado invested a lot in creating more spaces for kids. It did open a lot of new spots,” Mattingly said.
However, waiting lists for open spots still exist. An analysis by the First Five Years Fund said there were 2,166 licensed child care centers in Colorado in 2023, up 50 from 2022. And there were 1,421 licensed family child care homes the same year, down 28 from 2022. That leaves a 38% deficit in the number of spots needed statewide.
The Denver Early Childhood Council, DECC, has homed in on strengthening and supporting a key element in the child care system: the employees. The organization provides coaching for teachers, invests in training and career development and advocates for better pay.
“We know that the workforce is the essential element of this whole system, not just because we need the people in the child care spaces to provide care, but because they are passionate and care deeply about kids,” Mattingly said. “We’re often seeing an exodus from the workforce because they can’t afford to be there.”
Recruiting and retaining child care workers is a problem nationwide. Employment in the child care profession fell nationally by more than 30% after 2019, mostly because of the pandemic, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Although overall employment levels have rebounded, the business organization says finding and keeping staff is a persistent problem.
The economic fallout when families can’t find or afford child care reaches beyond individual households. Parents leave jobs to stay at home with their children, postpone school or training and miss work, which a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report said costs each state more than $1 billion annually in economic activity.
In Colorado, an analysis by the Common Sense Institute Colorado, a conservative think tank, said 17% of mothers with younger children who are not in the workforce but would like to be working say that child care is the main reason they’re not. The economic blow to the state economy is $3.8 billion, according to the analysis.
The Lil People Learning Center in the Denver neighborhood of Green Valley Ranch might have room for more children, which would families looking for spots, but one hurdle is finding enough staff. The center is licensed for 49 children, but the maximum number the center enrolls is 40 because of space, co-owner Robyn Reed said.
Co-owners Shelli Johnson, left, Robyn Reed, center, and Glenda Fadeyi run Lil People Learning Center, a child care center in Green Valley Ranch, in Denver on Nov. 18, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
And Reed said another hurdle is hiring enough people to take care of more children. “It’s just keeping them. They kind of come and go.”
Lil People has a waiting list of 10 to 15 spots.
One staffer has been with Lil People for 15 years. The second-longest tenure is three years. A couple of teachers have been on staff for two years. Most of the assistants have worked there less than a year.
Turnover is a financial drag because each new person must go through training and additional education to keep up the center’s rating and comply with state regulations. People in the profession are passionate about children, but they also have to take care of their own families, Reed said.
“We’re competing for people with businesses like Amazon,” Reed said.
The Colorado Children’s Campaign report said the median annual wage for a child care teacher in the state in 2022 was $34,830, just 54% of the median wage for full-time workers. The pay can vary widely based on the part of the state where the teachers are working.
“A lot of providers are on assistance,” Mattingly said.
About 96% of the child care workforce is made up of women, many of them women of color.
Mattingly said because child care is expensive, there is a perception that centers must be making a lot of money. “But the margins are really tight.”
Based on average costs and revenue from the budgets of child care centers the DECC works with, a facility that charges $1,500 per student a month and has 14 children enrolled would make $864 a month.
The average annual cost of infant care in Colorado is $15,325, or $1,277 per month, the Common Sense Institute said in a report released in October. That makes Colorado the eighth-most expensive state for infant care, which is pricier than for older children.
“Tripped onto my passion”
Given the cost of tuition, Roman Hollowell understands why people might assume child care centers make a lot of money. However, Hollowell, owner of Kids for Real Inc., said the overhead of running a child care program is substantial.
“We have to make sure our staff stays happy. We have to pay them a reasonable salary,” Hollowell said.
Add in the mortgage, utilities, insurance and transportation for field trips. Kids for Real provides breakfast, lunch and a snack for the 13 children enrolled. The center in Denver’s Whittier neighborhood, northeast of downtown, was started by Hollowell’s mother, Oneta, in her home in 1993.
Hollowell was in graduate school when his mother died in 2012. He took over the business because he didn’t want to see it closed. Others in the child care community lent support and Hollowell launched a new career.
“I really feel like I’ve tripped onto my passion because I absolutely love what I’m doing,” Hollowell said. “There aren’t many men in this profession and there aren’t men who look like me, who are African American. Maybe I have had a significant impact on all of our kiddos.”
Children play at Lil People Learning Center, a child care center in Green Valley Ranch, in Denver on Nov. 18, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
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The DECC has worked with Kids 4 Real, helping the staff navigate the business of running a child care center and supporting the teachers. The Denver organization, started by former Mayor Wellington Webb, was the state’s first early childhood council.
Since then, the legislature has expanded the number of councils, which administer state funds for programs across the state and work with private and public entities to build a comprehensive system for children up to 5 years old.
Mattingly sees more businesses taking steps such as opening child care centers for employees. She is on an advisory committee that is exploring offering child care for people who work at Denver International Airport.
Executives Partnering to Invest in Children, or EPIC, is teaming with DIA on a feasibility study of opening a child care center available to all workers at the airport. Ellen Braun, who’s taking the lead for EPIC on the project, said the study will likely take two to three years.
Nicole Riehl, EPIC CEO and president, said airport officials started hearing from employees and partners that child care is a challenge for workers and that will only increase as the airport’s business continues to grow.
In addition to work by the business community, the federal government needs to provide more money, Mattingly said. She is going to Washington, D.C., in a couple of weeks to attend a child care summit that will include several business organizations.
“As a community, it should be fundamentally important to all of us to invest in children in the most essential development of their lives, which is 0 to 5,” Mattingly said. “We know the care children get at that time impacts them for life and that that is about the future of our community in all ways.”