A top state official revealed on Wednesday, May 4, that 142 fewer licensed child care centers are operating in New Jersey since the COVID pandemic started, shrinking the pool of kids served by 4,700.
Christine Beyer, the state Department of Children and Families commissioner, told the Assembly Budget Committee at a hearing in Trenton that the economic fallout for the child care industry could have been much worse in New Jersey. According to Beyer, the loss of 4,700 child care slots, from 388,266 to 383,613 statewide, represented just a 1.2 percent decline.
Beyer said that the Murphy administration was the only state in the U.S. to use the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief funds to help child care centers throughout the shutdown. According to the office of Governor Phil Murphy, the state of New Jersey allocated $210 million in relief for child care centers in the first year of the COVID pandemic.
Child care is in crisis in New Jersey
Beyer told the committee that New Jersey has fared much better than some of their neighboring states in terms of child care center capacity.
However, Cecilia Zalkind, president of the research and policy nonprofit, Advocates for Children of New Jersey, begged to differ, saying she does not share the commissioner's assessment regarding the child care industry's resilience. Zalkind noted a shortage of affordable options before the COVID pandemic, and the state can't afford to lose any openings.
Zalkind told NJ.com after the hearing that child care is in crisis. She said that child care has not recovered, and parents and programs are suffering. According to Zalkind, parents can't find child care nowadays, especially for toddlers and infants, while programs have empty classrooms because they cannot find staff.
Zalkind said that the proposed state budget for the fiscal year that begins in July needs to make a significant investment to help parents in New Jersey afford care and help programs staff classrooms. Zalkind added that no recovery on any level, especially in New Jersey's economy, is possible without child care and any loss in available care is significant.
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Many licensed child care centers have closed since pandemic began
According to Beyer, 663 licensed centers closed, and 521 centers opened from March 2020 to April 2022, resulting in a net loss of 142. Beyer added that there are 3,982 licensed child care centers in New Jersey today.
New Jersey ordered most child care facilities closed from March through June 2020 because of the COVID pandemic, followed by reduced classroom sizes for another year. According to a report by Ready Nation, employment fell 6.8 percent among mothers in New Jersey through December 2020, compared to 3.8 percent among fathers. The report found that nearly one in five mothers of toddlers and infants left the workforce because of a lack of affordable and accessible child care.
