EVERETT, Wash. — After months of uncertainty, Everett Community College's Early Learning Center will continue to operate.
At least for now.
Last November, the college announced plans to find an outside partner to operate the Early Learning Center, which provides care and educational opportunities to infants and children up to age 5. Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers stepped forward to offer funding for the long-term sustainability of the learning center.
“We are grateful for Snohomish County’s investment in our youngest learners and for the county’s ongoing support for our outstanding Early Learning Center staff,” said college Interim President Darrell L. Cain.
The news means single parents like Carlos Hernandez will be able to stay in school and continue their education to make a better life for their children.
Hernandez is getting additional job training at Everett Community College after a workplace accident left him unemployed.
"I was surviving off of hope and prayers that I could find appropriate childcare for my daughter so I could go to school," Hernandez said.
The Early Learning Center took his daughter at no charge.
The center's mission is to help struggling parents get stable jobs, child care and housing, but it comes with a price.
The learning center found itself in a $700,000 deficit late last year.
The college announced it would shut the center down and have a third party take over to save money.
That left Carlos and his 4-year-old daughter Lena unsure if they'd be able to afford to stay.
"It was frightening," Carlos said. "To lose my childcare would be life changing."
After a change in administration at the college, an agreement was announced Tuesday that Snohomish County will provide $200,000 to keep the center open through 2023.
"All the teachers were cheering," learning center interim director Rachelle Refling said. "The kids were wondering what was going on. It was such a relief."
A relief in Everett, but countless parents all across the region are still struggling.
A Lending Tree study found Washington families are paying more than $17,000 a year for child care -- nearly 23% of their incomes. And that's if you're lucky enough to find a spot.
"Our wait list just grows and grows," Refling said. "We have about 70 families on the wait list and every day we get two to four families calling asking for care."
“Getting people back to work is a key goal of our economic recovery efforts and ensuring families have access to quality childcare with early learning is critical to this mission. I am proud to partner with Everett Community College and the Snohomish County Council to keep the Early Learning Center open and accessible,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers.
The number of licensed child care providers in the state of Washington has progressively declined over the past decade, with hundreds fewer people in 2019 than there were in 2013.
Hundreds of thousands of children also are not having their care needs met, according to data from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families.
The county is only funding the center through 2023, however.
After that, the college and county have agreed to "work together to plan for future years."
For now, Carlos is simply grateful the ELC will stay open and his daughter will continue to thrive.
"It's an oasis in a desert of child care," he said. "In my personal opinion the big winners here are the children."