Prince George’s Offers $2M to Day Care Centers as Many Struggle Amid Pandemic

Almost half of the licensed day care providers in Prince George’s County were forced to close their doors since the pandemic began.

Now, as a child care crisis looms, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks is offering $2 million in grant money for day cares.

“It is our hope that these funds will help these facilities to open, remain open and provide safe and reliable child care for all of our families,” Alsobrooks said at a press conference.

The county executive’s office says the county had 1,100 facilities before the pandemic began. That number has dwindled down to 635.

Dana Miller of Little Smiling Faces told NBC Washington that she had to close one of her locations and is operating the other at limited capacity.

“It’s very stressful at this point but we’re just trying to be here for our community because we want to be here and we know that there is a need,” Miller.

A GoFundMe page for the day care has raised more than $10,000 for the facility.

“We want to be here. We know that there is a need,” Miller said.

As part of Maryland Matters’ content sharing agreement with WTOP, we feature this article from Valerie Bonk. Click here for the WTOP News website.

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