The HRA Lake Avenue Early Learning Center in Bristol celebrated a renovation and expansion on Tuesday. The federal grant-funded renovation began in August 2020 and allowed the facility to expand Head Start slots by 18. The facility now also offers an Early Head Start program.
"We were able to expand slots for the preschool-age children in the facility and we were able to expand slots for our 0-3, which are the infants and toddlers. That's the critical need," said Dr. Marlo Greponne, executive director of HRA of New Britain.
Greponne said that through the Bristol Head Start program, they are able to provide these essential services to income-eligible infants and toddlers at no cost to families.
The Lake Avenue building has a total of four classrooms, with a capacity for up to 52 children, according to a news release. However, despite a growing wait list, not all of the classrooms are operational right now. HRA is struggling to hire enough qualified workers to staff the classrooms.
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“The early care crisis has two prongs. On one side of that crisis the parents desperately need the care," said Greponne. "On the other side of that crisis, we are in need of staff.”
In a study done this November, the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance found more than 4,000 openings across the 205 childcare centers included in the survey.
“Fundamentally, the problem is there’s not enough money in the system because we expect parents who don’t have much money to be the ones paying for it,” Merrill Gay, executive director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, said.
Local
On Monday in Hartford, state leaders announced a new apprenticeship program to help combat the work shortage within the childcare field.
