The Boys and Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska announced Tuesday that it will abruptly close two Anchorage child care programs in two weeks, laying off all of the staff and sending dozens of families scrambling to find alternative care.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska president Susan Anderson said the decision to close the programs comes after a series of financial woes, ranging from delayed government reimbursements and changes in funding streams to rising costs and a decline in donations.
“The pressures have been accumulating over multiple years,” Anderson said in an interview Wednesday. “And it resulted in a financial gap that we can't, you know, we can't close under the current model.”
The organization will shut down its afterschool program at Turnagain Elementary and the Woodland Park child development center on Dec. 24, and lay off 136 program staff two days later.
Anderson said over 100 children will be impacted by the closures.
“We have about 80 children in the Child Care Development Center, and about 30 in Turnagain Elementary,” she said.
Despite its name, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska actually operated club programs around the state, from Southwest towns like Sand Point to northern communities like Kotzebue to Southeast villages like Klawock and Saxman.
In October, the organization had already paused its clubhouse and athletic programs across the state while it attempted to fill its financial gap, but Anderson said the pause is now permanent.
Anderson said the decision to close the programs wasn’t an easy one for the board, and she understands the impact this will have on families.
“It's an incredible loss, and it's an incredibly difficult thing,” Anderson said. “That is one of the challenges about child care, is you cannot charge families and caregivers the actual cost of what it costs to run child care.”
It’s a blow to the child care sector. Anchorage already faced a longstanding child care crisis, with rising costs, long waitlists and the loss of a quarter of providers in recent years, according to child care advocates.
“The announcement is very sad,” said Trevor Storrs, president and CEO of the advocacy group Alaska Children’s Trust. “It was only a few months ago that another child care center closed here in Anchorage, and others are feeling this pressure.”
For parents currently using the two soon-to-be shuttered programs, staff directed them to thread, Alaska’s primary child care referral organization. Thread CEO Stephanie Berglund said she expects dozens of families will be in need of care.
“I think the program has been licensed to serve up to 150 children,” Berglund said. “I'm not sure if that's what their current enrollment is. But it is losing a lot of quality licensed spaces in our community for working families that need it.”
Berglund said families should reach out to thread as soon as they can to find replacement care, since programs, especially for infant care, are in high demand.
“We know that it's a challenge for families to find the care that works for them right now, especially with kind of their top choice in mind,” Berglund said. “But we know that there are some spots available. We know that there's not a lot, but there are some spaces available in our community.”
Berglund added that thread is also available to support child care staff who will soon lose their jobs.
“We encourage them to also visit thread’s website,” Berglund said. “We post job opportunities in the field, and can also talk with them if they're interested in starting their own business of caring.”
Storrs, with Alaska Children’s Trust, said the closures spotlight how critical child care is for many people in Anchorage. The city recently began distributing marijuana taxes to specifically fund child care initiatives, but Storrs said the $5 million it generates annually isn’t enough.
“It's really just a small pour in a very large bucket,” Storrs said. “Hence why we're also equally happy to see the conversation about, if the city does a tax, how that money could be put towards one of the most essential services that families need in our economy, which is child care.”
Anderson said she hopes that the child care sector receives attention at the state level as well.
“We really need to look at those suggestions that came out of the statewide commission, because that had, you know, amazing professionals who work in child care, and they had some really good suggestions,” Anderson said. “And some of them have been implemented. So there has been some progress, but it's just not fast enough or enough at this moment.”
Moving forward, Anderson said the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska will operate at a reduced capacity, with the board and a small administrative staff.
“The board has had to make a very painful decision now to try and preserve a foundation on which, you know, we can build a stronger model in the future,” Anderson said.
She said she’s grateful to all of the staff and families who helped make the organization a safe place for people to leave their children for more than 60 years.
