Parents scramble to find child care after Cedar Rapids facility closes

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Sixty different families in Iowa remained in search of child care services after a facility in Cedar Rapids announced it was closed due to COVID-19 and staffing issues .

Kids Inc.’s Cedar Rapids site, which serves 100 children, informed parents of the closure on Wednesday, saying the facility would close on Friday. However, parents received a message on Thursday morning saying it would no longer reopen due to understaffing.

Parents are asked to return on Saturday morning to collect personal effects left at the center.

The sudden shutdown means Chris Becker, who is an electrician, is at home looking after his 1-year-old daughter, Charlotte. Becker said he appreciated the extra time. But, he is on the waiting list of several daycares.

“I know I was first for a spot in a few places,” Becker said. “But most say until someone pulls out or gives up, we’re a little bit stuck.”

He said he wanted the facility to give him a few days notice before his daughter’s daycare closed.

“We just took a family vacation less than a month ago,” Becker said. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have burnt five vacation days by then.”

Kids Inc.’s Marion location said there was space left for about 10 children and it was reserving those spaces for people at its Cedar Rapids location. Becky McNeal, owner of the daycares, said in an email that she informed parents as soon as she could.

“I informed parents in a timely manner as soon as my administrator informed me that there would not be enough staff to work during their shift,” she wrote.

McNeal said in an email that she did not have enough staff to safely supervise children under Department of Social Services regulations. A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services told us that the child care provider’s license for his Cedar Rapids location expires on Sunday and he has chosen not to renew his license.

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