YWCA Rock County temporarily closes two child care sites

Oct. 6—JANESVILLE — Due to staffing issues, YWCA Rock County will temporarily close its before- and after-school child care program sites at Lincoln and Madison elementary schools starting Monday, Oct. 11.

The organization will need to fill positions for a child care site supervisor/group leader and a child care assistant before the sites can reopen.

YWCA Executive Director Angela Moore said the organization tried to avoid closing the child care sites.

"We recruited before we made the very difficult decision to temporarily close until we can hire staff at the appropriate level," Moore said. "'Temporary' is the key word here."

Moore said the child care program director has talked with parents needing new child care providers in the meantime.

The Gazette reported in early September about staffing shortages causing other Janesville area child care center to close. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made recruitment and retention of day care staff increasingly difficult. The situation has sent parents scrambling to find day care for their children as coronavirus infections surge.

"We hope it's very short lived," Moore said of the YWCA's closed child care sites. "Staffing issues are all over the country and our counties right now. We're not alone, unfortunately. Everybody is going through staffing challenges, and unfortunately we didn't escape it."

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