Seminole County

Seminole County parents struggle to find open, affordable child care programs

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Working parents know the struggle.

Watch: Child psychologist reminds parents to focus on kids’ mental health with return to school

Finding a place for your child to go after school can be tough; and lately, it’s been an even harder task.

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Yvette Hartsfield is the director of Kidzone and Beyond, which provides before and after care for Seminole County Public Schools.

Photos: Seminole County parents struggle to find open, affordable child care programs

It’s a program parents rely on when they must get to work early or get off late.

Kidzone and Beyond serves 37 elementary schools, and they are all full.

Watch: Central Florida schools work to fill pandemic learning gap

Officials said each school has about a 30-kid waitlist.

Hartsfield blames a couple of factors. One is price. At $57 per week, you can’t beat the price. Most after-school programs charge more than $100 weekly.

Also, a lot of programs have shut down because of the pandemic. Now that parents are being called back to the office after working remotely for months, they need help.

“They’re coming back to school saying, ‘OK, we need child care,’ and what we’ve been trying to do is accommodate as many as we can,” Hartsfield said.

Watch: Mental health problems to plague schools again, counselor says

Channel 9 found out Kidzone and Beyond is currently at capacity with more than 2,300 students enrolled.

This is less than the more than 4,000 it accommodated before COVID-19, but a massive challenge nonetheless because it doesn’t have the manpower.

See more in the video above.

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Q Mccray

Q McCray, WFTV.com

Q McCray is an award-winning general assignment reporter.