LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Childcare is a critical need in Nevada and the costs that come with it could be overwhelming for families scraping by.
However, a lot of the help the government was giving out during the pandemic is ending for thousands of families.
FOX5 went to Living Grace Home, where single moms are trying to get on their feet but also have young kids who need to be cared for.
“Child care is supposed to be geared towards mothers who can’t afford to stay home with their children,” Morgan Hill, a single mom of one said.
Hill who is 24-years-old can’t afford to not work.
“It is definitely difficult especially when you are left with prices of everything increasing,” Hill said.
During the pandemic, Hill stayed at the non-profit housing center with her son and she qualified for child care assistance while she looked for a job.
“With Urban League coverage you would pay $400 a month and without it would add up to $900,” Hill said.
However, now that help is going away because starting Oct. 1 child care assistance programs are going back to pre-pandemic requirements.
During the pandemic a household of four could make up to $76,000 a year to qualify for child care assistance but with the new requirements that same household can’t make more than $39,000.
For a family of two, those numbers would be slashed in half.
“We determined the bulk of the households we are serving are in this lower income range,” said Karissa Machado the Agency Manager of the Child Care and Development Program, under the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.
Machado said the original income bracket during the pandemic was to help essential workers.
“Everything started to close yet you still had essential workers you had your health care workers your emergency medical workers all those workers needed to go to work, some of them had young children,” Machado said.
However, for Hill who is now working she won’t meet the new income bracket but is still struggling to stay afloat.
” If they can’t afford to stay at home then what makes you think they can afford upwards of $1000 in child care, they just can’t it’s not doable,” Hill said.
Hill is not alone, as nearly 14,000 children had their care paid for by the state but now half of them won’t qualify.
If you are already getting assistance there is a slightly higher income bracket you can meet to re-apply which is $47,053 a year.
In total in the last four years, the state has given out $487 million dollars in pandemic relief recovery funding.
For families who need additional resources, parents can access subsidy assistance resources and create an account for more here.
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