WEST LEBANON — Vermont Law student Blythe Faris drops her son off at a daycare he loves, within walking distance from their home, but it was a difficult road to get here.
And some parents simply never find a place for their babies.
“It’s definitely stressful and frustrating to feel like a region with so many families and young kids is not sufficiently taking care of those families,” said Tori Hoen of Norwich, a single mother by choice.
An Upper Valley childcare survey sent out to major employers this spring found that 63% of people took over three months to find a childcare provider, with an additional 18% who are still looking or have given up, according to data from the Grafton Regional Development Corporation’s Upper Valley Childcare Partnership.
“It just became so clear to us that the childcare sector is incredibly important to economic development,” programs director Michelle Beaudin said Friday by phone.
Additionally, 82% of parents who responded had to take time off due to childcare challenges, primarily sparked by incompatible hours or inconsistencies at daycare, the survey found.
Faris’ now 3-year-old son, Thomas, is enrolled at Magic Mountain Children’s Center in South Royalton. While Faris and her husband did a nanny share during his infant days, she knew that option wasn’t sustainable.
“We knew we couldn’t afford it when we moved to Vermont,” said Faris.
Before moving here, Faris joined a wait list for Magic Mountain. Despite being told several months before the move that a spot in the infant room wouldn’t be a problem, things changed when her family arrived.
Faris called around for other options, but she was limited to a short radius.
“There was no way I could do law school and drive more than 30 minutes one way for daycare,” said Faris.
Her family ended up going with an in-home unlicensed daycare for the first few months. In fall of 2024, a spot at Magic Mountain opened up. She brings Thomas there from about 8:15 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and many other law students do the same.
With South Royalton being a more transient community, Faris wishes there was more transparency in the search process, as it can be isolating and confusing for new parents, she said. Particularly, she feels it’s hard to know how the providers operate and the timeline for getting in.
“There are a lot of people coming with absolutely no village,” said Faris, who added that the state of limbo awaiting enrollment can feel overwhelming.
For providers like the Children’s Center in Lebanon, the staff-to-child ratio for babies, which is 1-to-4, is a major part of the problem, said Executive Director Jennifer Hosmer.
“Imagine yourself trying to take care of four babies and all of their needs,” said Hosmer.
There’s also a maximum of 12 infants– babies under one year old– allowed in a single classroom, even if the square footage can accommodate more.
The Children’s Center accepts babies who have reached the six-week mark. Families often tour and apply as soon as they find out they’re pregnant. But that doesn’t guarantee a spot in time.
“Once they go on a wait list, it typically takes a really long time for them to come off,” said Hosmer.
While the wait time varies, with new children accepted on a rolling basis, the infant list takes longer to come off because there are fewer spots. The Center typically makes a call to enroll a new child every three to six months.
With fewer children but more resources needed to care for them than older kids, costs are high. Tuition from the preschool age groups helps cover the cost of infant care.
“Even then, we still run at a loss,” said Hosmer.
Tuition is determined on a sliding fee scale based on income. For an infant going to 5 days of daycare, if a family makes over $125,000, it’s just over $400 per week, said Hosmer.
This problem doesn’t just impact families, she said, as it can hurt the economy.
“Businesses struggle because they can’t find employees,” said Hosmer. “Well, the employees can’t find childcare.”
To Hosmer, it’s essential to get more childcare workers in the field, while ensuring wages are livable. She worries there is no time to wait for state funding.
“There are a lot of centers that are on the verge of closing,” said Hosmer. “Then what?”
The Family Place, which offers early childhood education and parent support services in Norwich, has the space for eight infants at a time. Even with more funding to support their care, an expansion of the building would be necessary, said Stephanie Slayton, its executive director.
There are about 20 people on the infant list, with a new application every two weeks. For many families, unpaid leave or informal care is the only option as they await an opening, said Slayton.
“It’s challenging to think a year in advance about where your child will go and what type of care is going to be best for your family,” said Slayton.
Some parents withstand a long commute to get to the Family Place, especially those in rural areas. State subsidy helps cover the cost of care in many situations, but Slayton hopes that they can access more funding faster to support staff and bring on more qualified teachers.
The Grafton Regional Development Corporation is creating a fund built by donations from employers in the area to help provide financial resources so that established providers can expand care to more children.
“We’re looking for 2,000 spots. We’d probably be able to add 1,000 to 1,500 with just being able to staff up current locations,” said Beaudin.
While community organizations and providers are working to welcome more people, it still doesn’t make sense for every family due to barriers aside from the wait.
Nate Howell and his wife live in Woodstock, Vt. with their two children, 2.5-year-old Bryson and 2-month-old Sophia, both of whom have never been enrolled in childcare. When Bryson was born, they realized that many parents start searching before their due date.
“That was news to us, so we were kind of behind,” said Howell.
Regardless, the cost was too high, and the schedule wasn’t ideal. The Howells are nurses at the VA medical center who work 12-hour shifts. They would need to drop their son off before 7 a.m. and pick him up after 8 p.m.
With no facilities to accommodate that schedule, they opted to work split shifts so someone is always home, Howell said.
When Sophia was born, the couple reconsidered daycare. But the monthly cost was around $2,200, and there was no separate pricing for only a few days a week. They would also need to pay someone to care for them in the off hours.
“And we had become accustomed to it,” Howell said of the split shift.
Most of Howell’s friends change their schedule to accommodate their children too. If the hours were more flexible, daycare would have been ideal, they said, because they want their children to socialize more, especially before primary school.
“I think we’ve pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that this is what we’re going to do until then,” said Howell.
Novelist Tory Hoen moved to Norwich with her daughter, who was 14 months old at the time. Hoen recalls not hearing back from most daycares. The one place her family was accepted turned out to be a bad fit.
“It seemed like there was a lot of turnover with the staff and I just didn’t feel comfortable having that be sort of her first day care experience,” said Hoen.
Their current provider in White River Junction runs September through June, and only has morning availability for her daughter. As a result, Hoen cares for her almost all other times, and has given up trying to find a daycare with more availability.
“It’s been a puzzle of trying to fit together different pieces that I could afford that made sense for our schedule and where I felt like my daughter would be comfortable and happy,” said Hoen.
Hoen is working on a third novel, but at a slower pace than she would like to. Her work schedule is limited to the time her daughter is in school. With a career that depends on creative output, limited time and focus can make progress difficult.
“I can’t do it all myself,” said Hoen. “I have to lean on other sources of childcare, and I just expected it to be easier to find that.”
