Mary Capetillo has owned All About Kids Learning Center in Edcouch for 20 years.

When the covid pandemic started, her business immediately changed.

“It is so expensive for anything, we try to do everything ourselves,” Capetillo said.

To help pay for the cost, the center applied for federal funding from the Child Care Stabilization Grant Program.

“It made me give my girls a raise, it made me give my girls more hours, it helped me buy more stuff for the kids that we needed – toys equipment,” Capetillo recalled. “A lot of repairs for the daycare, it really helped."

That funding expired on Sunday. About 3.2 million children are expected to be kicked out of daycare due to the end of the program, and more than 70 thousand childcare programs might also come to a close, according to analysis by the Century Foundation.

The federal program was part of the $1.9 trillion dollar American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021.

Capetillo says she doesn't have the money to pay her workers what they were making. She's had to cut their hours as a result.

“Without that extra money coming in, I don't know what we're going to do,” Capetillo said. “It is going to take a toll to pick and choose what employee can you give hours, what can you not… Then worry they are going to quit to find something else."

Daycare owners say they’re getting creative to raise funds.

“We're going to do a trunk and treat, we're going to try to do a fall festival,” Capetillo said. “But it's hard. Everybody is doing it, and then in a small city like this we have 20 daycares."

The lack of funding isn't the only issue daycares are facing.

Alma Salazar of Alma’s Daycare says she lost a lot of clients when more schools opened up pre-k programs and after school programs.

With the rising cost of everyday necessities, and utilities, daycares can't afford the loss.

Now they're trying to find other ways to make up the cost, including combining classes, using personal funds, and rearranging staff.

“Without any government assistance, there won't be a lot of daycares, especially in Edcouch,” Capetillo said. “And a lot of the low income places that are here, without that, we won't survive."

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