EVERETT, Wash. — This week, parents at Everett's Way to Grow Early Learning Center were given 17 days to find new childcare, in a market where waitlists are often 12 months long.
On Friday, August McKenna walked his son Jack into the daycare for what could be one of the last times. It's a brutal lesson families are being forced to learn.
"There is no way you can look at this and say that it's good," McKenna said. "Every way you look it's ugly and it sucks."
The early learning center is closing July 29, leaving 60 children and their families in a nearly impossible situation.
"I can't work a full-time job and take care of him at home," said McKenna. "I can't just throw a 2-year-old in front of the TV for eight hours a day."
Since 2017, the population of Washington state has increased by more than 400,000 people. Childcare capacity has only increased by 3,000 spaces. Overall, childcare providers in Washington have decreased by 20%, according to Child Care Aware of Washington.
Snohomish County officials say they lost 25% of childcare workers over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every childcare worker who leaves equates to up to six parents who can't go to work.
As pandemic moratoriums have ended and inflation has hit, landlords are now raising rents to make up for lost time and money.
At Way to Grow, the issue appears to be a lease renewal with the property owner, as announced in a letter sent to parents by the business' general manager, Bing Huang.
Given 17 days notice before closing, McKenna believes there should be a mandatory minimum notice for families losing daycare.
"I'd love to see regulations where you have to give parents three months before you pull the plug on a service they rely on," he said.
Snohomish County Deputy Director of the Office of Recovery and Resilience, Chrissy Grover-Roybal told KING 5 that is currently not under consideration. She did, however, say the county is working to add capacity by turning mom and pop daycares into bigger businesses.
"We want to give you the support, the financial incentives, the infrastructure and capital to open up your own small business, become a licensed childcare provider so you're not just watching two kids, you're watching six, so you're helping create those slots," Grover-Roybal said.
Right now, those slots are hard to come by.
"The calls we've been making right now, they're saying we don't know if we have space, and it will take up to three months to even let you know if we have space," said McKenna.
On Friday, the chant "save our school" rang out from the Way to Grow playground.
McKenna couldn't help but think it's his son, Jack, and all the other kids are the ones who are paying the price.
"At the end of the month I have to tell him the people you see and love everyday, you don't get to see them anymore. How do you explain that to a two year old? I don't think you can."