LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At Kiddie College of Louisville, children spend their days learning skills they’ll need in kindergarten.
Federal child care funding has been paused nationwide after fraud allegations tied to day care centers in Minnesota. Louisville providers said even a temporary pause could disrupt care and affect employee pay. U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said 34,000 Kentucky children rely on the funding.
Kiddie College of Louisville said it plans to stay open, but families and other centers remain in limbo as the federal government offers no timeline for funds to resume. Vermillion Shelton, owner and director, said the mission has never been more important as students work to catch up from pandemic learning gaps.
“I saw the need, especially in the West End,” Shelton said. “I saw the scores. Those scores are low right now due to COVID. What we’re trying to do is bring the kids up so that when they go to kindergarten, they will be kindergarten-ready.”
Kiddie College has been serving low-income families in west Louisville since 2013. Shelton said federal support helps cover meals, child care assistance, and employee salaries, making the center especially vulnerable to funding pauses.
“All of my children receive assistance, so it would impact my center 100%,” Shelton said. “If it is frozen, I have to get ready because, again, I have employees that need to be paid. I have children that wake up, run into the day care excited to be here, ready to learn.”
Vermillion Shelton, owner and director of Kiddie College of Louisville. (Spectrum News 1/Destinee Flowers)
The Trump administration announced it is freezing federal child care funding nationwide following claims by a YouTuber who said they uncovered fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali immigrants. The federal government now requires states to provide verification before federal child care dollars are released.
There have been no fraud allegations in Kentucky, but U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey said the nationwide freeze still has local consequences.
“Thirty-four thousand kids in Kentucky are able to have child care because of this federal funding,” McGarvey said.
McGarvey said pausing funding in all 50 states over alleged fraud in one state is unfair to Kentucky families.
“The problem is, the president has stopped funding to all 50 states because of something they allege is happening thousands of miles away from here,” McGarvey said. “This has nothing to do with Kentucky. What are people going to do?”
“Child care is already too expensive. It’s already too hard to find. And when he paused this funding, parents are put in a really tough position. Do they send their kids someplace that isn’t safe or do they not go to work?”
McGarvey said he’s urging the administration to release funds as quickly as possible.
“This is really tough,” he said. “We’re going to continue fighting. We need to fight to make sure that this funding stays and that there’s even more child care in Kentucky than there is now.”
“I can’t believe that children that need this help is going to stop because of one state,” Shelton said. “It’s going to be like a domino effect.”
Despite the uncertainty, Shelton said closing her doors isn’t an option.
“We just got to buckle up, use our resources and just know that sooner or later, this will get resolved,” Shelton said.
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