Groton ― Debbi Poirier, director of the Thames Valley Council for Community Action’s Little Learners Early Education Program, described a crisis the program is facing during a rally Wednesday outside the agency’s childcare center.

The state hasn’t increased its reimbursement rate for childcare programs. Staff are grappling with inflation, but the center can’t raise fees from parents because they’re based on a sliding scale determined by income.

“We have positions open for 12 months. There is not a qualified workforce, mainly due to the salaries,” Poirier said. She said teachers make between $16 and $24 an hour, and TVCCA is looking for teachers with degrees in early childhood education, but local colleges don’t have the graduates.

Poirier said enrollment and workforce are both down about 20% since before the pandemic, considering programs can’t enroll children because they don’t have the staff to meet mandated teacher-to-child ratios.

“If we are going to have economic recovery and development we must invest in child care,” said TVCCA Executive Director Deb Monahan.

“Without child care, many parents will have to leave their job. This impacts a family's ability to stay out of poverty,” Poirier said, which will increase the unemployment rate and state welfare rolls. She also said children who don’t receive quality early education are at higher risk of needing intervention services later.

Lack of funding isn’t just a crisis for TVCCA, but for childcare centers across Connecticut. Advocates held “Morning Without Childcare” rallies around the state on Wednesday, and legislators joined TVCCA staff outside the nonprofit’s childcare center in Groton. Rallies also took place around the state the same time last year.

TVCCA’s location on Central Avenue in Groton houses Little Learners, a state-funded program for children birth through age 5, and Head Start, a federally funded program for kids ages 3 to 5.

Jodi Walker has been teaching there for five years but said she “truly wouldn’t be able to do it if I didn’t have the support of my husband.” She said other teachers have two jobs, and staff turnover is an issue.

“They don’t stay because they can’t afford it,” she said. Walker added that co-workers have to balance: “I love my job, but can I stay at the rate of pay I’m getting?”

Parent Alicia Wessel spoke at the rally; her 4-year-old daughter has been attending TVCCA’s Head Start program for two years. Wessel said she got out of a bad situation a few years ago and was unemployed, but got a business degree from Three Rivers Community College and is starting a new job Friday.

Wessel said she wouldn’t have been able to get back to work if not for Head Start.

“The current system is broken and we are in the midst of a childcare crisis without significant changes to the way programs are funded,” Poirier said. She noted there’s a bill in the legislature that would require providers to implement the compensation schedule the commissioner for the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood proposed, House Bill 6759, but she questioned how the programs will fund salary increases.

Three state legislators attended the rally in Groton: Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton; Rep. Aundre Bumgardner, D-Groton; and Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London.

Conley said centers need to be funded better, there needs to be more centers, and state bonding for improvements. Asked about Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed budget, she said she thinks there’s a lot of room to add more for childcare and workforce development.

Nolan said he thinks childcare is one of the priorities as the legislators makes changes to the governor’s proposed budget.

Bumgardner added that outside of the appropriations process for the budget, other legislative committees have advocated for building projects and talked about barriers to hiring, such as licensing requirements.