FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Nearly a dozen day cares say they haven't received their portion of a federal grant funded through a Fort Valley State University program. One of the day care owners in Peach County explains why she's having to close her doors for now.
Linda Cooper owns First Step Learning Center on Carver Drive in Peach County.
"We love our families, we want our families to be serviced, it's just we need the finances," Cooper said.
It's one of the 11 day cares across Central Georgia partnering with Fort Valley State University.
"They are our grantee, and we have a grant with the Federal Government for Early Head Start Program and this is our fifth year of the grant. It was a five-year grant, this is our fifth year," Cooper said.
Joshua Bowens drops his 15-month-old son off at First Step every morning, but was surprised to find out he'd soon have to find another place for him.
"It's more than just a day care, it's a huge community resource, and to find out on a Friday that the day cares are going to close on a Monday, parents are blindsided," Bowens said.
"We've been open since September 1st and we haven't received funds, and so we had to close down," Cooper said.
Fort Valley State received the $5.9 million grant in 2015 from the Federal Administration For Children and Families that would last through August 2019.
Cedric Mobley with Fort Valley State said they applied for the new five-year grant back in March, but they didn't find out they'd receive the money until August 30th.
Now, they're finishing up the paperwork between the day cares before distributing the money.
The new grant will span over the next five years.
Cooper's day care offers free child care services for 47 children through Fort Valley State's Early Head Start program, and Bowens just hopes it will be up and running again soon.
"Other parents might not have the resources to pay someone to watch their child while they go to work or else they'd just pay somebody else to watch their child," Bowens said.
At least 5 of the 11 day cares are closing because of the funding gap.
Mobley said in a statement that once the agreement papers are processed, the day cares should receive money within two weeks.
"This transparent process is imperative, normal, deliberate, and responsible at the beginning of a grant cycle to ensure that all parties understand what is expected and that the children enrolled are put in the best position to prosper."
UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.:
State representative Patty Bentley will have a conference call scheduled for Wednesday afternoon with the president of Fort Valley State along with other members of the general assembly. The request will be for the university to expedite the contracts to the day care partners.
Bentley says this Friday, funds for several partners will run out and 412 children will be impacted by the delay of the contracts being executed to the partners. If the contracts are not received by Friday, there will be an effort to find new places to continue day care services.
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