Low Enrollments an Issue
Bid to Block More Day-Care Closings

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Brooklyn City Councilman Bill de Blasio introduced a resolution Feb. 28 calling on the city to impose a moratorium on closing day-care centers.

The Administration for Children's Services pulled funding from a Brooklyn center on Feb. 23, and community advocates are concerned that 13 other centers with enrollments below capacity will face the same fate.

ACS officials say they have no plans to close the centers because of under-enrollment. If passed, the resolution would not have the power to directly affect ACS's spending decisions.

'Try Recruiting First'

"We are asking for an absolute moratorium on any closures or reductions," said Mr. de Blasio, "until a real effort to recruit children into those open slots has been made."

He said he appreciated that the city had extended its "soft" deadline for funding changes from March 1 until April 1, but that he wanted ACS to fully implement its Community-Based Enrollment program, scheduled for Brooklyn in May, before moving forward. Mr. de Blasio said the program had been effective at saving daycare centers in the Bronx.

But ACS officials say they oppose a moratorium. "The city will not continue to use taxpayer dollars to pay for empty classrooms while there are many children awaiting child care in the city," said Commissioner John Mattingly in a statement.

He said that as of last November, the 13 day-care centers in question had at least 40 vacancies each, for a total of 600 vacant slots.

'Can't Go On Like This'

"ACS realizes it will take time for these programs to increase enrollment, and we will give them time," he said. "But this cannot continue indefinitely. A moratorium sends a message that these programs do not have to have full classrooms, even while many vulnerable children are still waiting for child care."

Taisha Morton, whose three-year-old daughter Ashley attends Roundtable Child Care Center in Bushwick, said it would be difficult for her to find another day-care provider because most of the other centers near her are full.

"I am concerned about the impact on my child and the employees," she said. "They have been the nurturing factor in my child's life, and I am concerned about what will happen to them."

Roundtable has been operating in Bushwick for about 30 years. Most of the 19 staff members at Irving Place, which ACS stopped funding Feb. 23, lost their jobs.

Council Members said that the 13 targeted day-care centers operate in neighborhoods with significant numbers of low-income parents and substantial need for child-care services.

"There are thousands of parents who are in need," said Councilwoman Letitia James. "At a time when we're looking at a major [budget] surplus, I don't understand why they are closing day-care centers."