Four generations of childhood photos and memories line the entrance of Delynn’s Playhouse, a child care center in north Tulsa. It’s where “love never ends” and learning begins for the neighborhood’s families. Now, its operators say subsidy cuts are threatening those decades of service.
Owner Shameka Smittick opened the business five years ago to honor her mother, Cynthia Delynn Jackson, and their family legacy. In the same home where her grandparents ran Jackson’s Daycare, Smittick and four employees care for 43 children day in, day out.
All those families receive state financial support for child care, but some are still unable to afford monthly copayments. It’s a cost Smittick covers herself, unwilling to turn families away. In five years of operation, she’s had weeks, even months, where she’s unable to pay herself.
“This is what God put me on earth to do, you know, I really love what I do,” Smittick said. “But how much more can I take?”
She says the hits keep coming.
Child care subsidies from Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services have rapidly changed following the government shutdown last fall. A pandemic-era $5 daily add-on for day cares will end in April. Come July, fewer families will qualify for financial help. Households will need to earn 55% or less of the state’s median income to be eligible — a drop from 85% or less.
Even though some federal funding has returned to support children aged 6 to 8, most 9- to 12-year-olds still won’t qualify for assistance.
Carrie Snodgrass, a spokeswoman for the state agency, says the agency does not generate revenue independently and relies on state and federal funds. The agency’s goal, she says, is a “more stable, predictable program that families and providers can rely on today and in the years ahead.”
Meanwhile, Smittick and hundreds of other providers in Tulsa are facing hard decisions — charge higher rates or shut the doors. They say it’s a looming crisis. They’re praying for funding to prevent it.
“I don’t even know how we’re staying afloat — by the grace of God,” said Brittany Conley, Smittick’s cousin and an employee at Delynn’s. “Just a little bit of help would go so far in this field, but they want to take, take, take from the people who provide education for children.”
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