MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — Wisconsin’s Bridge Payments program for childcare providers expires this week, and Wisconsin Early Childhood Association Executive Director Ruth Schmidt says that’s going to make finding care for pre-K kids much more difficult.
“If you look at the availability of childcare in Wisconsin, it already is woefully below what it needs to be,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt says the lack of early childhood educators will be exacerbated by the loss of the program established when the earlier Child Care Counts pandemic-era stabilization program was set to expire. She argues that state lawmakers should provide a stable source of permanent funding.