FRONT ROYAL -- Many area day care centers are feeling the financial pinch as families look to reduce or eliminate child care expenses from already stretched-thin household budgets.
In 2008, the average cost for child care ranged from $10,720 a year for part-time, after-school care to $15,895 for full-time infant care, according to a report released by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
Dawna Wilson, principal of Heritage Child Development Center in Berryville, said the center is seeing more families with one or both parents having wages reduced, hours cut or being laid off as a result of the uncertain economy. The sudden loss of income can make monthly child care costs difficult, or in some case, impossible.
"We have a lot of, 'Mom has lost her job and is now at home' or 'Dad is taking care of the kids,'" Wilson said.
The nonprofit center provides infant and preschool care, and costs $326 twice a month for a preschool-age child. The center's counterpart, the Heritage Club House, caters to school-age children.
Wilson said enrollment is down from the normal average of 80 to 43 children, and many regular attendees are not returning for the center's popular summer program.
"I have been in day care for almost 20 years and I have seen it go down some, but nothing like this," Wilson said.
The after-school and summer programs have been hit hardest, Wilson said, most likely because parents begin to feel more comfortable with private options -- such as staying with a neighbor or family member -- when a child reaches school age.
Marguerite Glogau, director of the Apple Club Tree House in Winchester, said the facility normally averages an enrollment of approximately 50 children, but is now just holding steady around 38-40.
Glogau encourages parents to let the child care center know of any financial difficulties. The local Department of Social Services offers aid to qualifying families for child care expenses, and some centers work out alternative programs and payment plans, allowing a child to attend part time at a lower rate and still maintain enrollment status.
"We try to be flexible to keep them in -- to keep them going," Glogau said.
Mary Robinson, director of Warren County School Age Care, said registration has dipped significantly, but the nonprofit day-care center has not been forced to increase tuition because it is housed in some of the local elementary schools, leveling overhead costs.
Warren County School Age Care offers a sliding-scale fee, charging $150 per month for the morning program and $210 per month for the after-school program, with a discounted price of $265 per month for enrollment in both.
The program also offers a part-time enrollment option, with a child attending two to three days a week at a cost of $170 per month. Robinson said the center has recently provided a per-day rate to unemployed parents who need to attend a job interview.