There is a national child care crisis, and programs are looking for ways to help alleviate some of the issues families are facing when trying to secure child care.

Some parents are needing to wait between nine and 12 months to secure a spot on a waiting list. To help solve this problem, programs are turning towards education for refugees and immigrants to add them into the workforce.

“As refugees and immigrants come into our economy, we want them to enter into jobs right way,” said Deborah Young, the co-founder of Pamoja Early Childhood Education. “There are 27,000 teachers that are missing, so this is a great match. We have a huge talent force, and we have a need for them.”

The Pamoja Early Childhood Education workforce program is made up of refugees and immigrants from all over the world to serve as a pipeline for new early childhood educators.

Fatima Jafari, who is from Afghanistan, is in the program.

“For two years, I have studied early childhood education, and I am working as a teacher in the center,” Jafari said. “The program is so important for all the women in my community. They come into the United States, and they need to learn to communicate with the children and how to live in the United States in a new environment. They also need to learn to grow their kids in a new country.”

According to Child care Aware of America research, it shows that nearly 9,000 daycares closed in 37 states between 2019 and 2021. While there are also less day cares, child care center costs increased across the country at an average rate of 41%.

For this reason, Pamoja Early Childhood is utilizing refugees and immigrants by not only giving them the education to start a new life in this country but to help decrease the childcare worker shortage and promote diverse people in the industry.

“We need childcare, and we don’t have enough childcare. We don’t have enough childcare workers, mostly because we do not give professional wages or living wages even,” Young said. “Really investing in our refugees and our immigrants to get higher education, to get the credentials and knowledge and get into the workforce, they’re contributing in one way or another to our society, let’s get them to contribute in ways that creates the whole increase in well-being for everybody in our communities.”

According to the CDC, 94% of childcare workers are female and 40% of those are people of color.

“Right now, almost two years ago, I started the study of the children,” Jafari said. “One of my children is a little bit delayed, but I just want to learn a lot about the behavior and learn about growing the brain for him. Also, I want to help others who have children like me, and I can help them.”

“We want childcare workers to speak the same language and look the same as the child,” Young said. “We want child identity to really be confident in who they are who their family are and what their background and historical context are. And most of the background of teachers and leadership positions look like me.”

The developers of this program believe that bringing in women of color who speak multiple languages can help provide more options for child care to the country and overcome cultural differences while also closing the work shortage gap.

A judge is stepping in after hearing disturbing details about an in-home daycare death on April 10 just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, in Bellevue.

Until further notice, the caregiver, Annie Clark — who is legally named Anne Jordan — cannot own or operate a daycare business. A temporary restraining order against the in-home daycare owner was granted after the Tennessee Department of Human Services filed a complaint.

The complaint detailed how the mother of a three-month-old who died discovered him "cold to the touch" in the caregiver's bed. The document said the mother arrived at the apartment at around 3:10 p.m. local time. She knocked on the door for 10 to 15 minutes and got no response. 

When another parent arrived to pick up their child, the two parents opened the unlocked front door. The mom found her baby not breathing, and CPR was not successful. The complaint said three babies under six months old and three babies between seven and 16 months old were also alone in the apartment.

The complaint also noted that the daycare was operating without a license.

Tennessee requires anyone who is watching five or more unrelated kids for three or more hours a day to be licensed. And there must be one adult for every four babies. 

Several rules were broken in this case. The temporary restraining order now prohibits Clark from obtaining a license to become compliant with the state's rules and permits the state's daycare licensing officials to ensure she doesn't operate an illegal daycare.

The case was scheduled to be heard in court on April 28.

This story was originally published by Scripps News Nashville. 

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NEW YORK (AP) — A new report underscores that kids can bring the new coronavirus home from day care and infect relatives.

The study released Friday comes from researchers in Utah and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It focused on three outbreaks in Salt Lake City child care facilities between April and July. The study concluded 12 children caught the coronavirus at the facilities.

They then spread it to at least 12 of the 46 parents or siblings that they came in contact at home.

Scientists already know children can spread the virus. One infectious diseases researcher says the study “definitively indicates — in a way that previous studies have struggled to do — the potential for transmission to family members,” said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious diseases researcher.

The findings don’t mean that schools and child-care programs need to close, but it does confirm that the virus can spread within those places and then be brought home by kids.

So, masks, disinfection and social distancing are needed. And people who work in such facilities have to be careful and get tested if they think they may be infected, experts said.

SHARONVILLE, Ohio — The gym is not new, but the owners are. Next Level Fitness and Training reopened in Sharonville this year after Michael and T’Denise Myers took over in January.

“There is over a million dollars' worth of brand-new equipment here,” said Michael Myers. “This is a state-of-the-art fitness facility if you're looking for cardio equipment, ellipticals, treadmills. There is resistance equipment, free weights -- anything you can think of.”

The 30,000+ square-foot gym is the largest state of the art fitness facility in Sharonville, and the new owners told WCPO they have big plans for the community.

“Our goal is every time someone crosses the threshold of these doors, or a family does, to provide the most amazing customer service experience,” said Myers. “Better than anyone in the fitness industry.”

Not only does Next Level Fitness offer educational childcare and fun fitness classes, like yoga, Pilates, Zumba and spin, but it also doubles as a non-profit called the Dream Center.

For 20 years, Michael and T’Denise have done community work under the organization, funding programs like the Michael’s Journey Autism program which honors the couple's son and brings awareness about autism.

“We are one of the first non-profit organizations to have two autistic characters, mascot characters named Mikey. We call him the superhero mascot and Majestic, the super princess,” said T’Denise Myers.

Starting in June, the gym will operate 24 hours a day. The couple's vision is to offer programs designed around community empowerment, education and eliminating hunger.

“As the market is opening up when there is not group fitness going on, from a technology standpoint, we teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” He said. “Yes, here in the Next Level Fitness Dream Center.”

As one of the largest Black-owned fitness gyms in the Tri-State, the Myers hope their story inspires.

“Being family-owned, it's an honor and a pleasure, so I take it personally and I just give God all the glory,” she said. “We wouldn’t have been here without him.”

You can learn more about the Dream Center here. To check out the gym and for more information about memberships, click here or call (513) 918-2011.