McKee, Whitehouse rally for federal funding for families and child care workforce

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Educators say this is a critical time for staffing.

Many positions are going unfilled, some professionals feel underpaid, and one long-time program may be going out of business.

Early childhood educators said Monday morning this isn't a child care issue, but an economic development issue.

They say they're struggling to fill programs with the professionals needed to meet demand.

"Early intervention has had waitlists now for over a year of children waiting to get in to get services and obviously, they're our youngest and most vulnerable and we want to help them," said Casey Ferrara, director of Early Childhood Programs at Meeting Street.

Leaders in early childhood and special education met with Gov. Dan McKee and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse about chronic concerns.

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Organizations like the Northern Rhode Island Collaborative are struggling with rising costs and retaining staff who are paid below the state average.

The NRIC serves students of all ages from a dozen districts, offering programs that address disabilities, vocational opportunities, and a school for children with cochlear implants.

Just last week, the NRIC notified staff that the nonprofit may shut down.

The governor didn’t offer much hope that the collaborative can be saved.

"RIDE will be working there to make sure that the families are provided the services they need if the NRIC does shut down. Right now, the superintendents of every district sending there has said that they're not going to send their kids there. They can have a better way of doing it. Well, they can do it locally, and then they should be doing locally," McKee said.

The layoffs could be rescinded if the Northern Rhode Island Collaborative stays open.

NBC 10 News asked McKee if there was something the state could do to prevent the layoffs.

"There is plenty of room right now for teachers, so I'm not worried about putting those teachers to work," McKee said.

NBC 10 News reached out to NRIC about what this could mean, but did not hear back immediately.