Just before the pandemic, anywhere from 20 to 25 in-home daycares were operating in Routt County. Some caregivers watched a few babies, while others ran businesses caring for a dozen kids. Then, those home-based centers started closing.
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Meg Franges, the executive director of First Impressions, the county’s early childhood council, experienced this first-hand after giving birth in 2020.
“That was kind of the start of the family child care curse,” Franges said.
Franges’ child was in a total of five family child care homes as a baby and a toddler.
“Every single one of those shut down,” Franges said. “We always loved where she was at, but it became this sort of pattern.”
While the number of in-home daycares has declined statewide, the drop in Routt County has been pronounced: now, only four of these licensed care centers remain.
Meanwhile, the need for care remains significant across the state and in the Steamboat Springs area. According to a 2022 needs assessment, 97% of families with infants and 99% of families with toddlers said they struggle to find care. Report authors called the situation “a childcare crisis in Routt County.”
“When that entire age group of infants and toddlers don't have care, those families have to make hard decisions to stay in the valley or leave where they can access care and work,” Franges said.
Franges blames the closure of in-home options on skyrocketing home values. New home buyers, she says, generally aren’t in the childcare business.
Read more about the efforts one community is making to create more child care opportunities.
