CANTON — Dozens of Canton parents are living in a part of town with no access to daycare. To bridge the gap and help provide jobs to low-income families, the city is helping moms run their own out of their homes by partnering with the Early Childhood Resource Center (ECRC).
Executive Director of the ECRC, Scott Hasselman, said the Southeast side of Canton is a "childcare dessert".
"People find childcare that’s either close to home or close to work, so if there is no child care close to home now, think about that and how it adds to your daily drive," he said.
Canton gave $40,000 to the ECRC in grant money to help fund the in-home daycare project. That money will help train dozens of women to run their own in-home daycares.
Hasselman said these women must go through 120 hours of class time and nearly 500 hours of in-person training to gain national accreditation.
"We look at their home. We look at the other people that may be in their home. They also have to pass a background check," he said.
Once up and running, and fully licensed, women can have up to six children in their homes at a time, at the hours they choose.
The first round of the project is expected to help about 200 children.
If you want to get involved, contact your local ECRC to get started.
