Federal dollars helped keep a struggling child care industry afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a new report says the state hasn't invested enough of its money into some of the most pressing issues, such as staffing.

Leading into the pandemic, child care workers and parents were already calling for more investment in the industry.

“We lost almost 50% of our families,” recalled Claudia Wolfgang of Koala-T. “We still had to pay for our taxes, our liabilities and everything else.”

Having realized how critical an industry child care is, the federal government provided financial assistance to operations like Wolfgang’s in Rensselaer County.

“When people say there is money available...but it could be months before we see anything and the grants run out,” she said.

It’s a problem many in child care are experiencing now, a few years removed from the pandemic. They say the Band-Aids of sorts never addressed staffing.

“That funding needs to continue,” said Nikki Johnson of Cedar Street Daycare in Dutchess County. “It needs to not stop.”

A report compiled by The Century Foundation, an independent think tank, shows that starting in 2023, New York state used $500 million in unspent federal pandemic funds to support a Workforce Retention Grant Program and bonuses of up to $3,000 for full-timers who are typically making $30,000-40,000 a year.

“It’s hard to find assistants who want to do this every single day,” Wolfgang said.

The report shows that between 2019 and 2023, the state’s child care employment level fell by 32%. “When you’re lucky enough to find them like I have been, they’re worth their money in gold,” Wolfgang said.

More than 15,000 programs across the state received some federal pandemic money, 37% of which said they would’ve been forced to close without it.

And after providers received what they call a less-than-desired amount of funding from the state, there are concerns about the future of those programs.

“Without a thriving child care sector, the workforce struggles across the state, as do the children,” Johnson said.

According to the state’s Division of Budget, New York has invested billions into the child care industry over the past four years. That funding has helped bring tax credits to providers and helped with training of home-based providers. But providers say more consistent funding is needed.

“Where the state has not stepped up and where there is a huge cliff facing the state is with respect to the child care workforce,” said Dede Hill of Schuyler Center.

Many providers say it won’t just be professionals who suffer without more funding.

Parents will end up paying more for their children’s care which is already on average close to $20,000 a year for one child according to the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.