Some daycares across Middle Georgia extending ‘EXPAND’ program allowing for flexible business hours

A handful of daycares across Middle Georgia are set to continue their extended hours for at least three more months, allowing parents with non-traditional work schedules to pick up their children as late as midnight. 

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A handful of daycares across Middle Georgia are set to continue their extended hours for at least three more months, allowing parents with non-traditional work schedules to pick up their children as late as midnight. 

This initiative, which began a year ago, has proven to be successful for working families who need the flexibility.  The extension of these hours was made possible by the EXPAND grant from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), which has been extended for an additional six months and is set to conclude in June of this year. This funding has allowed daycares to operate during late hours and overnight hours.

Joy Moten-Thomas, the local government affairs director at Atrium Health Navicent, says this initiative has helped parents get back into the workforce.

“We have been able to possibly put back 60 working families in the workforce that are covering either of those evening shifts in Bibb or Baldwin,” she said. “And the number of children that represents is about 80 children.”

Moten-Thomas raised concerns regarding the sustainability of the program once the DECAL funding ends. The primary worry among daycare owners is whether they will be able to offer these services without financial support.  

“The need for supporting extended childcare is very, very important, not only to the Middle Georgia community, but probably statewide,” she said.

Moten-Thomas says one of the primary hurdles in the beginning stages of this initiative was securing willing daycares to participate.

“It was really a lot of cold calling and grassroots reaching out to get centers to consider extending their hours,” she said. “Most of the centers open at 6 a.m. and they close at 6 p.m., so being able to recruit centers that were willing to extend their hours by at least six more hours and or open on the weekend was the biggest obstacle.”

Four daycares in Macon and Milledgeville are still participating in the program. 

Macon locations:

• Little Disciples Daycare
• Care-A-Lot Learning Center  

Milledgeville locations:

• Robin’s Nest Playschool
• Miller Plaza Learning Center