AUSTIN, Texas — A new child care center in southeast Austin is easing the burden for families affected by the city’s ongoing child care crisis.
The facility, called Amazing Explorers Academy, recently opened in the Goodnight Ranch neighborhood — an area designated as a “child care desert” by the nonprofit group Children at Risk. The organization defines a child care desert as a ZIP code where the number of children under age 6 with working parents is at least three times greater than the amount of licensed child care slots.
For years, families in the area have faced long waitlists, high costs and lengthy commutes in search of reliable child care…