SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)—Nine-month-old Zaccheus is one of the younger students at It Takes A Village Childcare Center on Syracuse’s Westside. For staff who care for him every day, Zaccheus is more than just a child in their classroom — they feel more like an extension of family than just part of a job.
“I had a mom say yesterday she’s planning her son’s first birthday, and she didn’t know if those from the daycare would come, and I said, ‘Absolutely, we are his family,’” said Tanika Jones, owner and director at It Takes A Village Childcare Center. “We are who he’s known for the last 10 months of his life.”
But for kids like Zaccheus, the new challenge isn’t just finding a center to care for their kids; it’s that many parents are on waitlists to help pay for childcare, whereas at It Takes A Village Childcare Center, the rates are $390 per week per child…