Local families who have been left without a child care service since the recent closure of Milestones early learning centre in Cooma have been provided an update by the company, Affinity Education Group, on the progress of the potential new ownership of the centre.
"Affinity had reached agreement with another childcare operator to take over the running of the centre so that services could continue. The operator already manages another centre in Cooma, and we had hoped this would allow for a smooth transition," Affinity Education Group's, Jade Seabury, said.
"Late last Friday, however, we were advised by the landlord’s legal representative that they had decided not to approve this transfer, citing concerns about the operator’s experience. Under the lease arrangement, the landlord’s approval is required, and they are within their rights to make this decision.
"As a result, Affinity has now reached agreement with the landlord to terminate our lease, and we understand they intend to begin their own search for a new provider."
Ms Seabury added this news was disappointing, and "not the outcome we had been working so hard to achieve".
"Be assured that we remain committed to supporting families and educators through this transition," she said, "and we will continue to work constructively with the landlord and any future operator to help secure continuity of care for the community."
Ms Seabury said Affinity Education Group will continue to share updates with parents as soon as more information becomes available.
Before these latest developments were announced this masthead contacted Affinity Education Group to seek further clarification on the closure as many impacted parents were left feeling abandoned and unsatisfied with the action by the company.
"The closure has impacted the whole community," a concerned parent said last week.
"The other centres available are now at capacity and there are no other options available for the families. Additionally there were staff that also had their own children there and are now unable to find suitable work as they also have to provide care for their children.
"My husband and I both work full-time and are trying to juggle working and finding care for both of our children between family and friends. This is now an ongoing stress and with the cost of living issues, reducing our work is not really a feasible option.
"I have always had concerns with the upper management of Affinity Learning and believe they could have done a lot more earlier to avoid this devastating outcome.
"We observed staff working full day shifts and for a long day care operation, I would estimate they were working up to 11 hours a day. This resulted in staff burn out, amazing educators leaving and several incidents impacting the children’s safety. It was very rare that the senior level management attended the centre to provide additional support."
The parent said at one point the operator did arrange for staff to support Cooma Milestones from their other centres.
"However they didn’t advise the families and our children struggled with multiple unfamiliar faces and frequent change.
"During the initial notifications of the reduced hours and closure the families and educators were given only a few weeks notice to make alternative arrangements. "Additionally I believe they re-located some staff and then subsequently closed not long after. The notifications we received were very vague, financially focused and I can only assume the staff were having a similar experience to the families.
"Ultimately our children’s early childhood education and social aspects have been impacted by this closure with little to no support from Affinity Learning.
"We are, though, very grateful for the support and efforts of the educators over the last few years to provide care for our children."
Cooma parent and early-childhood educator, Arielle Savill, had two children enrolled full-time at Milestones Cooma, and was also a staff member who was made redundant.
The closure has precipitated an instant child care crisis for families with the lack of services available, she said.
"Parents have been forced to cut work or quit. Without care, parents - including me - are reducing hours, taking unpaid leave, or considering leaving jobs altogether. This is a big hit to household income and local businesses that rely on us.
"For me, as an educator and a parent, I’ve lost my position and my children’s care at the same time. It has financially and emotionally impacted us.
"There simply aren’t enough places in Cooma to absorb all these kids," she said.
"We need urgent, co-ordinated action to open extra places and support local services to take these families now.
"The sector needs a centralised placement register, short-term funding to expand ratios within safe limits, incentives to attract qualified educators locally, and clear, timely communication to families," she said.
There are reports of some families resorting to desperate measures to care for their children, such as a father using his paternity leave to look after their baby two days a week, so his wife can keep her job. The couple is also paying a nanny for the one day they're unable to care for the baby themselves, at a cost of $30 an hour.
Another parent has been able to enrol her child in a Jindabyne daycare centre and is driving there and then back to Cooma to work for the day, returning to Jindabyne after work to collect her child, which takes more than three hours out of her day, especially with the winter ski traffic.
Affinity Education Group has responded stating despite their best efforts, the difficult decision was made to close Milestones Early Learning Cooma, effective 1 August.
"This is not a decision that has been taken lightly or made quickly, however, is a result of sustained staffing shortages that have made it not viable to continue to operate the centre safely and consistently.
"Over the past year, we’ve invested heavily in keeping the centre open. This has included flying in staff from Sydney at our expense, covering accommodation, offering paid visa sponsorships of up to $12,000 to support long-term re-location to Cooma, and more recently reducing opening hours to help ease pressure on the local team and prevent burnout.
"Despite these efforts, we have not been able to maintain a stable, permanent team – and without that, we have reached the point where without the team we need, we cannot continue to guarantee the standards of quality and care that families rightly expect and deserve."
The spokesperson said the company takes its commitment of the highest standards of care and education seriously.
"Given the ongoing workforce constraints that, despite all our efforts, we have not been able to materially improve over the past year, continuing under current conditions would risk compromising those standards, which we are not prepared to do.
"We are committed to supporting every family and employee impacted by this closure, and we’ll work closely with them over the coming weeks to ensure the best possible transition."