Three options proposed for Eurma C. Hayes Center

After months of waiting, the employees and patrons of the Eurma C. Hayes Childcare Center will know the facility’s fate tonight.

The City of Carbondale released a 54-page document Friday that included reports and recommendations for the daycare center, which the City Council will use to decide the fate of at tonight’s 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall.

In response to the city’s proposal at a Feb. 23 council meeting to no longer offer daycare services at the facility, citizens persuaded the council to investigate the situation more closely.

The council approved the formation of an independent review panel that would investigate the feasibility of the center at that meeting.

The document released Friday includes the review panel’s report, city staff reports and recommendations and a proposal by Haven of Love, Ltd., which is a daycare service provider based in Makanda, to run childcare services at the center.

The council has three courses of action to choose for the center:end childcare services Aug, 31, allow Haven of Love, Ltd. to run services at the facility or follow the review panel’s recommendation and increase the budget to allow the city to continue daycare at the facility.

The city has provided supplemental funding to the center since 1975 and officials estimate it would cost $363,314 for the 2005 fiscal year to continue to operate the facility if no changes were made.

The panel recommended that the city continue operation of the center with 49 children in the fall and spring and 68 children during the summer months.

With minimum staff in place and maximum enrollment, it would allow the city to continue operation of the facility in an almost break-even circumstance.

However, a report from Carbondale City Manager Jeff Doherty states the review panel’s recommendations as being “financially unreasonable.”

“It’s a best case scenario for enrollment,” Doherty said. “It would not be effective immediately.”

“My only point is we shouldn’t expect by adopting this ordinance that we would have full-time enrollment on a full-time basis. That would take time to do.”

The report from Doherty notes that the majority of the patrons are SIUC students who only use the center part-time.

Doherty also received four proposals from private vendors, including Haven of Love, Ltd. to continue operation of a child-care facility at the Eurma C. Hayes Center.

Out of the four privatization candidates, Doherty recommends Haven of Love, Ltd. to take over operation of the facility. Haven of Love, Ltd. is a non-profit organization run by a board of directors.

“The proposal that’s being recommended from Haven of Love is one we feel would be successful with offering child daycare there that’s consistent to what the city’s goals are,” Doherty said.

Lora Stearns, president of the Haven of Love, Ltd. Board of Directors, said she believes they would offer a good program and a great community service if allowed to take over the Eurma C. Hayes Childcare Center.

“We anticipate and look forward to having a good enough program to have all the rooms filled,” Stearns said.

Haven of Love, Ltd. has been operating a daycare facility since 1986.

“We can set up a great program for the children to develop into a complete person,” Stearns said.

According to Stearns, consideration would be given to the existing staff at the Eurma C. Hayes Childcare Center.

“Each of these [existing staff members] would apply just like it’s a new facility,” Stearns said. “Because we don’t know them, we need to see that they qualify.”

If approved, the childcare facility would continue to offer daycare to children from private pay, Child Care Resource and Referral and the Department of Children and Family Services subsidy.