PLYMOUTH – The South Shore Community Action Council will provide early education services at all seven child care locations previously operated by Cape Cod Child Development.
Cape Cod Child Development’s board recently made the decision to cease operations of all of its programs due to a lack of sufficient revenue.
The SSCAC will work with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education & Care to ensure high quality early education services for currently enrolled children continues and is readily available for those seeking child care.
SSCAC CEO Jack Cocio said the agency was contacted by the Massachusetts Association of Early Education & Care to see if the council would be interested and capable of helping as the programs were deteriorating.
Cocio said his immediate thought was that the closure of the programs would be a large impact for children and families.
“That’s the business that we are in,” he said. “We try to eliminate poverty on the South Shore and help families.”
The agency looked at statistics and logistics to see if it would be able to take over the locations.
Cocio said the council, the MADCA and the EEC have worked diligently over the last few days to figure out a solution that would provide some continuity for the children and families currently enrolled.
“Now we have to get into the details and figure out how this can work,” Cocio said. “It will take some time to transition.”
It could be three or four weeks before the SSCAC takes over the child care at the seven locations.
“In the meantime, I know the EEC is helping to keep everything going,” Cocio said. “We are trying to communicate to families to let them know that we are dedicated to trying to have continued care for these children and families.”
The SSCAC will take over the preschool and school-aged programs in Hyannis, Falmouth and West Yarmouth, a preschool program in Centerville, and a Dennis Port preschool program.
Cocio said the council will be hiring to staff the locations.
“We will put out a call that we are looking for a certain number of teachers, teacher assistants, management team and so forth,” Cocio said.
Cocio said he would assume that some of the current staff at the locations will apply and some may decide to move on.
“When we do the interview process it will be as if we are interviewing somebody brand new,” he said. “We will be looking for quality continued care for the kids.”
He expects some of the current staff will be retained, but not all.
“It really depends on the qualifications of individuals.
The Plymouth-based council was founded in 1965. It works to improve the quality of life for families on the South Shore, Cape Cod and the Islands.
It operates two South Shore Early Education center for infants, toddlers and preschoolers in Plymouth and Marshfield
“We have been doing this for quite a while,” Cocio said.
There are about 300 children at the two locations. The locations offer EEC programs and early Head Start programs.
Cocio said he expects there will be some bumps in the road when taking on an endeavor of this nature.
“One of the things that we will try to do is make sure in the long run everything works out well,” he said. “And as we go through those little bumps in the road and issues that we have to run into we will communicate and talk to parents and let them know what is going on.”
SSCAC also provides fuel assistance and home energy conservation services, transports elderly and disabled people to and from medical appointments, collects and distributes emergency food, leads the South Shore Family Network, and offers a variety of other family self-sufficiency programs.
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
