A staffing shortage is threatening the scheduled Sept. 7 start of Westbrook Community Center’s before- and after-school child care program.

The 11-year-old LEARNS program for 125 or more elementary school children usually is flooded with job applicants, but now it’s “in danger of not happening because of the lack of staff and ongoing transportation issues due to the COVID pandemic,” said Community Center Director Greg Post.

Part of the problem is that because of staffing issues impacting buses, the program has to be held at each school rather than at the Community Center, where it has been held in the past. The multiple locations means more staff is needed, Post said.

Working parents rely on the program and the children benefit from the socialization, said Post and program Director Kathy Young.

“Parents really need this care for children so they can work. If there isn’t any care, they can’t really send that second or first grader home alone,” Young said. 

The program is about halfway staffed and needs six or more additional employees.

“Right now, we don’t even have a barebones staff,” Post said Monday. “Four people applied this week, but three didn’t show or canceled their interviews. We are normally turning people away, so it is definitely a different dynamic this year.”

Despite the pandemic, the program was fully open last year.