'A slap in the face': Parents scramble to find child care after daycare closes in Bellevue

Some parents in Bellevue say they have just three days to find new child care. ABC Childcare and Preschool confirm it will close Friday. The day care is off 36th and Highway 370.

Some parents in Bellevue say they have just three days to find new child care. ABC Childcare and Preschool confirm it will close Friday. The day care is off 36th and Highway 370.

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Some parents in Bellevue say they have just three days to find new child care. ABC Childcare and Preschool confirm it will close Friday. The day care is off 36th and Highway 370.

Some parents in Bellevue say they have just three days to find new child care.

ABC Childcare and Preschool confirms it will close Friday. The day care is off 36th and Highway 370.

KETV spoke with several parents who say they're completely blindsided. And finding somewhere new to take care of their kids isn't exactly easy.

ABC Childcare and Preschool has been open for nearly 10 years in Bellevue.

Friday, they'll close for good. Some parents say they would've liked to find out sooner.

"Three days' notice to place three kids is quite difficult and a little bit upsetting," said Ryan Conaett.

Conaett says finding a new option has proved extremely difficult because he has three young children.

"Kind of blindsided. Everything seemed perfectly fine. And then just out of nowhere, we don't have child care," Conaett said.

He's not the only one.

Melanie Cruz's two children have gone to ABC since they were babies.

"As someone that's been there for seven years almost honestly, it's kind of a slap in the face," Cruz said.

Cruz and her husband both work and they don't have extra days to take off to watch their kids.

"Three days notice is, you know, you don't even give three days notice when you quit a job," Cruz said.

They received a note when they picked up their kids Tuesday.

It states the past few years have been challenging due to the pandemic and goes on to cite inflation as putting pressure on the business and management team.

"Labor costs, which are the single largest expense for child care centers, have risen by more than 40% during the past several years and will likely continue to move higher in the coming years as labor shortages continue."

Adding, their food costs have more than doubled over the past few years, along with utilities, rent & cleaning supplies.

KETV Investigates looked into their license, which was set to expire in July and is in good standing.

They were last fined for violations, including staff-to-child ratio, in 2021.

Nebraska Health and Human Services told KETV, "The director at ABC Childcare spoke with DHHS and informed us they will be closing the program on Friday. This was a voluntary decision to close on their part, not due to any actions by DHHS."

Luckily, Cruz says she's been able to find childcare for her daughter.

But Conaett hasn't had luck yet. He says all of the daycares nearby are full from ABC closing.