Parents are struggling to find care for their children now that schools are closed until at least early April.

Many parents rely on school to not only educate their children, but also give them time to go to work knowing their kids will be fed and cared for. The three-week closure mandated by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is proving to be a burden on parents as many of them are having to find a babysitter or an open day care center on short notice, or risk getting fired from their job.

Amy Awad of Girard sends her child to Liberty Local Schools and because of the three-week closure, was let go from her job. She wasn’t able to go to work because she has to watch her child and her boss gave her an ultimatum: come to work or lose your job.

“I couldn’t find child care and lost my job due to it, so now I’m working on finding a new one without having child care or school to help,” Awad said. “I think it (the closure) is a complete overreaction and not beneficial to the kids.”

Awad said she doesn’t have family in the area and a lot of her friends are “in the same boat.”

“There really is nothing else I can do, which is bad because we depend on that money paycheck to paycheck to just survive,” Awad added. “I really hope the word gets out so more employers are understanding that single parents just can’t easily find child care. It takes time and money to find child care, especially on a whim.”

Corlissa Johnson of Brookfield is in a similar situation to Awad. Johnson works at All Around Children in Middlefield, but said she can’t afford to send her daughter there and hiring a babysitter costs almost the same.

“I already am barely making ends meet and my day care costs $150 a week for my daughter’s age group. The babysitter charges $25 a day, which is about the same price,” Johnson said. “There’s not really family I can depend on to watch her, so this is potentially costing me $450 more a month in my budget for March than I was anticipating. On top of that, my daughter typically eats breakfast and lunch at school, so that’s additional food money as well.”

Johnson adds she is trying to line up care with some friends, but will most likely be spending her paycheck by bringing her child to work with her.

Cherie Lowe in Liberty said a lot of grandparents will be taking care of their grandchildren during this period.

“God bless the grandparents who are watching them for the three weeks or everyday,” Lowe said.

While a lot of parents are asking friends and family for help, day cares are still an option for parents who can afford to use them.

There are a few day cares in the area with open spots because some parents don’t feel comfortable bringing their children to a day care at this time.

Erica Howes of Mrs. Howes Happy Helpers in Hubbard has a few spots available at her day care.

“Some of the kids that are regulars actually had other care and some didn’t feel comfortable bringing their kids to day care. I use a nontoxic disinfectant and I have wipes and hand sanitizer,” Howes said. “I wash my hands constantly and I have the kids wash them constantly as well. I clean my house every night and wipe everything down throughout the day.”

Howes says that no matter what, she cleans like this. She charges $35 per day and offers the children breakfast, lunch and two snacks throughout the day. Howes cares for children 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and stresses that parents should call ahead of time to make sure she has an opening.

The Cortland Playroom also has open availability for school-age students up to 12 years old. According to Mary Ann Hoolihan, a teacher at the Playroom, they are doing extra cleaning and are disinfecting more regularly.

“The cost is $30 per day and the kids need to bring their own lunch,” Hoolihan said.

The Cortland Playroom provides care 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and offers a variety of educational opportunities for the children.

One day care, Barrel of Monkeys in Austintown, is offering emergency school age availability for $525 for the three weeks of care plus an enrollment fee. This enrollment guarantees three weeks of care. They also have internet access for children who need to complete assignments. According to the owner, Aaron Bohr, quite a few parents have called to enroll their children.

“We are partnering with the Mahoning County Health Department to ensure we are properly responding to the COVID-19 virus. We have been working with them for several weeks to ensure that we were doing the proper procedures as information has been released,” Bohr said. “We are also in contact with Austintown Local Schools to help with remote learning. We have chromebooks and laptops available for the children to participate in any remote learning they might need.”

Some parents are relying on the day cares to stay open. Samantha Emery of Hubbard said she can’t afford to be off work with no pay.

“During the school closure, my daughter will have to go to the day care that my son attends … if the day care ends up closing down like the schools, I’m honestly not exactly sure what is going to happen with work,” Emery said. “I do not have anyone else at the time to watch my children. March 1, my grandma passed away and she was always the only who watched them when I needed so that would result in me having to take time off … I can’t afford to be off work with no pay.”

bshiller@tribtoday.com