File photo of a child in a classroom. (WTTW News)

A report from the Century Foundation shows that without pandemic-era federal funding, thousands of providers would no longer be able to hire and pay staff, meaning rapid shutdowns in families with small children fending for themselves.

(WTTW News)
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As parents begin returning to the office amid the coronavirus pandemic, a glaring problem awaits them: child care. And for many Illinois families, COVID-19 made an already difficult situation even worse.