GTCC training aims to ease Guilford County child care shortage

Governor Josh Stein came to Guilford Technical Community College on Tuesday with a blunt warning for working families and employers: North Carolina has only one child care slot for every five children, and 264 child care centers have closed statewide over the past two and a half years.

At GTCC’s early childhood education facility, Stein tied the shortage to labor force pressure and household costs. He said the state’s current subsidy rates cover only about half of what providers spend to care for children, and he is seeking $80 million annualized in his Critical Needs budget to stabilize programs, lower costs for families and improve retention among early childhood education professionals.

The local training pipeline is small but moving quickly. In Guilford County, two sessions have already been held and a third is coming. Each session serves 16 people, and Shannon Burghart, GTCC’s director of early childhood education, said demand was strong enough that the wait list filled within hours. The academy is funded through a state grant that can provide up to $50,000 per institution for programs running from Oct. 15, 2025, through July 31, 2026, with community colleges and UNC System universities eligible to apply.

State guidance says the Child Care Academy model is meant to give people new to early childhood education comprehensive training and certification. Across North Carolina, child care academies can run two to six weeks and require 20 to 64 hours of class time, a format designed to get workers into the field faster. At least 11 counties already had academy efforts underway, underscoring how widespread the staffing problem has become.

For Hannah Friddle of Stokesdale, the program was more than a credential. Friddle said the training helped her move from management into a leadership role at a child care center and saved her employer nearly $2,000 that could be put back into the business. She said the course was practical because staff could immediately apply lessons inside the center, a benefit that matters in a field where turnover is high and every empty seat can keep a parent out of work.

The question now is whether the funding will last long enough to matter at scale. The 2025-26 round lasts nine months, but state officials have not received money for a third year of the federal grant. With child care costs still well above subsidy levels and centers closing faster than new staff can be trained, GTCC’s academy offers help, but not yet a full repair for Guilford County’s child care shortage.