By Catherine Rose, York Dispatch
Posted on August 21, 2025
In York County, parents who work evenings or overnight often struggle to find child care.
Most centers and home-based providers close by early evening, leaving families with nontraditional schedules to patch together care from relatives, friends or neighbors.
Starting in September, iCare Youniversity in York City will offer an option that has been largely missing in the county — licensed child care for second and third shifts. The center, 105 Ridge Ave., which opened for daytime care in May, will run extended hours from 10 p.m. Sunday through 6 p.m. Friday.
For families who have been calling to ask about the new hours, co-founder Sakeenah Sweeney said the reaction has been strong. The most common feeling has been relief, she said.
“I’ve had a lot of moms say, ‘I’ve had to change my job more frequently than I care to because I don’t have stable child care,'” Sweeney said. Many of those parents describe rotating care between multiple people.
“We’ve heard directly from parents, we’ve heard from employers, and access to child care is the number one reason given as it relates to absenteeism in the workforce,” said Kevin Schreiber, president and CEO of the York County Economic Alliance.
“So having options for third shift would be hugely beneficial for overnight employees who don’t have another option,” Schreiber said.
Manufacturing comprises 18% of York County’s workforce, and health care makes up 17%, according to the YCEA. Both sectors tend to operate around the clock.
But few programs in York County operate outside standard business hours. Christy Renjilian, executive director of Community Connections for Children, said only a small number of home-based providers offer second-shift care and none certified by the state currently provide overnight care.
Co-founder Rob Pollard said his hometown of Reading has “quite a few” second- and third-shift early learning centers. He was surprised when he moved to the York area and noticed the lack of similar services.
“It’s very hard to get people to work the day shifts, let alone those overnight and evening shifts,” Renjilian said.
Programs, in general, are already in a “staffing crisis,” Renjilian said. And extending into evenings or overnights adds the cost of more staff, more food and more building upkeep.
Many of York County’s major employers, including hospitals, warehouses, manufacturing plants, hotels and grocery stores, run late or overnight schedules.
“Go walk through a hospital after midnight, and see how many employees are still on the clock, or go to a manufacturing facility that’s open third shift,” Schreiber said. “Unless you’ve needed it, you may not have thought about it. But if you need it, it could be a huge barrier for stable employment.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than two-thirds of children under five in Pennsylvania live in homes where all available adults work outside the home. Renjilian said for parents in those households, lack of nontraditional hour care forces hard choices, from leaving the workforce to taking lower-paying daytime jobs.
“Two-parent families may work opposite shifts just to make it work,” Renjilian said.
Patchwork care can be unstable, Renjilian said, often leading to missed work and stress for both parents and employers.
“In Pennsylvania, there’s a $6 billion annual cost to employers from lost productivity, absenteeism and people quitting jobs because they don’t have consistent child care.”
iCare Youniversity can accommodate up to 36 children at any one time. The day program is almost at capacity.
Recognizing the need for it, Pollard said he wanted to offer the second and third shift hours.
He and Sweeney said the value goes beyond covering a parent’s shift. They see it as a way to provide children with steady routines.
Sweeney, who has a doctorate in education, brings 20 years of experience in the public school system and five years of experience in early child care.
“Our families are looking for consistency. They want the quality of care that a center can provide,” Sweeney said.
Renjilian said 90% of a person’s brain is developed by age 3.
“Those early years are really critical for getting a child off on the right foot, providing a solid foundation for the rest of their life,” said Renjilian.
iCare Youniversity brings in early intervention specialists twice a week, teaches programs for kindergarten readiness and offers plant-based meals designed to meet nutritional needs.
Sweeney said that many families inquiring about care are concerned about pricing, particularly since they may not have been paying for their current arrangements with family or friends.
Sweeney said the center helps families apply for assistance through the Early Learning Resource Center. In York County, that’s Community Connections for Children.
The Child Care Works program subsidizes costs for qualifying low-income families. Sweeney said, in her experience, many people “shy away” from paperwork, so she encourages them through the process.
She said the lower out-of-pocket cost makes the benefits of a structured, consistent program more accessible.
“While we might charge $300, the agency will pay $250 of that. They’re only paying $50,” Sweeney said. “To them, that’s a win.”
While that helps families pay, availability is another factor.
“The difficulty comes in finding somebody to watch your children, as well,” Renjilian said.
While raising her own children in the past, Sweeney said she and one of her sisters became single parents. They both worked, went to school and shared a calendar to care for their children. Sometimes, they had to enlist their other sister.
“Bunch of sisters and nontraditional hours. We had to figure it out. And now we’re here, so someone doesn’t have to,” Sweeney said.
Community Connections for Children runs the Every Child Has Opportunities initiative with the York County Economic Alliance, offering grants to expand existing programs, launch new ones and train more early childhood educators. It also helps parents search for care that fits their schedules and supports providers.
Renjilian said the cost of infant and child care is high because of staffing ratios, yet early childhood educators in Pennsylvania earn an average of about $12 an hour, with about 20% relying on public assistance.
“Families can’t afford to pay more, and teachers can’t afford to stay in the field,” she said. “That’s why the child care industry is on such a shaky financial foundation.”
Earlier this year, iCare Youniversity received a $40,000 forgivable loan through ECHO to support its new center.
“For every dollar we invest in early childhood education, we can save $13 on other programs to fix problems later,” Renjilian said.
Sweeney and Pollard said they hope the extended hours will help provide what’s been missing. To enroll, call 717-680-7395 or 717-870-3868.
“We have to do what’s best for the child,” Sweeney said.
ECHO is administered by Community Connections for Children (CCC) and the York County Economic Alliance (YCEA) with philanthropic support from J. William Warehime Foundation, Powder Mill Foundation, WellSpan Health, United Way of York County, York County Community Foundation, and Kinsley Foundation.
