CENTRAL FLORIDA — Many Florida parents will either begin or ramp up their job search as the extended federal unemployment benefits come to end this weekend.

What You Need To Know

  • With federal unemployment benefits ending Saturday, many people are looking for a place to work

  • For parents, finding work is particularly complicated by their need for child care 

  • Nonprofit Community Coordinated Care for Children is working to connect parents with child care, and sometimes employment as well

A big concern for them is who will look out for their children when they return to work.

That was the worry for Rachel Cook, 26, when she wanted to return work.

She became unemployed during the pandemic.

“He was at home with me and I stayed at home and that’s when I had my second child and decided to send him back to school and return to work myself,” Cook said.

She said when she began to look for work she found it difficult to find a child care service that met her and her childrens' needs.

“The reason I didn’t go back sooner was the child care issue,” Cook said. “I wasn’t able to find somewhere to put my boys to school where I can go back at the same time.”

She went back to her day care, Conway Learning Center, in hopes of re-enrolling her kids but found there was a three-month waitlist.

“We got parents that need to return to the workplace but don’t have access to child care because the work force has not returned,” said Mary Harper, Early Learning Center of Orange County's chief program officer.

Harper estimates about 75% of the 550 child care services they work with need workers.

Still, Harper said there are ways to find a child care service nearby, thanks to Community Coordinated Care for Children (4C).

“It’s very simple. Type FindChildCare.org and it will give you the resources you need,” she said. “You can look by zip code, hours of service. For instance, health care workers need night care so they can put down they need night care, that they need weekends, they’re looking for voluntarily pre-kindergarten, they need school ready resources or they’re looking for an accredited facility, they need one for special needs.”

Harper said parents can also apply for a job at a child care service.

"People are losing their unemployment benefits and they're looking for work — what better option than to work in an early care and education setting,” Harper said. “They often times provide child care.”

It’s what Cook did.

“I called and found a spot for him and mentioned that I was looking for employment,” she said, noting she can continue to spend more time with her kids, but this time while she's at work.