Representatives from the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center in Atlantic hosted area business and community leaders to a luncheon on Friday to discuss the deficit the center is facing.

The Nishna Valley YMCA is contracted to operate the center and Executive Director Dan Haynes informed the crowd that the center can’t continue to operate as it is now.  The center has lost $141,417 over the last five years, averaging out to $28,283 per year.

Haynes said the biggest reason for the centers operating loss is the high number of part-time users compared to full-time users.  He said that center Executive Director Diana Williams and Wickman Committee members have toured other area facilities and found that most of them have a high number of full-time users and most work on a contract basis.  The Wickman Center currently operates on an hourly charge basis which accommodates those part-time users.

Haynes said the YMCA is looking into a number of different options to turn the center profits around. Those options include seeing if someone else can run if more efficiently than the YMCA.  The center has considered changing to a contract rate structure or if staying hourly raising the rates especially for those not attending full time. Scheduling and meal planning is also going to be more strictly enforced for parents in hopes of becoming more efficient.  The purpose of the meeting was ultimately to get feedback from area leaders and see if annual gift funding would be an option to help the center operate as is.

Director of the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center Diana Williams also spoke at the meeting and said the Center is a DHS licensed center that cares for children six weeks to five years old. The center operates Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m with six rooms separated by age groups. The center currently serves 119 children, averaging 72 to 85 kids per day and their is a waiting list for some of their rooms.

The Center has 32 staff working various shifts and Haynes also noted that another issue is the center’s inability to offer employees a competitive wage and benefits.  Staffing has been a huge challenge for the center with the large number of part-time kids causing fluctuating staffing needs.

The center will continue to explore options and have a meeting set up with the Atlantic City Council Finance Committee in the near future.