Pandemic childcare funding is running out across the US: ‘The whole system is beginning to implode’

In Colorado, the end of subsidies means some daycares have open slots they can't fill - even as demand remains high

On an early fall day, toddlers played at Westwood Academy, a highly rated Denver childcare center serving children aged six weeks to five years. The room glowed with natural wood and light while preschoolers settled onto colorful floor circles to hear a book read aloud. Where's your circle?" one of the children asked the teacher.

Westwood is located in west Denver, a lower-income part of the city; median family income in the surrounding area is less than $43,000 a year, according to census data.