NORWICH – A market study has concluded that more than 600 children in Chenango County are in need of child care, and the need is so great in Norwich and Greene that a large-scale facility could be supported.

Over the past two years, a day care facility in New Berlin and 11 family day care homes and five family group day care homes located in municipalities across the county have closed.

The Children’s Center in Norwich, begun in 1994, is the only licensed child care provider left, and it has been turning away at least 75 percent of its placement calls due to a lack of space. The center cares for approximately 60 children, the majority of whom hail from greater Norwich.

What’s more, Catholic Charities, the center’s operator, currently offsets about $114,000 worth of the operations’ costs annually just to keep The Children’s Center open.

“Child care is critical piece of economic development in Chenango County,” said Jane Coddington, executive director of Catholic Charities in Norwich. “We’ve identified quite a large gap of services and we need to look at cost, economic development and employers and employability in the county as a result.”

Coddington and a consultant who conducted the study were on hand this month at a meeting of the Chenango County Planning and Economic Development Committee. The feasibility study was authorized by the Chenango County Board of Supervisors in the fall of last year and paid for with economic development seed funds. Its purpose was to explore the options for expanding The Children’s Center in Norwich or whether to construct satellite facilities. It would also identify government grants and partnerships with local businesses and organizations to fund either option.

According to consultant Tim Hayes, with the Center for Economic and Community Development at the State University College of Oneonta, the only issue that would arise with building a new Children’s Center is the financial impact that such a facility might have, because of its high cost.

The likelihood of creating centers in areas of high employment, where child care is highly needed, and can also be afforded should be substantially greater. In less populated areas though, smaller scale services for child care are more what is demanded.

The next step in the process of creating a solution for this problem, based on the study, is to apply for the Appalachian Regional Commission for funding. The study will be used as a foundation in order to create a basis for the expansion, and to establish any involvement, whether it is with the county, businesses or any other partnership in order to see the project through to completion.