NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is joining city leaders, parents and childcare providers in a discussion on the child care crisis on Friday.

The discussion is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Brooks Crossing in Newport News. Warner is expected to stress the need for Congress to assist in efforts to resolve the crisis, a release states.

He also is expected to discuss the new early childhood development center that’s being built in Newport News. The center is scheduled to open by the fall 2024. It’s located along 14th Street and Jefferson Avenue. The Peake Childhood Center will run the facility.

The center costs about $11 million. It’s a collaboration between Peake Childhood Center and Virginia Peninsula Community College and the city of Newport News.

The discussion comes days after the national movement, “Day Without Child Care.” The national movement aims to grab the attention of lawmakers as they seek affordable childcare and better pay for educators.

In a recent Megaphone poll WAVY post, most participants said that they have struggled to find daycare.

In 2023, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) released a child care report:

• More than 850,000 Virginians live at or below the poverty line.
• Virginia full-time Childcare costs between $100 and $440 dollars per week. That’s not including extra fees.
• Most Virginia childcare costs surpass 10% of the median income. That is higher then what the federal government says is affordable, Which is 7% or less of household income