The situation came to a head during the pandemic, which decimated the scant child care options on Kaua’i. As much as some parents may want to put their youngest in child care, few can actually afford it. Statewide, the average cost of full-time, center-based infant care in Hawai’i is $25,096 per year, according to an analysis by Child Care Aware. Over and over again, the question of whether parents could trust child care providers came up in more than a dozen conversations The 19th had with parents, providers and child care experts on Kauaʻi. Hawai’i also seriously lags other states in its reporting of incidents of serious injuries or abuse at child care centers.