Lilibeth Asencio loves running her home-based day care center.

“I can't imagine not being able to open the door on a daily basis to welcome my children, welcome my families,” she said.

But after the child care network she’s affiliated with stopped paying her and other providers, she’s worried she’ll soon have to close her doors to the 11 kids she cares for.

The parents who send their children to her program don’t pay Asencio — instead, the city funds their child care. But the city doesn’t pay Asencio directly, either.

She’s one of about 50 in-home providers who have an affiliation agreement with a network called Highbridge Advisory Council Family Services. The city education department pays Highbridge, and Highbridge pays providers like Acensio.

Or at least, they’re supposed to. 

“They owe me approximately $30,000,” she said.

Problems started in January.

“We're supposed to get paid twice a month, and we would get paid once a month with no explanation,” Acensio told NY1. “This continuously happened. There was one month that we didn't get a payment at all. And this all happened until maybe May 15. Then, after May 15, we haven't received any payment at all.”

Acensio said Highbridge shut down child care centers as it operated directly, and furloughed those workers. But in-home providers like her have kept working, without pay, for more than two months.

“I've had to go into my savings to be able to continue [the] operation. Because we have rent to pay. We have utility bills. We have employees,” she said. “Imagine operating, paying rent, all your personal bills, all your responsibilities for over two months and just having to pay everything from your savings.”

Nobody answered the door at Highbridge’s main offices in the Bronx, where an advertised Head Start program was clearly no longer operating. Voicemails and emails from NY1 were not returned.

On July 23, Highbridge’s network director emailed providers about what it called a delay in payments, saying it was restructuring its operations., but offered only vague explanations.

“This delay is due to unforeseen circumstances that have created significant financial challenges for our agency,” the email read.

“Based on our information, [the] DOE did give the money. Highbridge did not in turn did not pay us. So the city also has to do — DOE also has to do their due diligence,” Asencio said.

According to the education department, it has no outstanding payments due to Highbridge and is working to help providers affiliate with other networks.

“New York City Public Schools expects every affiliate to pay their contractors, and it is wholly unacceptable if Highbridge Advisory Council Family Services has violated their contract, creating hardship for providers.  We will do everything within our power to resolve this situation, which is why we sent a show cause order to demand answers now. We urge all families that need alternative early childhood education services to contact the Office of Student Enrollment,” spokeswoman Chyann Tull said.

In the email to providers, Highbridge also noted providers could switch to a new network but then followed up with another email, noting the organization’s affiliation agreement requires providers give a 60-day notice to do so.

But Asencio pointed out that the same affiliation agreement also requires providers like her to be paid twice a month, which has not happened since May.

She said some providers have already closed their doors, leaving families to find new child care. Asencio doesn’t want to do that, but she said her savings will probably only cover her expenses for another month at most.

“These are our children. We love — you know, they grow up with us. So it's like, how can I turn back and say no? I, you know, it's hard. It’s very difficult,” she said.