Manager Kerry Patterson said the service had received a "transitional payment" now that the scheme had ended, and may need to stow it away to help ensure the longevity of the service.

"We don't get any government funding. We get community childcare funding but that runs out in the middle of next year for us, so unless another grant comes up, we've got nothing, so we're better to keep that money," she said.

"We need to be really frugal and think about what's best long-term for our service. We need to look after our educators and also look after our service because one can't be without another, so it is a bit of a dilemma ... [but] it's about making sure everyone is a winner in the end."

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The service and its operators took a hit while the free child care scheme was in place but all of them have managed to survive with government funding and "slushie" money from the service.

Ms Patterson said operators received JobKeeper and the service also passed on additional payment from the government, which worked out at $5.55 an hour. The payment was based on the hours of care they carried out in the last two weeks of February.

"We chose to then push that onto educators ... it means they were working for half of what they were working before until JobKeeper came in and that sustained them," she said.

"That's what we did to make sure out educators could still buy food and pay their house payments.

"It was very messy. It's been a big thing."

Educator Louise Sloey has been operating under the family day care umbrella for 18 months and said she was fortunate enough to have a partner with a good wage to balance out her losses.

As the inclusion of food was part of her fees structure before the scheme kicked in, legally she had to continue offering food instead of cutting back to save on costs.

"I was able to rely on [my partner's] income to support my business but for those educators who couldn't do that, they had to cut back the food they offered," Ms Sloey said.

Ms Sloey said the scheme was helpful for families but some of her clients had felt "guilty" for using the service without paying, especially when they wanted to request extra days of care.

The educator offers places for four children a day, three days a week and her numbers are back up to normal.

Mrs Patterson said some educators lost children, while others took on new families during the scheme.

"If they took on a new family, we made sure we gave them a bit of money towards that," she said.

"The scheme took a hit financially but we'll recoup that over time ... it's more important that [families] had services to come back to."

Mrs Patterson said while the scheme had been "wonderful" for families, it has been "difficult" for child care services.

"We are really proactive looking after our educators and didn't want them to be disadvantaged in any way ... it's tricky; there are a lot of educators that are feeling robbed. Other people got JobKeeper and didn't have to work above and beyond, but [overall], they're very pleased to be back," she said.