A community-development nonprofit is helping to counter the sharp decline in child care providers in Maine by offering the training needed to start and maintain a child care business.
The Childcare Business Lab, launched by Coastal Enterprises, is a free, six-month program of in-person and online workshops to help people secure the startup funds required to open a home-based or commercial child care location.
Cynthia Murphy, senior program director for workforce solutions at Coastal Enterprises, said participants also learn how to recruit and hire employees and navigate the licensing process.
"And then we also pair everyone up with an individual business adviser who helps to tailor what they learn in the workshops to meet the needs of each individual community," Murphy outlined.
Murphy pointed out it includes a program in Lewiston for English-language learners interested in running centers incorporating their own culture's music or food. She noted some 40 future providers are currently enrolled in the Child Care Business Lab with the hope of opening their own businesses in time for next school year.
Gov. Janet Mills allocated $10 million through the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan to help child care businesses launch or expand, and hopefully eliminate so-called "child care deserts" throughout the state.
Murphy pointed out many parents and grandparents are using the Child Care Business Lab to prevent others from experiencing the same struggles they have in finding affordable, quality care.
"We're finding people who have an interest and a passion in early childhood education who have long commutes to work and are interested in creating a good job for themselves," Murphy observed.
Murphy added one recent graduate opened a facility for shift workers at the Poland Springs bottling factory after struggling to find child care to match her own work schedule. A Coastal Enterprises survey found 20% of parents sending their children to centers started through the Child Care Business Lab were able to start a full-time job.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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For many in Nebraska's child-care industry, which was struggling even before the pandemic, the "Child Care Stabilization" funds in the American Rescue Plan Act made a huge difference. The money must be disbursed by Sept. 30, causing concern about a "funding cliff" for child care.
Catherine Huddleston-Casas, Ph.D., associate director of workforce planning and development at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska, said the pandemic shone a light on the "poverty wages" many child-care workers receive. She said some found they could make better money in less-demanding jobs.
"The knowledge and expertise that is developed through the process of working under a seasoned child-care provider - all of that is going to be lost if we don't do something to try to keep our providers in their positions," she said.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services distributed the stabilization funds in a variety of ways, including stipends to employees at licensed child-care centers, and grants to center owners and staff to help pay down school loans. In a survey of Nebraska providers, 87% reported receiving some COVID relief money in the previous year, and most had used it for rent and utilities. Today, Nebraska has 10% fewer child-care programs than before the pandemic.
Grants also helped centers expand their capacity. Ninety-one-percent of Nebraska counties have a shortage of licensed child-care slots, and 11 counties have no licensed providers.
Susan Sarver, Ph.D., director of workforce planning and development at the Buffett Institute, said the way funds were disbursed may help the state experience a less severe "funding cliff" than it might have.
"Some states are still maintaining centers, so they're paying wages through those pandemic funds," she said, "and when that money disappears, those are the places that are going to have the biggest drop."
Sarver acknowledged that only when there's data to examine will it be possible to evaluate the sustainability of Nebraska's approach.
Huddleston-Casas authored a recent study showing the gap to fully fund Nebraska's early-childhood care and education grew from 51% in 2017 to 57% in 2021. She said there won't be any quick fixes, but examination of the current system is crucial, including the way it's funded. She considers this especially important because of what we've learned about child development.
"They're not just passive recipients; there's a lot going on in a baby's brain," she said. "But in what ways does the system we have give us the opportunity to do better? Or are we stuck with a system that doesn't know how to accommodate the developmental needs of children?"
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To help combat learning loss and strengthen early literacy in Tennessee, the Gov.'s Early Literacy Foundation is spearheading efforts to promote literacy among children to ensure they develop strong reading skills throughout the summer.
In May, 60% of Tennessee third graders fail short of proficiency on the TCAP reading test, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.
James Pond, president of the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation, said it recognizes the critical role early literacy plays in a child's overall academic success, and it is committed to ensuring all children in Tennessee have access to the resources they need to become lifelong learners.
"Our organization provides a K-3 home library program and which every rising first, second and third grader and soon to be kindergartner receive a summer book packet of three fiction, three nonfiction books, along with great resources for that child and their caregivers to engage with those books and create comprehension and learning," Pond outlined.
Pond added the books included in packets are selected by their Educator Advisory Council, made up of 28 educators from across the state. The Educator Advisory Council also creates the resources and activity sheets provided along with the books. He noted throughout the summer it will deliver 1.2 million books to more than 200,000 students, teachers and librarians statewide.
Pond pointed out for 20 years, it has managed Dolly Parton's Imagination Library for the state, which gives books free of charge to children from birth to age five until they reach kindergarten age. He added they are also providing books and resources to children in rural underserved communities.
"We're actually looking at some of our higher-needs populations," Pond explained. "We will be working with the Latino community across the state. We're going to be launching a pilot project to really look at what are the additional supports that some of our higher-needs groups' needs are, and then meeting those needs as much as we possibly can."
Pond emphasized his organization developed the Statewide Early Literacy Education Collaborative of Tennessee, or SELECT, which brings together all of their statewide partners to work on collaboration around literacy. He added they also collaborate with the Tennessee Department of Education for the Decodables initiative, which provides at-home reading resources for free to families of kindergarten to second grade students.
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Missourians scored some big wins for child care and pre-K programs in the 2023 legislative session, although some said it is just a start.
Brian Schmidt, executive director of the group Kids Win Missouri, called it a "really exciting time" for child care and early childhood education in the state. He attributes a lot of the legislative gains, including a combined $160 million for child care subsidies and pre-K programs, to the child care crisis exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.
"Seventy-three counties in Missouri are considered child care deserts," Schmidt pointed out. "I think it's really just an impact of the pandemic, where a lot of the child care facilities are just struggling to find and recruit a workforce."
Schmidt added Gov. Mike Parson identified expanding early-childhood programs as a priority. Ideally, he said, the $78.5 million to increase child care subsidies will be an incentive for more child care centers to take part in the subsidy program, increasing the options for low-income Missouri families. And regarding the additional $82 million for pre-K programs, Schmidt noted it "far exceeds" any previous legislative proposals for pre-K.
He added the pre-K funding was designed to provide families with options.
"Fifty-six million is for school districts, and then the other $26 million is for child care facilities," Schmidt outlined. "Families could potentially have some options to choose the setting that best fits their needs."
Robin Phillips, CEO of the nonprofit Child Care Aware of Missouri, lauded the funding but has concerns about what will happen when American Rescue Plan Act funds expire in a little more than a year.
She argued the child care system is a "broken business model," with no funding formula behind community-based child care. In addition to higher operating costs for food, gas, utilities and rent, Phillips pointed to providers' struggle to maintain a workforce.
"You have to have so many teachers for the number of children depending on the age range; you must have, for licensing," Phillips emphasized. "And yet, when you pay all those expenses, you're left with very little to pay teachers at about $12 an hour. That's not a livable wage."
Calling the child care system "very complex and layered," Phillips added a bridge needs to be built to keep the progress going.
"There are great and significant investments happening, and we still have a lot of work to do," Phillips acknowledged. "Because two years, three years of federal relief money doesn't fix 40 years of fragmentation."
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