Facing a Childcare Crisis

Facing a Child Care Crisis with Tori Sproles, Child Care Connections

WRITTEN BY LORI JO BERG

The sound of children laughing is music to Tori Sproles’s ears. So much so that she’s been helping take care of children since she was 12 years old, babysitting and nannying for families in need. Even as a young girl she knew she wanted to be in the child care business in one way or another. Over the years her passion has led to multiple positions throughout the valley, such as a lead teacher at a preschool as well as director and teacher at ASMSU right out of college.

January 2022 will mark Tori’s 10th anniversary with Child Care Connections, where she spent nine-and-a half years as Provider Services Coordinator. But after getting the muchdeserved promotion to Executive Director, Tori is ready to write the latest chapter of her story.

Whatever her position in the nonprofit may be, her passion remains the same. One of the things Tori is most proud of from her work over the years is helping Child Care Connections grow into the community staple it is now.

“At first, people didn’t really know who we were – they would call asking us for openings as if we were a child care center. But now, people are much more aware and know exactly how we fit into the community and the impact we have.”

Admittedly, it’s going to be hard for Tori to step away from her previous task of helping child care providers offer the best care for families. Whether she was setting up a safety training or helping with licensing, Tori was there to support the process every step of the way. On a personal level, finding that work-life balance has proved to be challenging as well. Working a fulltime job and a mother to 5-year-old twins and a 2-year-old boy is no small feat.

As Executive Director she will be taking a step back from the everyday duties and helping with the overall bigger picture and vision for Child Care Connections. While the vision Tori has for the business is visible to her, so are the obstacles. Tori knows firsthand the challenges families all over the world face today, but it feels especially challenging right here in Bozeman.

Essentially, there is a shortage of child care providers in the valley. Most of that is due to the high cost of not only finding locations for businesses but being able to make the payment to keep the doors open. Many neighborhood HOA’s and communities in the valley are opposed to in-home child care, with traffic and noise being the two biggest reasons for the pushback.

And, of course, there is the cost of living, which pushes local workers to find the highest paying job they can. The average hourly wage of $11 per hour for child care employees isn’t only tough to live on, it pales in comparison to what can be made at Walmart or Taco Bell. Tori’s vision is clear and one of her main goals is to bridge that gap between businesses and child care providers. Local business owners feel the strain too, especially as their employees struggle to find affordable child care so they can come to work. What would happen if eligible businesses provided on-site child care? Or what if more financial support was given to help employees pay for their kids’ care?

“As the pandemic goes on, child care has been brought to the forefront and opened a lot of eyes to the problems at hand,” said Sproles.

The timing may be right, as the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) just released $112 million dollars – half of which is set to support the innovative side of things, and the other half to support and sustain current child care providers. Child Care Connections is focusing on collaborating with businesses on how to work together as a community to provide quality care for kids.

As for Tori, she’ll continue to connect the dots between community and child care and fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle. Thank goodness for folks like Tori who work so hard to face this issue head-on, and with a smile.

Lori Jo Berg is a Montana native and mother of three. She likes to bring the stories of others to life with her writing and connect with her audience on a deeper level.