EDUCATION

Strategy 2:

Provide

About The Objectives

Strategy two focuses on closing the gap in early childhood education while also trying to address the needs of childcare within the region. Access to affordable, high-quality childcare is a critical component and support mechanism for ensuring that a dependable and highly skilled workforce will be available to existing and potential employers. Without access, parents are required to stay home to care for their children. Without affordable access, parents often spend as much on childcare as they make in their profession, and it is financially unsustainable. Many parents desire the best of both worlds of not only childcare but the option where their child is actively learning at an early age. Studies have shown the earlier a child starts learning, the better the child will acclimate to school when entering K-12.

Quality Care

It is well-documented that rural communities are disproportionately impacted by a lack of childcare options (Source) and 55 percent of people in Indiana live within a childcare desert, or any census tract with more than 50 children under age five that contains either no childcare providers or so few childcare providers, that there are more than three times as many children as there are licensed childcare slots (Source). While licensed childcare options within the IND15RPC region were limited prior to the pandemic, the situation has been exacerbated since its occurrence. The region needs to look at a combination of programs targeting children ages 0-3, after-school care programs, faithbased organizations, in-home childcare programs, K-12 school campus childcare facilities, and for-profit models. Another identified issue is to figure out how some facilities could provide more flexible hours for parents, specifically early in the morning and later into the evening, and potentially other options for shift work. It will take a combination of all models to sustain the workforce and need in the region.

Objective Priority Actions

1. Support state and local policies that make it easier to establish quality childcare in the region.

2. Assist in developing local government policies that may be beneficial to providing quality childcare in the region when creating comprehensive plans and other policy documents.

3. Develop a comprehensive list and available locations of home-based, faith-based, licensed, and unlicensed childcare in the region.

A. Develop a regional plan for quality childcare for the regional workforce.

4. Utilize GIS to assist in the analysis of a variety of policies such as SIG’s childcare initiative and white paper that leads to changes in regulations and therefore increases the number of rural licensed home-based childcare centers.

5. Based on the outcomes of action 4, facilitate meetings to discuss knowledge and experiences regarding different aspects of childcare and early childhood education.

6. Connect regional data with financial resources to support the increase of seats or funding of childcare centers in the region.

1. Locate childcare centers near areas that are close to housing, schools, and major employers.

B. Provide early childhood educational opportunities for families in the region.

2. Develop a program working with major employers to support the development of a childcare center for the community.

3. Work with K-12 school districts to determine if early education programs and after-school care are options to be implemented.