(Atlantic) The Nishna Valley Family YMCA and the Iowa Women’s Foundation held a childcare crisis community forum in Atlantic today (Wednesday).
The lack of affordable childcare is a nationwide issue and in order to fix the issue, it takes an entire community.
Sheri Penney, Employment Engagement Director with the Iowa Women’s Foundation, said we are short roughly 300,000 childcare spaces in Iowa.
Cass County has a shortfall of 1,184 spaces, 48-percent of childcare businesses have been lost in the last ten years, and 11-percent in the last five years.
Penney said there are a lot of things going on across the state to address the childcare crisis and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. However, she did share information on a Wage Enhancement program that Hamilton County implemented, which has been a success. There were four centers in the county and all four were sitting at about 65-percent of their licensed capacity, meaning, if they had more childcare workers they would be able to open more spaces and get more children served. To address the need, they came up with a public/private fund – the Wage Enhancement program.
Penney said going on year six, three of the four centers are now sitting at 100-percent licensed capacity, the other center still has two slots available. They are able to increase their provider wages by about $2.85 per hour. Penney said there are now ten communities that are replicating this program.
Dan Haynes, Executive Director of the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, said they have been working on a number of things to address the childcare crisis in Atlantic. He said CADCO is working on sponsoring a childcare grant from the state.
Dan Haynes was asked what the community can do today to help out. Haynes said they would be interested in talking to anyone interested in a fund like the Wage Enhancement Program and he shared the Friends of the Wickman Childcare Feedback Forms that will be going around. The form asks how you can support financially, if you would be interested in serving on a childcare task force, among other items. Meanwhile, if you are interested in helping out, contact Dan Haynes at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA in Atlantic.
