Wabash Valley has child care strengths

Jan. 1—Compared to the rest of the state, Terre Haute and Vigo County rest somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to child care facilities.

The area is strong on facility availability for infants and toddlers and not bad in terms of high-quality child care, but it has pockets — known as "child care deserts" — where children in need of care vastly outnumber the available providers.

Child care accessibility was a concern in the area before COVID-19 ran roughshod over the state, nation and planet. The pandemic has hardly alleviated the situation.

"In Vigo County, there are currently 209 child care vacancies which shows that 90% of the available seats are in use," reported Marni Lemons of Indiana'sFamily and Social Services Administration.

It's not all bad news, though: "The total number of children being served in child care in our state has increased by 8.42% since April of 2021," she said.

"Open teaching positions have dropped by 9.8% since April."

Additionally, "Vigo County has received $2,718,543 in stabilization funds to date," Lemons said. "Those funds should be used locally to help build capacity and access for families."

"One of the needs that is not only here in Vigo County but in many areas of the state is non-traditional care hours," explained Kristi Burkhart, program engagement specialist at Chances and Services for Youth, which helps between 60 and 70 families a month in its search for child care. "We have a lot of industrial work, a lot of second-shift work and not a lot of care options for those children."

The east and south sides of the city are in the most dire need for additional services. "We're seeing some staffing issues throughout child care just as many of our businesses are," Burkhart said. "Unfortunately, what happens in child care is if you have a lack of staffing, you won't be able to meet ratios and care for as many children. We are seeing a bit of a slowdown in new programs opening. That's the biggest impact we've seen since COVID and we've had some closures due to COVID."

Kati Colvin, CASY's community engagement specialist, agreed. "There's so many jobs available right now and the rates for wages going up is affecting what child care providers can pay for their staffing," Colvin said. "We're seeing people move from the child care industry to other industries."

In Vigo County, 4,963 need child care, Colvin reported, and currently 2,816 are able to be served.

Child care facilities are ranked by the state on a scale from Level 1 through Level 4. Level 1 programs meet all basic health and safety standards and have voluntarily chosen to be a part of Paths to QUALITY. This means they care about providing quality early care and education.

Level 2 programs have demonstrated a commitment to improve their quality, offering environments that support children's growth, development, and learning. Level 2 programs will have evidence of a consistent daily schedule and planned activities for children.

Level 3 programs implement a curriculum that supports children's learning and school readiness. Level 3 programs have made a significant investment in the professional development of their staff, and they incorporate family and staff input into their program.

Level 4 programs are the highest rated programs and have demonstrated a commitment to the highest level of professionalism in quality early care and education —achievement of a nationally recognized accreditation.

Dorothy Chambers of the Community Impact Staff for the United Way of the Wabash Valley noted that Sullivan County currently has no high-quality child care facilities (one closed recently). She was involved recently in issuing a $100,000 grant from Early Learning Indiana to Nurture with Nature: Highland Church Childcare Ministry, to open on the east side of Terre Haute.

Nurture with Nature's Dawn Langer runs four facilities as businesses; the Highland Church ministry will be her first nonprofit. Three of her facilities are Level 4, the other is Level 3.

"Dawn Langer has decades of experience providing Level 3 quality," Chambers said. "We could stand to use more with her level of quality."

Langer's reputation is so sterling that she received one grant simply by showing the ground she wanted to build her facility upon.

Levels are determined by educational standards and environmental standards, Langer said. "The teachers are observed interacting with children" by state officials, she said.

Her new Highland Church effort will be housed in a large building in Seelyville, an area where a lot of growth — and, therefore, need for child care facilities — is expected. "It will be the only high-quality ministry child care facility in Vigo County," she said. She expects it will serve 65-70 children in four different classrooms — infant, 2-year-olds, preschool and before- and after-school.

"This will help add a lot of revenue for my church," Langer said.

The need for child care is expanding throughout the calendar year. "You'd think that the fall, with school starting up, would be the most popular time for child care, but spring and child care has seen a huge influx," Langer said. "Our waiting list is growing every day."

Before the pandemic, the average monthly costs of center-based child care in Indiana was $798. That increased by 17% to $934 during the COVID-19 shutdown. Parents in need of assistance to pay for child care can seek help from the Child Care and Development Fund at www.in.gov/fssa/carefinder/child-care-assistance.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.

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