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Child care dilemma needs long-term answers

Washington Times-Herald - 4/21/2023

Apr. 20—Editor's Note: This is the third and final part of a local series on child care in Southern Indiana.

When it comes to child care in southern Indiana the consensus is there is not enough. A recent study in Pike County confirmed the conclusion that families throughout the area struggle with daily.

"It's a big time challenge. Right after my daughter was born, I was working in my salon three or four days a week. Now, I am working one day a week. That has been a big adjustment," said Elizabeth Wilkins, mother of two and an independent hair stylist. "We have a great babysitter right now, but it feels like even if your situation is good, all it takes is one thing to happen and you are back at square one and you are going, 'what am I going to do now."'

Wilkins calls child care a conundrum.

Even parents who are happy with their provider and have been able to get their kids into day care recognize the need for more.

"I am happy with what I have," said Jessica Hamden, a nurse and mother of three. "I think there needs to be more available child care. It is hard for people who have multiple kids in day care."

The Regional Opportunity Initiative states that economists have found that high quality early childhood education offers one of the highest returns on public investment with each dollar generating $4 in benefits.

Still putting child care together is much more difficult than it appears.

"Most day care providers struggle with staffing and the amount of requirements we face are part of the reason for the shortage. We are required to be CPR certified every year. We are required to have a tuberculosis test every year. We have to have fingerprints done every three years and on-going training. Sometimes as a child care provider you feel like you spend most of your day dealing with paperwork instead of the kids which takes away from the whole reason we get involved in this in the first place," said owner and operator of Rhythm and Rhyme Preschool and Daycare Kendra Dlugosz. "I think it is a full circle work force issue, community issue and family issue. It all comes back to if you don't have someplace to take your child, you can't go to work."

Many families with multiple children opt out of child care and a parent stays home until they at least enter school. That then can create a challenge for parents on after school child care. Washington Community Schools partnered with the YMCA to offer after school care at its two lower elementaries.

Currently there are 15 kids in the after school program at the primary school and 23 at the intermediate school

"I think the partnership we have with the Y is a good one," said Washington School Superintendent Kevin Frank. "They are able to use some of our school facilities, the gym, the playground and they have some computers where they work on learning loss which is something we like."

"Our learning loss prevention program is funded by the United Way of Daviess County," said Miranda Mandabach, family director at the Daviess County Family YMCA. "Our kids use tablets and chrome books and they do a program called Renaissance that is learning games for reading and math. They really enjoy it."

The after school program includes some crafts, games, study, snacks and socialization. It is also full.

"As of right now we have as many kids as we can take, based on our staffing," said Mandabach. "I know we had to turn some new people down right after the new year because we had some staff members leave. We put those people on a waiting list. We are looking to hire more staff so that we can work with more kids."

The greater issue of what to do about child care overall is an issue the community needs to at least look at.

"We have no idea about the numbers in our region. We need to get a group together and find out what our situation is. Right now, no one has a count on the availability of child care or what is needed," said Executive Director of the Martin County Alliance for Economic Development Jessica Potts.

"I think we will be looking at child care more closely in future. I think that has come to light more with us through the HELP (Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program) initiative. Child care was one of the top items that was brought up in our public engagement exercises," said Bryant Niehoff, executive director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. "To have a community, you need to be able to attract folks with the opportunity to work, live and play. We know families have to be comfortable with what they are doing with their kids while they are on the job from 9 to 5. I can speak from experience of having a young family that can be a challenge. It takes a lot of work and those options are scarce."

Even in places like Pike County where they have a feel about the need for child care, solving the issue is going to require a long-term approach.

"Our study has some recommendations for some state voucher programs and other things, cooperative type things, and perhaps private businesses offering grants," said Ashley Willis, executive director of Pike County Economic Development Corporation. "We have to address this. Is it going to be a quick fix? No. This is going to be a long-term fix, but if any community wants to grow, we are going to have to start taking small bites of the big apple."

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