May 5, 2022 at 11:59 a.m.
Grow North holds regional child care 'conversation'
Grow North holds regional child care 'conversation'
On April 29, Grow North Regional Economic Development Corporation hosted a "Community Childcare Discussion" at Nicolet College's Northwoods Center that brought county economic development directors, elected officials and child care providers together to work on formulating a solution.
Brittany Beyer, Grow North executive director, said that one of the primary missions of her organization is to help foster workforce development in the northern part of the state.
"People make the decision about not reentering the workforce because there is child care that is less than adequate for them to participate in," Beyer said, adding that child care is an overlooked component of the economy at the local, regional, state and national levels.
Gayle Wilmot, who recently closed a child care center in Rhinelander, said that those attempting to operate a center must be prepared for very little in the way of profit as they try to navigate what she called "barriers to providers."
"First of all, there is a lack of qualified employees," Wilmot said. "I think a lot of businesses feel that effect right now. We're looking to provide a quality program, and in order to do that, we need individuals who are willing to go to school, have that training, have that background."
She said staffing shortages mean that some centers cannot take six-week to 2-year-olds.
"That ratio is one teacher to four children. That ratio is a low one, which it should be for quality care," Wilmot said. "But from the business side of it, that's a very low margin which leaves the providers nothing for a profit."
Add to that the regulatory hurdles that must be cleared, the need for both early childcare education and business training, as well as a building that can pass all state requirements, and the barriers are significant.
"We're a forgotten industry," Wilmot said.
While child care centers can have a higher child to adult ratio with older students, there they are starting to run into the School District of Rhinelander's 4K program. And with more parents opting to send their 4-year-olds to some form of 4K, that's a large hit to a child care center's bottom line.
"There is no way to replace a class of ten 4-year-olds," Wilmot said, adding that parents still have to find after school and summer care for their children for when school isn't in session. This further complicates the picture for providers, she said.
And the idea that less 4-year-olds means more room for infants and toddlers is not accurate.
"It would appear that we would have more space, however, the teacher to child ratio changes dramatically," Wilmot said. "It is much more expensive for a child care center to watch infants, toddlers, onesies, twosies then it is to have a classroom of 4-year-olds."
Kelly Matthews, shared services director with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA), said that with a higher child to teacher ratio, the break even point financially for providers is lower with 4-year-olds.
"You cannot mix in 2-year-olds and make a profit," Matthews said. "When you think about child care, think about the most complicated game of Tetris you have ever played in your life, with people's livelihoods on the line."
Wilmot also pointed out that the true cost of child care "never matches what we charge the parents." Keeping quality employees at the wages the providers have to pay to keep rates affordable for parents is the biggest hurdle.
Next the group learned about the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies in the state that helps providers and those looking to open a center with everything from paperwork to grants and other initiatives to help make child care more affordable for working parents and ease provider costs.
It was also pointed out that ARPA money is being tapped to help grow child care in some parts of the state but there's a learning curve with respect to how to apply for and spend those funds.
Angie Close, Langlade County Economic Development Corporation executive director, summed up how important child care is to the local economy in the way of community development. Parents need some place to entrust their children in order to go to work, she said.
"You have to have community development before you can have economic development," Close said.
Close explained how Antigo had a center close in the fall of 2021, creating a sudden shortage of openings in the community. One of the employees of the old center spent about seven months working with Close to start a new center to replace some of the lost slots. Through an arrangement with the Antigo school district and other "partners" the woman received help with start-up costs in exchange for a certain number of "guaranteed" slots to each partner to give to their employees.
Kimber Liedl, WECA business engagement director said there are also ways that local school districts can use their Fund 80, or community service fund, to help create child care.
She said that the way government and other businesses look at child care needs to change.
"Child care is not a business, it's a public good," Liedl said.
Beyer ended the presentation by urging the attendees to become "child care advocates" and lobby their elected leaders at all levels to bring increased attention to the issue because it will take all sectors working together to even make a dent in the problem.
"This is homework for all of us," Beyer said.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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