KEARNEY — The urgent need for childcare in communities across Nebraska has recently become the focus of civic, business, education, health care and government leaders. Central Nebraska Today sat down with the Communities for Kids, a group that aims to help answer the need.
Communities for Kids
Communities for Kids (C4K) is a part of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation partners with communities’ public and private entities to support and coordinate planning for access to high-quality early care and education for all children birth through age five.
Nebraska Children and Families Foundation invests in children from birth to young adulthood with initiatives that are focused on preventing negative life outcomes.
C4K was created in response to community requests for assistance with shortages of high-quality early care and education programs. These shortages impact children’s optimal development and pose a challenge to those communities hoping to attract and retain the workforce they need to thrive, according to C4K.
The partnerships with each community are customized to address their unique needs. C4K and Nebraska Children and Families Foundation provide expertise and coordination to support communities using a collective impact approach.
The communities that have partnered with C4K have been broken down into different cohorts and staff members serve a geographic area within the state.
- Cohort One: Columbus, Gothenburg, Grand Island, Lexington, Norfolk, Pender, Red Cloud, Schuyler and York County
- Cohort Two: Albion/Boone County, Broken Bow/Custer County, Nebraska City/Otoe County, North Platte, Ogallala/Keith County, Stuart/Holt County, Tecumseh/Johnson County, Valentine/Cherry County and Wood River
- Cohort Three: Adams County, Ainsworth/Brown County, Atkinson/Holt County, Burwell/Garfield County
Gering, City of Lincoln, Garden County, McCook/Red Willow County, Ord/Valley County and Wilcox-Hildreth - Cohort Four: Ashland-Greenwood Area, Bertrand Area, Buffalo County, Cheyenne County, Dodge County, Douglas County, Gage County, Dakota County, Giltner, Nemaha County, O’Neill/Holt County, Overton and Pawnee County
- Cohort Five: Bayard, Cedar County, Kimball County, St. Paul, Seward County, Sherman County and Spalding
- Cohort Six: Central City, Falls City and Wheeler County
Shonna Werth, Assistant Vice President of Early Childhood, oversees the Tri-Cities area and portions south central Nebraska.
Werth has led the C4K work in the Lexington area with a focus on early childhood workforce, quality building, and increasing capacity for low-income families.
For the past 14 years, she worked in central and western Nebraska as a Child Care Inspection Specialist for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The Need
Werth met with Central Nebraska Today and noted the sixth annual Thriving Children, Families, and Communities Conference had been held last month in Kearney and it focused on the importance of quality early childhood care and education for children and families in the state.
It was noted that 91 percent of counites do not have enough available licensed childcare slots to meet current demand and 11 counties lack a single licensed provider, according to the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
According to Child Care in State Economic update from 2019, there has been a 20 percent decrease in family childcare homes since 2010, resulting in fewer choices, including lower costing options, for families.
Werth said communities across the region have begun to take their own steps to address the childcare shortage and highlighted several as examples.
She noted every community is approaching the problem in a different way that reflects their needs and current resources.
The Work
In Buffalo County, there has been a focus on childcare champions. There are four to five current childcare providers who are contracted to help with outreach to those who are looking to enter the childcare profession.
Werth said this model has been “very successful,” in helping to guide those who are starting the process of getting licensed with the state.
In Adams County the focus has been on empowering local providers to partner with employers whose employees need childcare services. Werth also noted there is an active group help to train in Spanish.
Other groups are approaching their local governments to help fund childcare services. St. Paul recently allocated $50,000 for five years from their Keno funds for childcare, while Central City also moved to provide funds, Werth said.
Sherman County recently purchased a building for an early learning development center and are undertaking a capital campaign to remodel the space.
In Dawson County, the Impact Center is currently under construction in Gothenburg.
The facility aims to answer the community’s needs and will include an Early Learning Center, a Healthy Families Center, Sports Training Center and Event Center.
“Currently, there are no open spots for infants with Gothenburg’s licensed childcare providers, and the waiting list is nearly a year long. That means, by the time the parents find out they are expecting, it is already too late to find a spot for that baby,” per the Impact Center website.
Werth said in Overton, they are close to breaking ground on the Little Eagles Learning Center.
The facility was originally envisioned as a childcare center, but due to the DHHS requirements it was changed to be a duplex with two in-home childcare providers with a total capacity of 24 children.
Lexington faces its own unique demands as the community is 60 percent Hispanic or Latino with a substantial number of Spanish speakers.
Werth said there will be eight new bilingual providers who will finish up their training in April. Trainings have been offered in Spanish with native speakers helping trainees as they progress.
While Cozad is not a C4K community, Werth said Gothenburg based Learning Adventures Child Care Centers is working to open a daycare in the former North Elementary Building.
There are currently 30 children, including 12 infants, on waiting lists to access childcare in Cozad. Many parents must travel outside of town to access childcare, the Cozad Development Corporation (CDC) stated.
Bertrand joined with C4K in mid-2021 and recently opened the Little Vikings Daycare in the basement of the Bertrand Methodist Church.
The Bertrand church is not the first to open their space for childcare. Other churches have taken including the Gothenburg UMC hosting Learning Adventures Child Care Center in 2015 and the Lexington UMC hosting a branch of Learning Adventures in June 2020.
Eustis is a community that was recently selected to partner with C4K in March.
“The Eustis C4K Committee completed its orientation meeting February 16. There, the committee discussed the Eustis area’s access to quality childcare and educational opportunities, and how to invest in the legacy of Eustis, with community partners, to support families, businesses and the community,” C4K stated in a March 2023 press release.
“More than 55 percent of respondents currently using or seeking childcare indicated that it was difficult to find a childcare provider locally, citing lack of availability as their biggest barrier. Almost 90 percent of parents would prefer their childcare in Eustis,” C4K stated.
Werth said the Eustis group is being thoughtful about not only childcare but the need for housing in their town as well.
Minden is another community that was recently selected for the C4K Initiative.
“The Minden C4K team held an orientation meeting on June 20th at the Minden High School Media Center,” C4K stated.
Werth said their team has been aided by the fact that the City of Minden and Minden school board signed resolutions supporting their work.
Werth restated the importance of the fact that each community is working to tackle the childcare issue in a way that best fits their needs and resources, she said the whole purpose of C4K is to help them find solutions.
