The (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star (TNS)
Quality, affordable child care is necessary to properly support working families.
Without child care, a family’s earnings decrease.
Without child care, most women choose to stay home instead of contributing to the local economy.
Without solid child care resources, cities and towns can’t attract and retain long-term business investments.
Without child care, a family’s quality of life suffers.
Without a reliable child care system, the quality of life of every resident of a community suffers.
Now there’s a comprehensive plan for west-central Indiana to help prevent these unfortunate circumstances.
Last week, regional partners and stakeholders announced completion of the Grow Up IN West Central Indiana strategic plan, a collaborative effort aimed at enhancing early childhood education and child care across the region.
A press conference highlighted the plan’s completion and its mission to bolster child care in Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties.
Funded by the Lilly Endowment’s College and Community Collaboration grant, the initiative was led by Indiana State University and Ivy Tech Terre Haute, with assistance from the West Central Indiana Partnership under the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, which will oversee its implementation.
Now, a regional task force is being formed that will implement the plan that along with expanding access to care, will foster partnerships with employers, expand early childhood education and generate funding.
Data shows that 5,446 children under age 6 in Vigo County may be in need of child care, while the total licensed capacity is for only 3,139 children, according to Brighter Futures Indiana.
That’s a huge capacity to do better.
In addition, in Vigo County, average high-quality care costs about $140 per week, representing nearly 14% of household income. (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends child care costs not exceed 7%.)
Additionally, 1,495 people could join the local workforce if safe, reliable, and quality child care were available, according to the Grow Up plan.
But that’s not all. Since before the plan was announced, additional efforts have been moving forward to create more child care resources in the region.
With help of American Rescue Plan Act funds, approved by both the Vigo County and Terre Haute City councils, READI funding, and a Lilly Endowment grant, and more through other sources, ISU is renovating its Chestnut Building to house its Early Childhood Education Development Center. The move has many benefits, including an updated facility as well as added capacity for high-quality child care serving both ISU and the community.
In addition to the Early Childhood Center, Brandon Halleck, chief operating officer of Chances and Services for Youth, is in what he calls “the homestretch” in his mission to raise $6.8 million to open a child care facility on the city’s east side.
Halleck has already purchased a warehouse not far from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology that will soon undergo renovations to convert it to a child care facility.
Halleck’s facility, when completed, will accommodate 192 children from 6-week-olds to 5-year-olds.
In a new BestColleges survey of 759 American parents or guardians of at least one child under age 18, 40% have had to sacrifice something in life because of inadequate access to child care.
Now, because of these local efforts, people in the Wabash Valley and beyond will have much less to sacrifice.
