Access to quality child care is a priority for Buffalo Co. Community Partners | 1340 KGFW

Children at play (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)

KEARNEY — Access to quality child care has long been a pressing issue for parents across the state. At the local level, it is one of many issues that community partners in Buffalo County have focused on.

Buffalo County Community Partners (BCCP) is a nonprofit organization based in Kearney. Founded in 1996 by a group of 25 community stakeholders interested in building a healthier Buffalo County.

“Community Partners identifies issues that impact community well-being and addresses those issues by collecting and evaluating data and facilitating conversations among stakeholders and community members,” the BCCP website states.

“We build relationships and gather collective experiences to implement innovative solutions. We are uniquely positioned to do this work because we can dedicate the time, have access to critical resources, and have the experience to arrive at a solution,” BCCP said.

One of the critical resources Buffalo County needs is access to quality child care.

Tana Miller, BCCP behavioral health coordinator, said the region has a great child care system that goes above and beyond for children and families, but the number of people seeking that care is greater than current capacity.

Miller said that currently, one in four children in the region does not have access to quality child care.

“A quality child care center provides children with supportive, caring relationships with trusted teachers and positive, diverse learning experiences. For children ages birth to five, quality child care can ensure your child is ready for school. During these early years, children’s brains are developing rapidly,” according to Find Child Care.gov.

It was noted that Buffalo County is a partner in Communities for Kids, an initiative aimed at helping our community address child care shortages by creating construction opportunities, improving the quality of child care and increasing accessibility for parents.

Denise Zwiener, executive director of BCCP, said that following community conversations in 2017, the organization began investigating access to high-quality child care in the county.

Buffalo County Community Partners, Courtesy

Miller said a collaborative project has been formed that focuses on developing children’s social-emotional skills.

She stressed that one part of the BCCP’s work is to create spaces for conversation within the community to discuss where things are falling short or what is being done well.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region in 2020, it proved to be a transformative time, as child care providers could directly participate in the conversation via Zoom meetings and share their needs and concerns, Miller said.

Zwiener also discovered various obstacles that suppliers faced, such as the fact that many only had their smartphones for Zoom meetings. BCCP worked to provide suppliers with laptops so they could attend meetings from a platform other than their phones, which they needed throughout the day for their business.

In 2022, BCCP launched its Childcare Champions program, which paired experienced child care providers with those interested in entering the field and provided them with education and awareness of the licensing process through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

The Champions programme also encouraged providers to adopt programmes such as Rooted in Relationships, Step Up to Quality and Sixpence.

Rooted in Relationships is an initiative that partners with communities to implement evidence-based practices that improve the social-emotional development of children from birth to age eight, according to Rooted in Relationships in Buffalo County.

Step Up to Quality recognizes the lifelong positive impact that quality early childhood programs can have on young children and their families and partners with providers to recognize and improve quality, according to the Nebraska Preschool Development Grant.

“Sixpence provides funding and technical advice to high-quality early childhood programs that meet the unique needs of children from prenatal to age 3, with a particular focus on services for unborn children, infants and toddlers who are most likely to experience challenges in their healthy physical, cognitive and social development, putting them at risk for difficulties in school and life,” according to the Sixpence Early Learning Fund.

In addition to helping new providers, the BCCP Champions program also provided child care providers with a way to network and provided newcomers to the field with a place to find mentors and advice.

Zwiener said that since the program launched in 2022, they have helped add 186 additional child care spots in the county. Miller noted that many of the new spots created have been through new in-home daycares.

At a recent Buffalo County Commissioners meeting, BCCP received $40,000 in American Rescue Plan funds that will be used to continue addressing the lack of child care options in the area.

Asked about long-time home care providers who could be retiring, Miller said it’s something the BCCP has seen in more rural communities. There are several providers who have been in the sector for years who could be leaving around the same time.

Zwiener said that’s something Miller has focused on, engaging with rural communities in Buffalo County and having conversations about early childhood, which includes child care, preschool and more.

Miller and Zwiener noted that Elm Creek, Ravenna and Pleasanton will join Communities for Kids, as will many other rural communities in central Nebraska, including Bertrand, Overton, Eustis and others.

Zwiener said the three Buffalo County communities are in the early stages of conversation, gauging resident buy-in and figuring out what will work best for their community.

BCCP’s work in early child care mirrors its other efforts to keep children out of the juvenile justice system, child and family health and mental health care, housing and food security, Zwiener noted, saying all of these have broader community benefits.

The benefits to the wider community of having access to quality child care are numerous.

Mike Feeken, strategic partnership advisor with First Five Nebraska, spoke in Overton about the impacts of the child care shortage in the country.

First Five Nebraska was established in 2011 as the state’s first organization focused on advancing early childhood care and learning opportunities through policy change, strategic partnerships and public education, according to their website.

Feeken said he views child care from an economic development perspective, noting that “today’s workers need child care, tomorrow’s workers are in child care.”

Speaking of child care, Feeken says he often gets comments from people who say they don’t need to worry about it because they don’t have children old enough to require child care.

To this, Feeken always responds: “Everyone depends on someone who depends on them for the care of their children.”

He said that while one may not necessarily be concerned about child care, a business one frequents, an employee, one’s child’s teacher, etc. may be heavily reliant on child care options.

He also asked the question: If working parents struggle to find quality child care, what happens if they drop out of the workforce?

Feeken said there are more than 35,000 unfilled jobs in Nebraska, which is a serious obstacle to local and national economic growth.

The United States loses $122 billion in income, productivity, and revenue due to limited access to child care options for working parents.

Feeken said child care is considered affordable if it represents 7 percent or less of a family’s total income. According to First Five Nebraska’s calculations, Nebraskans spend about 13 percent of their total income, which is “not affordable,” he said.

According to Center Based Infant Care, Overton and Elm Creek residents spend 16 percent on child care, Kearney 14 percent and Lexington 18 percent.

Feeken also said that “price does not equal cost” when it comes to child care. He stressed that they can’t follow the usual pricing model because they have to start with what parents can afford.

Child care workers typically earn half of what other workers in Nebraska earn, Feeken said.

According to a study by First Five, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the Bureau of Business Research, the total direct loss due to inadequate child care is $489,383,432. The loss to businesses is $234,372,147 and the total loss to the state is $744,856,386.

Feeken said this study was conducted in 2019, so the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath likely increased those numbers.

As for the BCCP, it plans to organize a future community conversation on child care at a date to be announced soon.