“Miami County is facing a shortage of childcare that will affect this generation of children for a long time,” Matsunami said.
“But this is an issue that impacts families at the county, state and national levels. We have found that the families most impacted by a lack of childcare are the families that need publicly funded childcare, families that have a child with special needs, families that need second, third and weekend shift care and families with infants and toddlers,” she said.
The childcare situation has been the focus of needs assessments in Troy and more recently countywide.
A needs assessment report by Management Resources sponsored by Miami County and its Community Improvement Corp. was discussed by consultants earlier this month with county workforce development and government leaders. Among the top three needs again was childcare along with transportation and housing.
Recommendations made by consultants will be discussed further, including in a public presentation. The date for the presentation has not been set.
Miami County also has been working for more than 18 months with 4C for Children on exploring options for increased childcare offerings in the county. That project is being paid for using county American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding.
Some progress has been made, but the decision was made recently to return around $200,000 of the more than $340,000 in ARPA funds to the county for a different approach. The funds likely will be handled through the county CIC to work directly with contractors for facility upgrades instead of working with providers, said Richard Osgood, county development director.
Under the original concept, funds provided 4C for Childcare were used to work with current and future childcare providers either in homes or in centers to help them get the raining, education and resources needed to maintain and expand programs.
The county is appreciative of Childcare’s Choice’s continued advocacy, said Michael Clarey, chief administrative officer for the county commissioners.
“As our soon-to-be-published Workforce Needs Assessment has shown, childcare is an urgent issue,” Clarey said, noting the county met with Childcare Choices in October and hopes to see that organization also “step up to the plate.”
“It’s encouraging to see them getting more involved in the public-facing dialogue,” he said.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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