Child care has became an important topic for communities around the country. In fact, it was a priority identified by attendees at our last Regional Leader's Retreat. The Chamber organized a child care taskforce that has been working to develop community solutions geared toward increasing capacity for child care slots, assisting current facilities with workforce challenges, and increasing support services.
In the short-term, the Child Care Taskforce wants to assist in elevating the child care professionals in our community. With that, they will be hosting a Manhattan Child Care Appreciation event at Meadowlark Hills on Sunday, May 1. As a parent or business owner you can honor the valuable work of a child care facility, teacher, or family child care facility by nominating them to be recognized. The nomination form is here.
According to Child Care Aware of Kansas, when investments are made in early childhood education, there are short-term and long-term benefits:
- A more sizable workforce, because child care enables parents (especially mothers) to participate in the workforce.
- Increase parent (workforce) productivity due to lower employee turnover, reduced tardiness and absenteeism, higher employee morale and commitment, lower training and recruiting costs and increased employee performance.
- A future workforce with the skills needed to compete in the 21st Century.
- A reduction of public expenditures on remedial education, criminal justice, and public assistance programs.
- Increased job growth
- Research tells us that children enrolled in quality early childhood education programs in the first five years of life are most likely to be ready for school and in a highly skilled job or in college by age 21.
We appreciate the work of this task force and look forward to solutions to our pressing child care needs.