Around 30 Individuals In Various Roles In Business Industry Attended Carroll County Growth Partnership’s Childcare And Workforce Informative Session This Afternoon

Carroll County Growth Partnership (CCGP) hosted a free informative session this afternoon (Tuesday) at Western Iowa Networks on the statistics involving childcare and the workforce. The data came from the 2023 Iowa Child Care Workforce Study, conducted by an advisory group consisting of individuals from Iowa’s Department of Health And Human Services (HHS), Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R), Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), Early Childhood Iowa and a study team from Iowa’s Integrated Data System for Decision-Making (i2d2). The group sent out surveys and conducted focus groups with over 5,000 residents in Iowa. Ashley Otte, Director of Workforce Initiatives for the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children (Iowa AEYC), says three main findings were presented in the results.

Many dedicated childcare providers, particularly those operating from home, are facing significant challenges. They are often required to supplement their income or receive benefits with a second job, spouse income or state assistance. The statewide median wage was $14.00 per hour for childcare workers with $19.00 for the directors. Cindy Duhrkopf, Area Director at Partnerships 4 Families, shared that there are 10 current licensed childcare facilities within Carroll County, with five centers highlighting the staffing shortages as a clear indicator of the limited spots available.

The findings of this study were discussed with the Iowa Workforce Advisory Team, which unanimously agreed that ‘Iowa businesses cannot be productive if their workers do not have access to child care, and our child care providers cannot provide care if they cannot find staff.’ The following recommendations were made to improve childcare throughout the state: raise wages for child care workers by implementing a pay equality with the K-12 school system for teachers in childcare with equivalent qualifications, access to benefits with statewide support, support good work environment by encouraging best practice, ensure Iowa has system for collecting ongoing data, and clarify and misunderstandings about current programs that support child care businesses like T.E.A.C.H or WAGE$. CCGP, Partnerships 4 Familes and Iowa AEYC extend their gratitude to everyone that came out to listen to the statistics, emphasizing that by understanding the problem, everyone can come together to work on the solution. The full study can be found with the link included below.