COLUMBIA − The lack of affordability and access to child care isn’t a foreign concept to Missourians.
On Wednesday, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, Columbia Chamber of Commerce and representatives of MU jointly held a child care forum.
Panelists for the forum included Rep. Brenda Shields (R–St. Joseph); Alex Tuttle, legislative budget director for Gov. Mike Parson; Brenda Lohman, chair of MU’s Human Development and Family Science; and Chris Riley, dean of MU’s College of Education and Human Development.
The panel was moderated by Kara Corches, the vice president of Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The state leaders said they wanted to hold the forum to inform community leaders what measures the state is taking to address child care issues.
During the forum, many discussed how fixing the child care crisis is also important to employees as much as it is to children.
“Business owners want to be able to have security, that their employees can come to work everyday,” Shields said.
Child care issues in the state results in an estimated $1.35 billion loss annually for Missouri’s economy, according to a report from the Missouri chamber.
Shields and Tuttle are behind efforts to pass legislation to combat these issues. Last session, Shields introduced a bill that would have authorized child care providers to receive up to 75% of their child care costs in tax credits.
The package included three tax credits: Child Care Contribution, Employer-Provided Child Care Assistance and Child Care Providers.
While the tax credit package did not pass, the state representative claims it was because of a late start in waiting for the governor’s State of the State address.
According to the chamber’s report, 9% of Missouri parents voluntarily left a job due to child care issues.
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“The ability for employees to come to work relies on child care facilities,” Corches said.
On the local side of things, Tiger Tots is one of few early developmental programs that attended the forum. Owner Paul Prevo said he’s looking to work with leaders to increase child care accessibility.
The preschool, which serves around 320 students every year, helps around 45% of families in the Columbia area, and 12% of those come from foster homes, according to Prevo.
“Everybody needs to have equal access to a strong early childhood start because the most formative years for a child are birth to 5 years old,” Prevo said.
Prevo says during the pandemic, Tiger Tots prided itself on staying open everyday to help families in dire need.
“So we do everything we can,” Prevo said. “When the state increased their subsidy rate, we actually lowered what we charge our families for their parent portion, rather than taking the difference as additional profit.”
C&S Employment Solutions works with the Jefferson City Chamber Workforce Coalition to educate businesses of child care providers’ needs and helps to better equip childcare centers.
“A pilot program we’ve started is matching up businesses with child care centers looking for immediate relief,” Paula Benne, owner of C&S Employment Solutions, said. “It’s a lifeline.”
On a day-to-day basis, Benne says C&S Employment Solutions works as a last-ditch effort to child care centers that need equipment or solutions to remain open and help the community.
During the forum, the overall message was how more communication is needed across the state. When asked Benne what needs to be done for efforts to get better she says, “Exactly what we’re doing today.”
“We need to continue to push our businesses and community understanding further to be able to help our child care centers deal with their issues,” Benne said.