HELENA — Childcare is a tricky issue. A conference in Helena brought together industry leaders throughout the state to address the issues faced by businesses and parents.
“For parents, it’s an expensive service. A lot of parents rely on child care. So, when they don’t have access to child care then they’re not able to participate in the workforce, which has a big impact on our local and statewide economy,” says Zero to Five Montana Executive Director Caitlin Jensen.
- RELATED: Childcare desert impacting families on Flathead Indian Reservation
- RELATED: New University of Montana childcare program focusing on Indigenous children
- RELATED: The childcare cliff is here, Missoula providers are looking for support
The Montana Child Care Business Connect Summit aims to support childcare businesses and address issues faced by the industry and parents.
Jessica Dehn owns 11 childcare centers in Montana, Washington, and North Dakota and was at the conference on Wednesday. She’s found it difficult to balance keeping her prices affordable and paying her employees a living wage, especially in cities like Bozeman.
“Wages have gone up at my facilities about 50% or more, sometimes 100% depending on the role, over the last four years. And it’s still not necessarily a living wage in Bozeman, Montana,” says Dehn.
Dehn adds that she helps bridge the affordability gap through scholarships for qualifying families, but that the funding for those scholarships comes from inside the company.
The COVID-19 relief that helped offset that burden is disappearing and she's also looking at other ways to offset costs, like partnerships with other businesses.
Dehn will be headed to Washington D.C. soon to possibly speak with lawmakers about other possible solutions.
“For the time being, I think the wins will be in the business sector more quickly, and helping government to see the state of the Montana economy is reliant upon this as well," Dehn told MTN. "I think people know that intellectually, but when it comes down to individual pocketbooks or funding like different budgets of different organizations at the state that gets more challenging."
Other organizations are also working to provide parents with additional childcare options.
The Helena Family YMCA has offered summer camps and after-school care in previous years but is preparing to launch before-school care and looking for a new space to host child care during work hours.
The YMCA supports many low-income families, saying about 56% of their after-school children receive Best Beginnings childcare scholarships.
Helena Family YMCA Senior Youth Development Director Ashley Callison says child care is an essential cornerstone of our society.
“Just that it’s really important work and it’s valuable work that I think gets overseen a lot. And people don’t realize what a vital role that child care is in families lives and in our society because that’s how parents get to work every day and someone has to care for their kiddos and help them have great experiences throughout their childhood,” says Callison.
