United Way to hold child care 'community conversations'

Kokomo Tribune - 2/26/2024

Feb. 26—The United Way of Howard and Tipton Counties has been awarded more than half a million in grant funds the organization will use to launch a community survey in an effort to find and implement "micro-solutions" to local child care issues.

Last month, the United Way received $568,579 from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration as part of the agency's second round of employer-focused child care grants. Funding comes from the state's remaining federal COVID-19 relief funds.

The nonprofit was one of the dozens to receive a grant, which aims to "create or expand child care offerings that address the needs of working Hoosiers."

The Tribune previously reported that school corporations, such as Western School Corporation and Maconaquah School Corporation, also received money from the program and will be using it to either establish on-site child care for its employees or bolster its already in place before- and after-school child care programs.

The United Way is taking a different, multi-prong approach with their grant.

The nonprofit will be hiring 30 to 70 interns and training them to "proficiently co-facilitate conversations that uncover barriers and surface target solutions based on specific employee and employer needs."

Those interns will hold 90 to 100 community conversations throughout the year, aiming to reach thousands of employees in the county's top industries. These events will feature free food and $25 gift cards to incentivize participation.

Specifically, the organization looks to survey between 5,750 to 11,000 households across all nine county townships that are most likely to have younger children to gather information on barriers they face when it comes to child care.

Lastly, an advisory action group made up of parents, elected officials, business leaders and more will meet up to 14 times this year and by the end of the year come up with possible solutions and possibly more grants to chase and action to take.

In all, the nearly yearlong program is about listening to both employers and employees to come up with specific solutions specific problems.

The grant money won't fix the county's macro child care issues — whether that be a workforce shortage of daycare workers or cost — but the nonprofit hopes the community conversations and final report can solve some smaller, specific issues.

That could include a company adjusting absentee policies or allowing flexible work schedules.

"We want to know what are your barriers?" Lorelei Walker, senior director community resilience at United Way, said. "We know what the problem is, but we don't want to assume the solution ... If you don't listen, it's a swing and miss."

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.

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