Wayne County business leaders seem to constantly discuss the need for child care. While conversations reflect this need, more importantly, studies and surveys confirm that child care is needed in Wayne County and state-wide. 

According to the State of Indiana FSSA, “in most Indiana communities, the demand for early care outweighs the supply.  Approximately, four out of 10 children live in a child care desert.”  A child care desert is a name for an area that has none or limited child care facilities.

In 2022, the Richmond Family YMCA Board of Directors commissioned a Market Study for strategic planning purposes. Personal donations and a grant from the Wayne County Foundation helped finance the Market Study. The number one need reflected in the report was the need for early learning child care.

Out of the 600 people interviewed, the study showed there were close to 200 children needing services of an early learning center.  The market study covered Union County and Wayne County.  The study reflected that the largest need was the west side of Richmond and Union County.

Challenges

Providers face the challenge of a long approval process with newly hired employees..  On average, it can take 2 weeks to receive the final approval for an employee to begin working in a licensed center with children.

Other challenges are based on how to keep the cost low for families and pay our staff a livable wage. Every child care provider desires to help families and their staff. The challenge is what is the best approach. 

Next Steps

Local early learning facilities are continuing to look at ways to respond to the need.  To name just a few of the expanded services:

• Oak Park Early Learning continues to expand their services,
• All God’s Children expanded into a new location,
• Central United Methodist is opening a preschool program in August, and
• YMCA opening a new early learning center in the Fall 2024.

The YMCA began planning a long-term approach on responding to this need.  A partnership was formed with Northeastern School Corporation.  We began offering after school care to the PreK students and school age students in the 2022-24 school year.

With the assistance of the Wayne County HELP funding, we are pleased to share that a new Early Learning Center will be opening in the Fall of 2024.  We will be serving infants to age 4 at the new west side location.

Moving Forward

Once we all acknowledge that providing reliable child care is an economic development issue, then the better we can address some of the opportunities or challenges.  Employees need to be able to focus on working and providing for their families.  Ensuring child care is available will ease the minds of families and create a safe place for young children to learn and grow.

Any provider I have met cares deeply for the children and families they serve.  Several of the providers communicate regularly with one another and strive to refer families to each other.  Each provider works to meet the needs to the best of their ability and make a difference in the lives of children.

Wayne County, let’s continue to work through the needs and address them for the benefit of our workforce development’s future.

The post The State for Child Care in Wayne County appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

As Forward Wayne County continues to focus on early childhood success, this blog is providing an overview of the Regional Birth to Five Coalition.

Special thanks to Jeri McCorkle, TRAC Program Manager, and Theresa Lindsey, Wayne County EDC Business and Workforce Development Manager, for providing information.

Coalition Beginnings

The concept of a Regional Birth to Five Coalition has traceable origins going back to when East Central Indiana (ECI) stakeholders realized the value of early childhood learning (ECL). Fast forward to 2021, when the East Central Indiana Talent Collaborative (ECITC) was formed to help advance regional initiatives.

One of those initiatives was birth to five programming. Thus, the Regional Birth to Five Coalition was created to help address gaps in ECL throughout the region. The group comprises several like-minded professionals, from childcare experts to nonprofit and community leaders.

In 2021, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation launched the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI). East Central Indiana was one of the many state regions that received millions of dollars of funding from READI. From East Central Indiana’s allocation, $1.5 million was awarded to ECITC to help advance the Regional Birth to Five Coalition.

Mission and Programs

As part of its mission, the Regional Birth to Five Coalition works to ensure that early learning professionals are provided with quality learning opportunities and experiences. To that end, the group collaborated to create the Regional Training, Resource, and Advocacy Connector (TRAC). Jerri McCorkle is the TRAC Program Manager.

“TRAC is the result of the Regional Birth to Five Coalition’s deeply rooted commitment to long-term growth in the region and throughout the state. Our grassroots efforts support ECL providers who then support every sector in the region by ensuring that parents and family members can go to work.”

The program aims to give early learning providers access to quality resources and training while encouraging others to pursue careers in ECL. Additionally, TRAC engages with employers and policymakers to advocate for the importance of ECL programs.

The goal of TRAC is to become a model for training and resources for families and ECL professionals to rely on.

Another focus area of TRAC is to support the early learning sector of ECI communities. The goal is to increase that sector’s capacity to support a thriving and productive workforce. To that end, there is a TRAC County Coordinator in every county. In Wayne County, the TRAC County Coordinator is Dani Arthur. She serves Wayne County and helps connect local early care organizations to various resources, funding opportunities, and access to a monthly newsletter dedicated to early care and learning.

Regional and Local Impacts

Since its implementation, the TRAC program has had numerous regional impacts. In May, $210,000 in funding was awarded to 22 early care and learning projects by the Regional Activity Support Committee. This is a committee of the Regional Birth to Five Coalition. Some projects include facility improvements, learning materials, outdoor play spaces, and more. Each application went through a rigorous and in-depth evaluation process. Forward Wayne County Program Director Acacia St. John serves as the Regional Activity Support Chair.

“The Regional Birth to Five Coalition received more than 40 applications and were excited to award much-needed funds to 22 groups throughout eight counties.”

Wayne County early learning centers received a portion of the grant funding through TRAC. $27,909 was allocated to Oak Park Learning Academy and Old Richmond Daycare and Preschool to support S.T.E.A.M. learning curriculum and develop outdoor learning spaces.

 The EDC of Wayne County, in partnership with Eastern Indiana Works, received funding from TRAC to support two centrally located onboarding/orientation sessions for incoming early childhood employees. This training program will gather potential hires and interested persons to participate in the requisite I LEAD sections, CPR, and First Aid, under the direction of an experienced early childhood director.  Early childhood care and education providers will send potential hires for this comprehensive training to JUMP START the employee for effective and longer lasting employment.  The EDC and Eastern Indiana Works will actively recruit interested participants from the community and local adult education programs such as the Excel Center, Eastern Indiana Works, Richmond Adult Education, Ivy Tech, and IU East.  

Along with grantmaking, TRAC provided scholarships to childcare providers to attend state-level conferences. This year, the program has also continued its advocacy for early care learning, with presentations given to policymakers at every level of government.

Next Steps

The Regional Birth to Five Coalition plans to continue developing TRAC. The group developed a strategic plan for the program through 2026. During this time, Trac will offer more specified training to families and ECL providers while looking for ways to reduce onboarding costs and difficulties. Plans are also in place to build more partnerships with local stakeholders to grow the coalition at the community and regional levels.

TRAC and the coalition have invested over 500 hours and $210,000 back into the ECL systems, helping to ensure continual growth for our children, our programs, and our region,” said Jeri.

For more information on TRAC, contact Jeri McCorkle at jeri.mccorkle@bsu.edu.

The post The Regional Birth to Five Coalition appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

As Forward Wayne County begins to focus on Early Childhood Success, we will discuss the importance of early learning and some of the many resources residents have at their disposal.  

Importance of Early Learning 

Several studies have found that children’s brains develop the most during the first five years of life. The brain also develops more rapidly during this period than at any other point in life. By the time a child reaches the age of five, 90% of its brain has already developed.  

Research shows that children need a solid foundation of education during their earliest years. This requires a variety of teaching methods and resources, and parents must actively use them. 

Wayne County has several organizations and programs that can help nurture early childhood learning.  

Connections, Data, and Referrals   

Various statewide organizations offer online early childhood development services and data for families. The Child Care Resource and Referral Network, Brighter Futures Indiana, the Office of Early Childhood, and the Office of Out-of-School Learning are three of those organizations. 

Child Care Resource and Referral Network provides families, providers, and community members with a multitude of services. This includes child care referrals, educational opportunities, networking, and connections to beneficial resources. The Network actively serves Wayne County.

Brighter Futures Indiana is the family-focused piece of the Child Care Resource and Referral Network. It gives families a wealth of information and programs to help their children succeed. Their offerings include assistance with finding childcare, connections to government/nonprofit resources, and options for financial assistance. Additionally, Brighter Futures supports a comprehensive data center with metrics dealing with all things early learning and childcare. 

For more information on the Child Care Resources and Referral Network, email Jennifer Lee at jlee@casyonline.org.

The Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning is a division of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. It oversees the Child Care Resource and Referral Network, Child Care and Development Fund, and provider licensing. The Office also hosts Child Care Finder, an online database of providers from across the state.

Child Care Finder is available to help families find child care centers licensed or registered with the state of Indiana. Families can also find information about provider inspection reports.

Family Support  

Raising a child sometimes requires support from people outside of the family. Birth to Five is a Wayne County organization that can give parents the support their children need in early learning. They focus on empowering parents to act as teachers and advocates for their kids.  

One of Birth to Five’s many programs is Parents as Teachers. This approach teaches parents about early childhood development and best practices to help them prepare their children for life. The program also provides support in identifying developmental delays and other health issues.  

Birth to Five offers personalized home visits, group events, developmental screenings, and community resource networking. It also supports other childcare providers in the community.  

Childhood Literacy  

Childhood literacy is critical to early development. It is an important skill that will help kids when they enter elementary school. Those looking for local literacy programs can turn to Every Child Can Read and Morrisson-Reeves Library.  

Every Child Can Read is a local nonprofit that promotes early childhood literacy in the community. One of the organization’s programs, K-Ready, offers parents free age-appropriate books to read to their kids. Thanks to a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, families can receive 12 free books each month.  

Morrisson-Reeves Library features several programs and events geared toward young readers. The Library’s Youth Services provides all types of experiences for kids looking to read their first book. Check out MRL’s online calendar for every event. There is also the Summer Reading Program, which runs from June 1st to July 27th.  

If someone is looking for an outdoor excursion, they may want to check out StoryWalk. This immersive experience through Morrisson-Reeves allows parents to take their kids on a reading journey. StoryWalk is available at Mary Schott Park and Hayes Arboretum.   

Museum Programs 

There are also early childhood learning programs through local museums. The Joseph Moore Museum hosts Little Explorers every Wednesday and features a new weekly theme. Additionally, the Wayne County Historical Museum puts on educational programming for younger audiences.

As you can see, Wayne County is full of early childhood learning organizations and programs. The key is being aware of what is available to parents. There is no shortage of options in the community.

The post Early Childhood Learning Resources in Wayne County appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

I absolutely love that Forward Wayne County has set aside the month of May to recognize the importance of Early Childhood Education. Yes, I am partial! As founder and executive director of Oak Park Early Learning Academy, I truly believe that early childhood education and educators are vital for building stronger communities.

This was not always my personal stance.

My professional career began as a middle school teacher in British Columbia, Canada, and I believed that strong elementary and secondary education were the most important years in children’s lives. When my husband and I moved to Richmond eleven years ago to pastor Oak Park Church, young families called our church weekly during our first year asking whether we’d reopen the church’s former childcare program.

Facing the Childcare Desert

Early childhood education – its value and need – was not on our radar. And, yet the persistent calls led me to investigate. After researching our city’s childcare programs, I realized that Richmond was a childcare desert, meaning that Richmond had limited options for affordable and quality childcare. There were simply too few childcare providers and/or their capacity was insufficient to meet the needs of families with young children.

Other factors that can create childcare deserts are limited transportation access to get to/from childcare providers, and even low wages for childcare employees. Low wages make it difficult to attract and retain qualified staff.

Unfortunately, the consequences of childcare deserts can be significant. Families may have to choose between leaving the workforce to care for their children or selecting childcare alternatives that may or may not be the best option. Parents that must leave their jobs to care for children significantly impact household income, and perhaps their financial stability.

At a community level, childcare deserts affect the workforce and limit economic mobility. For instance, Richmond’s businesses may experience a reduced workforce and/or employees with excessive absenteeism.

Finally, childcare deserts impact young children! Children may miss critical early learning experiences that impact future academic and social-emotional development.

Quality and Affordability

Truly, I value both!  After raising four children in an expensive location, my husband and I were always stretching our household income, prioritizing family needs, and were often forced to make challenging money decisions. When it came to our children, however, we never wanted to lessen quality because childcare costs were too high.

Richmond’s young families feel exactly the same way!

When I started Oak Park Early Learning, I determined that our childcare ministry’s goals were to provide both quality and affordability. Thankfully, Indiana has multiple programs that help childcare programs reach these goals. Our state operates a childcare rating system, known as Paths to Quality. Through Paths to Quality, programs are rated annually following an inspection of their facility, learning environment, curriculum, and teacher qualifications.

Indiana also operates two programs that subsidize childcare costs for low-income households. These programs, the Child Care Development Fund and On My Way Pre-K programs, support families by covering up to 95% of the weekly childcare tuition rates.  This is a tremendous blessing to both parents and children! Lastly, childcare programs may participate in Indiana’s Child and Adult Care Food Program, which subsidizes the cost to provide nutritious meals and snacks for enrolled children.

Why High-Quality Matters

Quality in early childhood education is incredibly important because it has a significant impact on the growth and development of young children. Early learning experiences support brain development, school readiness, even long-term academic, physical, and social-emotional outcomes. Quality early childhood education programs have also helped reduce disparities in outcomes between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It levels the playing field and ensures that all children have an opportunity to succeed!

The early years of a child’s life are critical for building a strong foundation for future success. Quality early childhood education programs support early learning and development, which leads to better outcomes later in life.

Better outcomes later in life are also good for Richmond and Wayne County! Investing in early childhood education provides a high return on investment dollars as it helps build stronger individuals for a stronger, more vibrant, and qualified future workforce.

——-

Dani Arthur is the founder and executive director of Oak Park Early Learning Academy. Alongside her husband, Rev. Kevin Arthur, they have pastored Oak Park Church for the past eleven years. While filling a wide range of ministerial roles, they have resided in western Canada, Washington, Florida, California, and Indiana. Dani graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education, specializing in Reading and Learning Disabilities. Today, she is completing a Certificate in Early Education Leadership through Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Bottom line: Children are her inspiration!

The post The Need of Early Childhood Education appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

It’s likely that you’ve heard this adage once or twice – especially if you have a young child of your own. However, not every parent or guardian has the same support system or “village” to help them. Luckily, there are resources available for parents in Wayne County to help ensure that children grow and develop into healthy, functioning members of society.

Birth to Five

Birth to Five is a non-profit organization that offers free services for families with young children. These services include personalized home visits, developmental screenings, group events, and more.

One such service are the personalized home visits that Birth to Five provides, which gives information on milestones for each age from and examples of activities in order to meet said milestones. They empower parents to understand the milestones that children need to meet and give the tools to do so.

Birth to Five also helps connect families with programs and agencies to help create a support network and offers playgroups for children.

Early Childhood Coalition

The Early Childhood Coalition for Wayne County Kids is a coalition of Forward Wayne County. It brings together any organization or person who works with, supports, cares about young children. They work to raise awareness about the difference that child care, preschool and/or pre-K can make in a child’s life.

In addition, they are helping Forward Wayne County’s Employability Coalition promote early childhood careers. There are many job openings for early childhood workers in Wayne County. And wages increase when a worker has the child development associate credential.

The Early Childhood Coalition shares information publicly on their Facebook page. From highlighting child-centric events to resources for assistance, the ECC is an excellent resource for all parents!

Brighter Futures Indiana

While not centered in Wayne County, Brighter Futures Indiana is another excellent resource for families with children. Brighter Futures believes that a parent is a child’s first and best teacher, and provides programs and resources to aid parents.

On their website, parents can also find pages for a variety of subjects, including how to select the best childcare facility or how to find financial support. Brighter Futures is also involved with Indiana’s Build, Learn, Grow program. This program creates new learning opportunities through building child care infrastructure. Beyond these resources, their blog is also full of enriching activities for children.

The Paths to QUALITY (PTQ) program is another program that Brighter Futures facilitates. This program assists child care professionals in creating high quality learning environments with tools and support. In turn, the Indiana Early Learning Advisory Committee uses Paths to QUALITY to rate early education facilities around the state. The PTQ program provides markers by which these early education programs can be scored – Levels 1 through 4. The higher the number, the more high-quality the facility.

Indiana Early Learning Advisory Committee

Like the previous organization, the Indiana Early Learning Advisory Committee (ELAC) is not based in Wayne County. Their data and resources, however, are available for anyone to utilize.

The ELAC takes a broader look at early childhood development across Indiana. Visitors to their site can find resources on building strong developmental foundations and much more. ELAC also recently published a study on the effects of COVID-19 on Indiana’s child care system, which many facilities and families are still dealing with today.

Child Care/Early Learning Centers

When thinking of resources for early childhood development, there is no replacement for a child care facility itself. Wayne County has 33 licensed groups dedicated to serving our children. Twelve of those are Level 3 or Level 4 on the PTQ scale, meaning that they are denoted as high quality.

Community Action of East Central Indiana (CAECI) offers two such programs. Early Head Start and Head Start are free programs designed to assist families below 100% of the federal poverty guidelines with child development.

Other examples of child care or early learning facilities around the county include:

• Grace Childcare in Centerville
• Amazing Angels Child Care Ministry in Hagerstown
• Cambridge City YMCA
• Northeastern Early Learning Center in Fountain City
• All God’s Children Daycare in Richmond

While raising a child is no easy task, Wayne County residents have countless options for aid. These organizations (and many more) help children reach their maximum potential and grow into the leaders of tomorrow.

The post Resources for Early Childhood Development in Wayne County appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

Twelve years ago, I was offered employment with the Early Head Start program that would be operating in Wayne County. Knowledgeable about the history of Head Start – a program implemented as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty – and interested in a career in the field of education, I accepted the position even though I had limited experience with infants and toddlers.

Within weeks of beginning in the Early Head Start program, I realized that helping children and families achieve success was going to require a concerted team effort. With coworkers and First Steps therapists, we discussed changes to routines and lesson plans to help address specific children’s needs. For mental health providers, we discussed techniques to reduce challenging behaviors. With community partners, we discussed tools to help families achieve their goals as they sought to improve their lives. We had our team supporting children and families, but there always seemed to be something missing.

I continued to learn about the early childhood field through conferences, webinars, and chats with fellow practitioners. I began to realize the extent to which most early childhood settings lack ongoing support from the community at large. Unlike public schools with their inherent community connection, child cares are often viewed as glorified babysitters that are useful to specific families for the time before children reach school-age, but such characterizations miss the point, ignoring the important work that early childhood educators do in helping young minds develop a love for learning and preparing children for kindergarten and beyond.

Impacts from COVID-19 in Early Childhood Education

Impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic have made the tasks of early childhood educators even more difficult. While low pay has been a consistent challenge, inflation has made staff retention in child care even more challenging. Wages at other jobs have risen faster than child care operators can increase the wages that they offer. (For Head Start and Early Head Start, our federal funding – our primary source of income – increased a mere 2.28% for 2022 while inflation has reached 8.5%.) Additionally, the mental health crises caused by stay-at-home orders, limited face-to-face interactions, and the constant uncertainty of the pandemic have led to a significant increase in the percentage of children who demonstrate challenging behaviors.

Despite the challenges, early childhood educators continue to perform their important work, day in and day out, as part of a team with therapists, mental health providers, and community partners. However, like any team after a grueling couple of seasons, our early childhood providers need the support of their community.

Supporting Early Childhood Educators

Are you asking how you and the rest of the community can help support our early childhood educators? Here are some ideas:

• Can you read a book or catch a ball? Volunteer.
• Have a few dollars to spare? Donate.
• Been a parent? Connect with the parents of today’s young children.

Whether it is a licensed child care center, a registered ministry, or a child care home, child care providers and the children and families that they serve need the support of the community. It takes a village to raise a child, so how can you help build a better future for our community by supporting early childhood educators today?

Ashley R. Stephen

Executive Director

CAECI Head Start and Early Head Start

The post Early Childhood Success in Wayne County appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

The Early Childhood Coalition for Wayne County Kids brings together any organization or person who works with, supports, cares about young children. We invite YOU to join us.

Interestingly, the Coalition evolved from a 2015 question:  Why don’t students graduate from Ivy Tech? The lack of child care was an obvious answer. Surprisingly, the lack of a good educational foundation became apparent as well. 

That foundation begins at birth because 90% of the brain development occurs between birth and five years of age. That fact has framed the work of the coalition since its inception.

The coalition shares resources and ideas, works to educate the community in the power of early childhood experiences, and creates bridges among our varied constituents. Our ultimate goal is: “to ensure that all children are prepared to successfully enter kindergarten.”

Children can be found in all aspects of your life — your neighborhood, your faith community, a local pre-school, co-workers, friends and extended family. There are many things you can do to ensure that the young children in your life have a good start.

5 Things You Can Do Daily

We encourage adults to do these five things daily with young children, specifically in that birth to five age range:

• READ – Read books and encourage your child to read with you.
• SING – teach the children songs and sing with them. Don’t worry – it doesn’t need to be on key.
• TALK – Talk to the child and describe what you see (vocabulary development is natural this way). Encourage them to ask questions.
• PLAY – allow time for playing, help them try new things.
• MODEL THE WAY – Be a role model for good behavior.

Basic Life Skills

Kindergarten teachers tell us that entering kindergartners need to have basic life skills. These basic life skills come from regular interaction with a trusted adult.  Your positive relationship with a child provides the foundation for their kindergarten readiness. Here are some things you can practice regularly with kids entering kindergarten:

• Zip, button, snap, tie
• Put on a jacket
• Know their first and last name
• Sit in a chair
• Be able to follow 2-step directions
• Use crayons
• Wait their turn
• Be kind to one another
• Flush the toilet

The future workforce for a vibrant, prosperous Wayne County begins with our youngest.  Join us in making the first five years a rich experience, laying a secure foundation for future success.

The post What Can You Do to Support Early Childhood Development? appeared first on Forward Wayne County.