Bolstering the Workforce by Increasing Access to Childcare

JANUARY 2023

Tackling Montana's Workforce Issues, part 2

As we ring in 2023, the team at the Center is knee-deep in work helping to address Montana's workforce needs. Our workforce development efforts are focused in four areas:

on-the-job training
enhancing the workforce environment
growing a flexible workforce and
improving cross-system collaboration.

This newsletter is the second in our six-month series to highlight the Center’s efforts and approach to responding to the state's workforce challenges and shaping the path forward for Montana.

Bolstering Montana's Workforce By Increasing Access to Childcare

The Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development (Center) works closely with the Headwaters Foundation to support the foundation’s work in early childhood. The Zero to Five Initiative seeks to increase the strength and resiliency of families and children by addressing the social and economic conditions that impact the health of children ages 0 to 5. The Headwaters Foundation supports the work of early childhood coalitions across Western Montana, including those in Beaverhead, Butte-Silver Bow, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Mineral and Missoula counties, as well as Zero to Five Montana, a statewide organization that seeks to advance early childhood policy and advocacy work throughout Montana. The efforts of these entities are critical at a time when:

Montana remains one of six states without a public preschool option (1)
40% of Montana businesses say they are unable to recruit and retain a qualified workforce because of lack of child care (2)
The average annual cost of preschool for a 4-year-old is nearly 15% of a Montana’s median family income, despite the national child care affordability standard being no more than 7% of a family’s income (3)
The average early childhood worker in Montana earns $11.19 per hour, rendering most child care unaffordable for those providing this critical service (4)
Nearly 18% of Montana’s children ages 0-4 live in poverty (5)
Montana has the second highest rate in the nation of children in foster care (6)

“When Headwaters first opened, we heard loud and clear from communities that we should go upstream and focus on long-term solutions instead of band-aid interventions, and that we should focus on kids. We also heard that in order for this work to be successful, it would need to be locally driven, and that local communities would need support to make that happen. The Center has been a great partner by offering flexible support to local coalitions, based on what they need.” - Erin Switalski

The Center receives funding from the Headwaters Foundation to provide wrap-around, capacity development services to Headwaters’ grantees. Through meaningful thought partnership and adaptable support, the Center seeks to foster the development of our Zero to Five partners’ internal capacity so they can work to sustainably and effectively improve the early childhood system. The robust array of services offered by the Center helps our partners maximize their available resources and develop skills and strategies that can support early childhood initiatives well into the future. These services include the following:

Program Sustainability
Data-Driven Decision Making
Outreach and Marketing
Revenue and Resource Maximization
Policy Support

Check out this handout for more details on the capacity building support that the Center offers.

The Center’s capacity building support works to enhance the workforce environment, or the interpersonal, organizational and community conditions that impact the recruitment and retention of workers, within Montana’s early childhood system. Bolstering the capacity of Zero to Five Montana and early childhood coalitions ensures that they are better equipped to advance their local, regional and state initiatives. By increasing the capacity of its partners, the Center is helping to ensure that our partners’ efforts result in better outcomes for Montana’s early childhood workforce, children and families.

If you are interested in learning more about the Center’s work to support early childhood system development or the ways in which the Center provides capacity development support, please reach out to Mary Collins at [email protected].

Tracking the 2023 Legislative Session

During the 2023 Legislative Session, the Center is supporting our state and local partners as they work to navigate the legislative process and address the impact of proposed legislation. We are working closely with other statewide partners to track legislation, develop policy briefs, interpret data and disseminate information about relevant issues. Additionally, the Center is working to equip its partners with tools and strategies to engage with policymakers so legislative efforts reflect the needs of Montana’s communities and result in meaningful improvements to Montana’s health and social systems. Legislation spans various aspects of those systems, including child care, child welfare and behavioral health.

For information on noteworthy bills under consideration this session, visit our website.

References:

The Center for Children, Families & Workforce Development partners with the child protection, health, educational, and judicial systems to develop educational and training resources to professionals and caregivers statewide. We also conduct research that focuses on solving problems that impact children and families, and work to help partnering agencies with capacity building and technical assistance.

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