If you ask any parent with young children, they will tell you that one of the biggest challenges they face is finding high quality and affordable child care. Montana ranks 40th in the nation in terms of child care availability and only meets 41% of the child care demand by current licensed capacity.
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This issue impacts more than just children and families. Business owners across the state struggle to recruit and retain their workforce. Without a child care option, many parents must stay at home. While the challenge is immense, there are a lot of great resources available to support children, families, and communities.
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Resources for Families
T
he
Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship
helps working families pay for child care. The scholarship is available to working families whose income is at or below 150% of Federal Poverty Guidelines ($38,625 for a family of 4), or who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Regional child care resource and referral programs can help you find child care. Contact a
referral specialist
to find child care in your area.
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Resources for Businesses
In Montana, close to 60% of children under six have both parents in the workforce.
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Child care is a necessity for today's working families, enabling parents to stay in the workforce and progress in their careers. Quality child care impacts the future workforce. Research has consistently shown that participation in a high-quality child care program has a positive impact on school readiness and even on health, education, and employment outcomes later in life.
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This
toolkit,
developed by the U.S Chamber of Commerce, provides resources to the business community to support families with best practices and case studies.
The Center offers a series of briefs on business solutions to the child care crisis.
- Brief 1 – Family Friendly Business Practices
- Brief 2 – Financial Assistance to Ease Child Care Cost Burden
- Brief 3 – Improving Access to Care
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Montana Spotlight:
Little Rangers Learning Center, West Yellowstone
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When the only daycare in West Yellowstone closed, Bruce McPherson brought the community together to address the crisis.
“The town has to step up. We have workers, and we have to take care of them,” he explained.
The community
followed Bruce’s lead and stepped up. Together they formed
the
Little Rangers Learning Center to provide a high quality and affordable early childhood learning hub for families in the community. The Little Rangers is one of the few programs in the nation offering a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum at the preschool level.
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MyVillage rethinks child care in Montana
Erica Mackey, CEO and founder of MyVillage, is changing the way we look at child care in Montana. The shortage of space for affordable care has been an issue for years. When Erica had two kids, the problem struck a chord. She is paving a way to create a business out of your own home to help care for your own kids while also providing child care for your neighbors.
Visit the
website
for more information.
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Featured Podcast
A New Angle, a podcast hosted by marketing Associate Professor at University of Montana Justin Angle, recently interviewed Erica Mackey and Elke Govertsen (Chief Community Officer) of MyVillage.
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The University of Montana's Center for Children, Families & Workforce Development partners with the child protection, health, educational, and judicial systems to develop and deliver educational and training resources to professionals and caregivers statewide. The Center also conducts research that focuses on solving problems that impact children and families. Support for these efforts comes from the University of Montana, College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, and School of Social Work.
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