|
Shared costs, shared solutions: oneCOMMUNITY's child care model
Child care access remains one of Kansas’ biggest workforce challenges. Costs are high, wages for providers are low, and many communities lack enough licensed slots to meet demand. Brent Lewis, Executive Director of oneCOMMUNITY, believes his organization has a solution—and it doesn’t rely on government funding.
“We’re creating the pillar of support that’s been missing,” Lewis said. “Child care isn’t just about families — it’s workforce infrastructure. Even the smallest employer can use this model to stabilize their workforce.”
A market failure and a new approach
Lewis founded oneCOMMUNITY after his own struggles to find affordable care. His conclusion: the traditional fee-for-service model simply doesn’t work.
You cannot collect enough revenue as a provider to cover the expense of quality care,” he explained. “Child care is a person-intensive industry. We can’t automate it the way other industries can, and that creates a market failure.”
oneCOMMUNITY’s answer is a shared-cost model — like health insurance — where employers and employees share the cost of care. Employers subscribe to licensed child care slots for their employees, dramatically reducing the cost for families.
The nonprofit first places children in its expanding network of providers, providing them with stable revenue. In areas with severe shortages, oneCOMMUNITY will eventually open its own centers to expand capacity.
Workforce infrastructure, not just child care
For Lewis, solving the affordability issue is only half the battle. Kansas currently meets only 45% of the demand for child care statewide (42% in Sedgwick County), and providers struggle to retain staff due to low wages and limited benefits.
“Without improving wages and benefits, we won’t see the growth we need,” Lewis said. “This model makes it possible to pay better and offer things like health insurance and retirement benefits, making child care a career rather than just a stopgap job.”
The benefits extend directly to Kansas employers. By offering child care as a workplace benefit, companies can retain talent and help parents stay in the workforce. Lewis emphasizes that this is an option for businesses of all sizes.
“A small dental office with just four employees can offer a meaningful child care benefit,” he said. “Most business owners don’t realize it’s possible—that’s the education challenge we’re working to solve.”
Recent changes at both the federal level make this investment even more attractive. Businesses can now take advantage of expanded federal child care tax credits, and Kansas employers may also qualify for state-level credits — turning part of their child care spending into tax savings.
Scaling across Kansas
OneCOMMUNITY is starting in metropolitan areas, where more employers can serve as shared-cost partners. But Lewis envisions statewide adoption.
We can make this work in any of Kansas’ 105 counties if there’s a shared-cost partner,” he said. “In rural areas, that might mean partnering with local foundations or other community groups instead of large employers.”
The nonprofit is still in its early stages but expects to be self-sustaining within two to three years — a key part of what Lewis calls a “red-state model.”
“This doesn’t require direct government funding,” he said. “No one stakeholder can solve this alone — not families, not employers, not the government. But together, we can build the infrastructure Kansas families and our workforce need.”
Community leaders and business owners can learn more at onecommunityks.org or contact Lewis directly at brent.lewis@onecommunityks.org.
Task force weighs at-risk funding, formula changes
The Kansas Education Funding Task Force met July 1-2 to examine potential changes to the state's school finance formula, focusing on how to better support students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
On July 1, members reviewed the history of at-risk weighting and discussed audit findings showing inconsistent use of at-risk funds across districts.
The Kansas Legislative Research Department (KLRD) presented modeling on how adjusting base at-risk weights could shift funding, particularly for smaller or rural districts. Several members emphasized that any changes should be paired with stronger accountability for how at-risk dollars are spent.
The July 2 session centered on high-density at-risk weighting, a policy tool designed to provide additional funds to districts with very high concentrations of low-income students.
KLRD shared simulations showing that even modest weight increases (0.05 or 0.10) would direct significant additional resources to these schools.
Members highlighted the higher costs faced by high-poverty districts — such as staffing, student mobility, and community support needs — while others raised concerns about statewide budget impacts and trade-offs for districts with lower at-risk populations.
This discussion reflects growing national attention to concentrated poverty as a distinct funding challenge. As Bellwether Education Partners note, schools serving high concentrations of low-income students often need schoolwide and community-facing supports, not just student-level interventions — a need that requires targeted funding approaches like a concentrated poverty weight.
The task force discussed a variety of other policy options:
-
Increasing base amount of funding per student to reflect higher costs for low-income students.
-
Revising eligibility thresholds to better direct funds to at-risk students.
-
Incorporating accountability findings from a pilot program into future funding decisions.
The task force will continue refining these options, with recommendations expected ahead of the 2026 legislative session. Next up: the task force is scheduled to reconvene on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
In other news
| 
