Amanda Coleman is the vice president of early childhood and family development for the Community Partnership of the Ozarks in Springfield.
Nearly all of the counties in their coverage area are consider childcare deserts – essentially there’s not enough quality or licensed childcare spots for all the kids in the community.
She spoke about some of the challenges guardians face when trying to find childcare in rural Missouri.
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Amanda Coleman: It really is the most difficult thing – if you are trying to go to work to find a childcare provider in your area. It's next to impossible.
So, lots of parents are relying on family members to provide that care or, you know, even I think there's a lot of care being given that is not hitting the radar in terms of licensing or being state-approved.
If you have six or more and you're a home-based provider, you have to become licensed. If you have six or fewer, you don't have to be.
But if you're going to take state subsidy, which in more rural areas is a really huge need, then you have to have a visit from the state one time a year for review. So, it just becomes a real huge hurdle.
"I would say, on average, families spend anywhere from $12,000 to $18,000 a year on childcare for one child."Amanda Coleman
That's when we start talking about it becoming a workforce issue. And then you also – availability, but then also affordability.
And so, if you're working in a rural area, maybe starting at minimum wage with, you know, jobs in those areas, it becomes unaffordable for families to really go to work.
You could maybe find cheaper care, but is it quality? Is it safe? Is it being monitored.
And so, when you talk about the stress that families are under, just, you know, allowing anybody to take care of your kid, you're going to work and you're really quite worried about it.
So, I would say if you're looking at quality care – it's probably on par for what we're paying here in Springfield, and I would say, on average, family's spend anywhere from $12,000 to $18,000 a year on childcare for one child.
I can speak to waitlist in Greene County where we have – we're not a desert, technically, and most of our providers are operating with a waitlist, and when you talk about infant and toddler care, that becomes even more significant.
So, in in Springfield alone, we have about a 2,000 shortage of infant care slots needed based on the amount of kids that we have in our community.
So, then if you take that number, and you apply it to a rural area where your county doesn't even have a childcare provider – I mean, where are you going to go? And also transportation?
So, if you're spending a majority of your time transporting your child to the next county over, that mileage and distance is huge when you are talking about very rural communities.
