Dubois Strong Hosts Southern Indiana Gateway Child Care Analysis “Pow-Wow” Session – 18 News Shorts
For more details on this presentation, and to see the full report, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/BeDuboisStrong
Produced by: Kaitlyn Neukam
Stock media provided by Pond5.
Story Transcript:
“Friday, April 21st, was host to Hoosiers from all around the state of Indiana who joined together at the Vincennes University Jasper Campus to talk about the current Childcare and Workforce crisis. Dubois Strong hosted Southern Indiana Gateway’s presentation: “Solve the Child Care Crisis and Get People Back to Work”, which provided a multitude of data and presented the discussion on why child care and getting parents back to work is such a big issue in today’s world.
The presenter, Lisa Mettler, of Transform Consulting, provided the group with various samples of data from the surrounding SIG (southern Indiana Gateway) counties, and sparked passionate discussions from the group in attendance.
Along with various representatives, ranging from Kids City USA to Assistants of Senator Young and Senator Braun’s offices, a good pie-slice of representation for Indiana was in attendance. Erin Emerson, of the Perry County Development Corporation, was one of the many voices speaking out on these various “crises”.
These challenges aren’t just a statewide issue, but a national issue as a whole. Children need childcare, but in order to send children to a place to be cared for, parents need a good paying job where they can rely on others to take care of and teach their children, but, with the lack of funds and inadequate workforce, the deficit is glaringly obvious.
Representatives for Pike County highlighted how there’s no “room” to expand the childcare workforce in their area, and the ever-evolving “ALICE” project, Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, is still striving to create “a more equitable Indiana,” where ALICE families have safe, affordable housing, quality child care and education, adequate food, and reliable health care and transportation.” (ALICE project)
There’s still so much to be done in order to ensure success for our young Hoosiers and their parents, but here’s something than can be done right now…”
