The Missouri House of Representatives has earmarked some funding for innovative childcare models designed to give parents support they need to get back to work.
“This was a bipartisan effort,” said Kara Corches, vice president of governmental affairs with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Representative Betsy Fogle, a Democrat, offered this amendment on the House budget to allocate $20 million to childcare programs or innovation in childcare and she was supported in her effort by House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith who's a Republican. This is important for us because it’s a workforce issue.”
A U.S. Chamber Foundation and Missouri Chamber study found that the cost of current childcare is undermining economic opportunity to the tune of a whopping $1.35 billion.
“It's a varied compilation of economic losses for the state, which could be lost tax dollars, lost days of productivity if people have to not go to work because their childcare provider shuts down and they're not earning an income and not paying taxes on that income for those days," Corches told the St. Louis Record.
Nearly one in 10 working parents in Missouri report quitting a job due to childcare issues, and nearly one in three parents have changed jobs due to childcare in the last year, according to the study.
“The pandemic exacerbated the fact that we don't have enough childcare providers in the state,” Corches said. “We're looking at the systemic barriers that we can address and other lower hanging fruit like when a snow day happens, and school shuts down but parents can't go home for work. There are some fixes that we can do with some emergency regulations.”
The $20 million would fund partnerships between the state, private employers, and childcare providers or even establish dedicated childcare centers while small businesses would be encouraged to band together and offer these benefits.
“I imagine the state would be helpful in how the partnerships will be structured in terms of providing guidance,” Corches said.
Last year, Gov. Parson created the Office of Childhood, which consolidated several early childhood programs across state government, according to a press release.
“His administration has been very committed to holistically evaluating our system of childcare,” Corches added. "The Office of Childhood is under our Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and their whole job is focused on childcare licensing and regulations and looking at how we're tying early childhood education in with childcare.”