New report shows public-private partnerships to address childcare shortages working

MASON CITY — A new report released today shows a state pilot program successfully increased the number of children who could enroll in childcare services in communities participating in the program, including Cerro Gordo and Mitchell counties, which also improved wages and benefits for local childcare workers.

The “Iowa Childcare Solutions Fund: A Model for Closing the Childcare Gap” report analyzed the effect the Childcare Solutions Funds had in pilot communities that matched private investments from businesses and individuals with state funding. Iowa Women’s Foundation president and CEO Deann Cook says she was proud to see a public-private partnership successfully address this issue.  “These are funds that were raised with private investment in local areas, local communities, and then matched with state dollars. It was really the merger of those public and private dollars that created an investment fund into the childcare workforce, and it’s really made a difference.”

In Cerro Gordo County, a $2 an hour wage supplement program to help raise wages was started to address a workforce issue, but Cook says each area taking part in the program has their own unique way to address the childcare shortage problem. “They’re doing all slightly different things. What Iowa Women’s Foundation has found is there’s a local ‘secret sauce’,  we can’t impose any solutions across the state. It has to really be driven from the ground up. All of them are being invested in childcare workforce wages, some in retention bonuses, some in a higher increased hourly wage, they have the freedom to do that.”

Now that the pilot program has shown positive results, Cook says state leaders now need to look into the next steps on how to address the childcare crisis statewide.  “That’s exactly why we did the report, to determine how successful these communities in our pilot program were and determine if it’s worth pursuing and replicating across the state. What the report is telling us is just in this pilot program, it increased 22 childcare slots per 1000 children in each pilot community. That statistic alone would tell you it’s definitely worth considering how public and private dollars can merge together to make a difference in childcare.”

The report also shows that if the pilot program continued and was expanded statewide that it would create 8000 new jobs, enable 5000 more parents and guardians to join the workforce, add 11,000 new childcare slots, and increase Iowa’s gross domestic product by $13 billion.

You can see a full copy of the report by clicking here