Dearth of child care barrier to holding job

May 18, 2023

State provides support but providers are scarce

PORT ANGELES — Options for child care are limited in Clallam County, and while the state Department of Commerce has programs available to assist businesses with providing child care, the lack of providers continues to present challenges.

Speaking to the weekly “Coffee with Colleen” meeting of the Clallam County Economic Development Council, experts in child care outlined the various programs and options employers can use to help employees.

“Not all of these strategies are something that’s going to work for every organization or every type of job,” said Susan Meenk, a human resources specialist who’s worked with Commerce on child-care issues.

“We encourage employers to post the information so employees are aware of what resources are available. There are specialists available to make employees to understand their situation,” Meenk said.

Colleen McAleer, Clallam County EDC executive director, said the council’s research led them to believe the lack of child care is a significant barrier for local workers.

“There are a lot of good-paying jobs that are going unfilled because a lot of different factors. We believe child care is a major one,” McAleer said.

The EDC has been pursuing federal grants known as Recompete grants aimed at getting prime-aged working people who have stopped looking for work back into the workforce. McAleer said the EDC conducted interviews, which found that child care is an important reason why many have remained out of the workforce.

Meenk said that among the range of strategies employers can use to help with child care are allowing remote work, unlimited time off or employer-provided funds for child care as part of a compensation package.

Some employers have even created their own child-care centers for employees, either by providing space to a third-party business or running the operation themselves. But Meenk said that option is typically expensive for employers, fill up quickly and are not necessarily cheaper for employees.

“What we’ve seen is most successful is a community approach,” said Ben Robinson, a consultant with First Rule Group, which has worked with DOC on child-care issues.

“Do an assessment of community assets,” Robinson said. “There might be a (child care) provider that’s looking to expand.”

Businesses can offer the child care provider money to expand in exchange for guaranteeing spots for employees’ children, Robinson said.

“Most employers that fully do it in-house tend to end up subsidizing it,” Robinson said. “What we have seen the most is providing space or some other asset and bringing in a third party, some form of outsourcing the day-to-day requirements.”

Dr. Michael Maxwell, North Olympic Healthcare Network executive director, said during the meeting his organization was looking into establishing its own child care program because there simply were not enough child care providers in the community to partner with.

“We’ve employed all of those strategies,” Maxwell said, “but they’re predicated on access to child care in the community.”

Commerce does provide grants for reimbursement of capital projects for child care known as Early Learning Facilities (ELF) grants, which are open to for-profit businesses as well as nonprofit and public entities.

McAleer said four large businesses in Clallam County, including NOHN, are looking at pooling their resources to develop some kind of child care.

Applications for ELF grants will open Aug. 1 and are due by Oct. 16. More information is available at the Department of Commerce website. An eligible organizations Frequently Asked Questions webinar will be held Aug. 10, at 1 p.m.

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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at [email protected]. --> -->