Child Care Aware® of Eastern Kansas was able to partner with local community leaders to host three Communities in Action events during the month of March. This effort, supported with funding through Child Care Aware® of Kansas, brought together teams of business leaders, local elected officials, early childhood educators, and a host of community partners to explore the needs of child care in their local communities. On March 4, the event in Paola brought representatives from four counties: Anderson, Franklin, Linn, and Miami. The March 24 event focused solely on Shawnee County and was held in Topeka. The March 25 event was held in Manhattan with representation from leaders in Geary, Pottawatomie, and Riley counties. At each event, local teams explored “next steps” and determined both short-term and longer-term goals and action steps to build child care capacity in their communities.
Comments from participants regarding the strengths and benefits of the sessions included:
- “The community/county planning sessions brought stakeholders together that weren’t at the table previously.”
- “Bringing an awareness to child care crisis and what resources are available to counties, providers and community members was very helpful.”
- “Very informative--- This is not my area of expertise, but it affects the workforce in our area and our eco devo efforts.”
- “Getting individuals together to discuss the need, challenges, and where to go from here.”
- “Sharing data but also allowing time to prepare our own community outline for future goals.”
Follow-up conversations continue throughout the region as task teams are being formed and local events are being planned. The Communities in Action events have served as a catalyst in beginning these important conversations. One participant commented, “I have a lot to learn, but this was a terrific start.” We are excited to see how local communities will respond to meeting the needs of the working families in their communities, and how that will have a positive impact on area employers as we rebuild our local economy.
