Southwest Virginia has a serious problem to address. Over the last two years, our labor force has been drained of talented young employees while the earning power of families here has been stunted.
How? The economic downturn forced closure of many child care centers in the region. Child care centers, after all, face the same challenges as any business. Around 8 in 10 are currently short-staffed. And, while availability of slots in the region has declined, inflation and supply-chain issues have created a net increase in cost of care. In this child care environment, when schools reopened, many parents (mostly moms) have just stayed home.
United Way of Southwest Virginia believes we must expand access to affordable quality child care, strengthen the current network of providers, and build a workforce of professional early childhood educators if our regional economy is to recover in a timely manner.
A few keys: First, this cannot be simply a government program. While the increased clout of our region’s legislative delegation in Richmond is good news — and we will depend on those legislators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration to help get this effort started — this is primarily about getting businesses back into position to create the high-paying jobs that will allow parents to once again afford child care while they work. So, the private sector must play a key role in both the creation and execution of this strategy.
Second, the strategy must be sustainable in the long term. It cannot benefit only parents and large employers or it will fall like a two-legged stool. It must also address the issues facing the child care providers. Most cannot afford to pay their employees a living wage, yet we entrust them with the most precious of all things, our children. That having been said, were the government to simply mandate a certain wage for child care providers, then the increased cost would have to be passed on to families. Instead, a way to decrease other costs of running a child care business — and to do business more efficiently — is necessary to help make quality child care centers more sustainable.
Third, this effort must benefit every part of Southwest Virginia. Our region faces a much greater child care availability shortage than the commonwealth on the whole. It’s two to three times worse here, depending on which statistics you refer to. That means our economic recovery will be that much slower than the rest of Virginia’s unless we address our child care problem.
To this end, United Way of Southwest Virginia in December announced creation of Ready SWVA, a public-private partnership based on every principle you just read.
Ready SWVA will create a system of five privately operated child care centers spread throughout the region, including a hub in Washington County and four spokes. Each of these centers will provide additional child care slots in its community. The hub will include a shared-services center that will operate as a single back office for every existing child care center in Southwest Virginia that chooses to take part, creating cost savings and increasing efficiency.
To be clear, United Way of Southwest Virginia will not operate child care centers. We will not become a provider. Through Ready SWVA, we will help develop space and facilities that private-sector partners can operate and expand.
A renewed, innovative approach to the early childhood network in Southwest Virginia will be the foundation for all industry and business sectors. We believe it will be a model to be replicated across the commonwealth and beyond.