A new report says improving worker pay and benefits would be one of the best ways to improve central Illinois’ early childhood system.
The Birth to Five Illinois Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessment covers McLean and three surrounding counties: DeWitt, Livingston, and Logan. All four counties are struggling with capacity issues caused in part by staff shortages. Low wages and lack of benefits are identified are key drivers for that.
One of the big takeaways is that families need more affordable options, said Carol Weisheit, regional council manager for Region 17, which includes these four counties.
“Paying for child care is awfully expensive. That’s the one thing that kept coming up over and over,” Weisheit said. “Not only parents accessing child care, but the affordability piece. If parents are going to be participants in the economy, child care is an important part of that.”
In Bloomington-Normal, putting an infant in a child care center costs as much as $328 per week, and still well above $200 for an older kid. Lower-income families can qualify for publicly funded early childhood services. But there aren’t enough spots available.
That’s what's called the “slot gap,” between how many kids would qualify for publicly funded services and the number of available spots. In this four-county area, that gap is 1,285 slots for those under age 3, and about 1,375 for those ages 3 to 5, according to the report.
“When you add both of those age groups up, we have a huge gap in services for those that are eligible but not yet able to get in because there’s not enough (slots),” Weisheit.
High stress and low pay
Creating more provider options requires staff, and that's another major need identified in the report.
Staff shortages have been compounded by low wages and a lack of benefits. That's led to long wait lists in some places. Livingston County, home to Pontiac, doesn't have any licensed child care centers. (“Families in rural areas oftentimes live in child care deserts and are forced to travel long distances to place their child in any program, regardless of its quality,” the report said.)
The average salary of a full-time child care professional is $27,622, the report said.
“The very people who are teaching our children are parents who are qualifying for public assistance,” Weisheit said.
Melissa Breeden is a member of the Region 17 Action Council and also vice president for education and curriculum at YWCA McLean County, which offers child care. Breeden said it can cost a provider thousands of dollars to recruit, hire, and train a new employee. They can encourage the staffer to pursue professional development or advanced credentials, but turnover is an issue.
“As the employer, you do want to see somebody grow over time. But then it’s even more disheartening when they become teacher-qualified, and they go somewhere else for higher pay. We are a community – at least in Bloomington-Normal – with lots of centers and in-home places. There’s lots of opportunity. And so we’ve seen a higher turnover because staff can just take their training and qualifications and move right to a different center,” Breeden said.
"We cannot expect anybody to work without their basic needs met. One of those needs is child care."Melissa Breeden, Region 17 Action Council and YWCA McLean County
She said high staff turnover is bad for the kids too, because there's less consistency.
“When you look at the whole picture, if I had a magic wand, it is to get people linked with scholarships, get them to stay as long as they can, build those relationships with families. But in order to do all that, we need more support from the state,” Breeden said.
Five recommendations
The report has five areas of recommendations. That includes more publicly funded resources for early childhood programming, including transportation options to and from programs, especially in rural areas. They also suggest re-examining income limits for the state's Child Care Assistance Program, which offers subsidies to offset the cost of care. It also recommends increasing the number of Spanish speakers in the early childhood workforce – in part by recruiting Spanish-speaking high school students who are earning the state's Seal of Biliteracy.
On that recommendation, Weisheit said they heard in focus groups that a lot of children are interpreting for their parents.
“We heard a lot about the feeling of connection and relationships with a person who speaks your language. When we look at the teacher racial makeup in our area, it’s really high – it’s in the 90% range (white). In McLean County, that’s less so, but still, if we look at totality it’s in the upper 90%s. That doesn’t necessarily reflect the children in the classroom,” Weisheit said.
There's a lot to do, but Weisheit says there are areas of strength to build upon. One is collaboration. McLean County already has something called the All Our Kids Network, which provides coordination and collaboration between many social service agencies and schools to meet the needs of families with young children.
“That is a wonderful model for how we can collaborate within a county to make sure children and families have the resources they need. Whether it’s health care, or diapers, or simply finding a therapist or a child care center. But we don’t have that in the other three counties (Logan, DeWitt, Livingston). And so if that were to happen in the other three counties, we’d have a more cohesive system throughout our region,” Weisheit said.
The report was based on input from stakeholder interviews, focus groups, meetings and surveys, including from caregivers and other early childhood professionals. Breeden said she’s grateful that these conversations are being had, and that the issue is being looked at from all different perspectives.
“During the pandemic one thing that I learned very quickly is that we cannot expect anybody to work without their basic needs met. One of those needs is child care,” Breeden said.
