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Letter to the Editor: Please take time to fill out our childcare survey

Posted: Thurs, Oct 17, 2019 11:44 AM

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Winneshiek County Development Executive Director Stephanie Fromm):

As I drop my three children off for the day, the "mom-guilt" starts to set in almost immediately from leaving my 4-year-old, 2-year-old and 11-month-old for 8+ hours.  Then I am reminded that my kids are beginning their day of learning, exploring and playing with friends  in a safe place, being provided educational and learning experiences by high-quality and dependable caregivers. My children are in their happy place and I remind myself how fortunate I am to have high-quality childcare--but what about everyone else?

In Winneshiek County there are 913 available registered childcare slots for the more than 2,600 children up to age 12 who live here. That means approximately 60 percent of our children need additional care, whether it's all-day care or after/before school. Most likely, many of these children are being taken care of by neighbors, friends, grandparents, non-registered in-home providers or even stay-at-home parents…but not all of them. Without the availability of high-quality and dependable care, it forces a family with young children to decide whether or not to continue to work (or accept a job) or leave the area to seek other opportunities.

Winneshiek County Development and Decorah Jobs have made addressing the lack of available childcare a priority. A short survey will soon be sent to local businesses and homes, and is also available on the Winneshiek County Development website: www.winneshiekdevelopment.org. It's important that we get feedback from as many participants as possible, in order to determine what the next steps need to be and how we can create additional childcare opportunities for our local families. This is an important issue to address in order for our communities to continue to be places where young people can raise their families.  Please take time to fill out our survey.  Thank you!