PARSONS — Employees care about child care, according to speakers at a conference hosted by Southeast Kansas, Inc., in Parsons Wednesday.
They noted businesses that offer child care programs are more likely to reduce absenteeism, attract and retain employees, and improve company morale. Child Care Aware of Kansas, an advocacy group, reports 81% of men and women say child care benefits would be an important factor in deciding to stay with their current employer.
The “Family-Friendly Workplace Conference” brought together employers, child care providers and others to discuss how businesses can offer policies to help families.
Beth Toland, director of early childhood education programs at Allen Community College, led the discussion. Jane Works and Kandy Rushing, local child care providers, participated in a panel to discuss innovative partnerships between child care providers and area businesses.
Works said she began The Growing Place in Humboldt as a way to offer child care to employees at neighboring B&W Trailer Hitches in Humboldt. Her husband, Joe, is one of the company’s founders and Jane is a former teacher. B&W employees receive a discount on child care costs at The Growing Place. In recent years, the center has received grants and tax credits to allow it to expand three times and serve more families in the community.
Rushing’s Grow at Eden has facilities in Parsons and Iola. Rushing purchased the former Kids Kingdom center in Iola a little over a year ago. The two centers serve more than 100 children.
Also on the panel were Ann Elliott, executive director for the Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, and Juanita Erickson, superintendent of Neodesha schools.
The Family Resource Center began as a child care center in an old school building in 1995 and now serves 368 children. It recently partnered with the local hospital to build an expansion with another 58 child care slots, including 16 infants. The daycare also partners with Pittsburg State University and the local school district.
The Neodesha district received a $2.5 million grant to build an early learning center, which opened in August. More school districts are seeing the benefits of entering the daycare and preschool business, but it is challenging to merge two very different funding models, Erickson noted. Schools and daycares also have different regulations. 
Top child care challenges
Toland asked the directors to discuss the top challenges they face.
“Staffing,” Works answered without hesitation.
The Growing Place has 23 employees but it can be difficult to find staff who either already have the required experience or can be properly trained. Not everyone has the same level of motivation, she said.
Elliott agreed staffing is one of her biggest challenges. It’s an endless cycle to hire and train staff while fighting frequent turnover. She’s often unable to give new staff the level of training she prefers because she needs them in the classroom as quickly as possible. On top of that, child care centers cannot afford to pay staff a livable wage.
“It’s embarrassing what the staff make. They should make more but we can’t with what we’re charging,” Elliott said. The center typically faces a loss of $9,500 each year to pay for the care for one infant, and a loss of $7,000 per year for one toddler. “The money from grants helps offset my loss. But we have to keep our slots full to get the payments to pay my staff.”
