States work on their own solutions to address shortages of rural child care providers

In-home child care businesses often don't provide 
caregivers with a livable wage. (Adobe Stock photo)

When it comes to accessing quality, affordable child care, rural parents face a unique set of challenges, among which finding a nearby child care provider can be the most difficult.

The reasons rural child care providers remain scarce include licensing fees and paperwork confusion, costly governmental ordinance requirements, rigid educational demands and an overall inability to make a livable wage. The list makes opening a home daycare an unrealistic small-business option.

In an effort to address the dearth of child care providers, "some states are implementing their own novel solutions to address the shortage," reports Anne Vilen for The Daily Yonder.

Child care operators in Junction City, Kansas, were limited by "contradictory state and city statutes," Vilen explains. "Ultimately, the city eliminated its local zoning fees and aligned local statutes with state licensing requirements."

Along with licensing fees and zoning stipulations, potential home child care owners must meet specific state educational benchmarks. "In rural Alaska, for example, where few communities have access to colleges and where many homes lack reliable internet, obtaining the credentials to get licensed can be especially onerous," Vilen writes.

To help child care workers meet their educational certifications, an Alaska task force developed a program that allowed caregivers "alternative pathways that recognize a provider’s experience," Vilen writes.

Even with other obstacles reduced or removed, making a livable wage with home child care remains elusive. Vilen reports, "In rural areas, where wages are already low, parents working in agriculture or manufacturing often cannot afford higher childcare fees."

Some rural communities also are "testing guaranteed-income programs that boost childcare wages," Vilen explains. "Kansas’s Baby Steps program provides quarterly stipends specifically to providers caring for infants."