Rural communities develop child care models that can be reshaped to fit a community's unique needs

Medicine Lodge Daycare shares its building with
four other childcare providers.

As rural parents and government officials partner to address child care provider shortages, new business models that allow would-be home or niche child care providers to operate in non-residential buildings are catching on, reports Anne Vilen of The Daily Yonder. The innovative approaches are providing jobs, child care spots and in some cases, reinvigorating rural downtown spaces. 

The story of LeyAnn Gehlen-Wampler of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, serves as an example. After the birth of her first child, Gehlen-Wampler couldn't find a child care provider. She was considering opening her own child care center when "she met Julie Warner, an early childhood consultant for the city who had once been a family childcare provider herself," Vilen explains.

Gehlen-Wampler and Warner, along with city administrators, smart design and construction professionals, and a mix of grant funding, helped create a "cluster of small, fully equipped childcare businesses in a main street building," Vilen reports. "Although Gehlen-Wampler's Medicine Lodge Daycare occupies a commercial space in the heart of downtown, the building was renovated into five separate rooms with separate entrances and outside playgrounds ideal for five independent family childcare providers."

The child care complex has helped the town's economy too. Medicine Lodge city councilman Matt Forsyth told the Yonder, “What it means for downtown is huge. It keeps Main Street alive in a small town where most main streets are dying."

Now known as the "plex" model, creating more modular child care centers outside of a residential home can't be done in all states. Vilen writes, "Kansas is one of just seven states (the others are Alaska, Missouri, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada and Wisconsin) that allow family childcare providers to operate in non-residential settings such as schools, businesses, or hospitals."

Other rural areas are developing child care options similar to the complex structure but tailored to their specific needs. In Indiana, communities are participating in a "Micro-Facility Pilot program that launched in early 2025," Vilen adds. "Six existing child care centers applied to open smaller satellites in rural or small town libraries, schools, and shopping centers." 

Providers in Minnesota are experimenting with "child care pods," Vilen reports. "They allow children to bring their own lunches and snacks, support mixed-age groups, and draw on the resources of the larger micro-facility hub for staffing and administrative support."

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."