For every 100 job openings in Indiana, there are only 72 workers available to fill those positions, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Experts say one possible reason is a lack of affordable and accessible child care. An early childhood coalition recently received nearly $5 million to fund the launch of a new program designed to cover a portion of child care costs.
The Tri-Share Plus program will help working families in 11 counties pay for child care, splitting the costs equally between the grant, the family and the employer.
Allie Sutherland heads the Northeast Indiana Early Childhood Coalition, the organization that administers the program. She said the program is an important step to help working families and employers.
“What we hope is that by reducing the cost of care, it will allow more families to return to the workforce,” Sutherland said. “Which will really help them and their families.”
Sutherland is no stranger to child care access issues. In 2019, she moved with her baby and her toddler to Indianapolis looking for work, but she had difficulty finding affordable child care.
“So I found myself right in the middle of needing to seek medical care and I couldn’t find it,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland said she had to delay her start date because she couldn’t find child care for her children.
The average cost of child care for an infant in Indiana is more than $1,000 a month. That’s more than a fifth of the median household income in the state.
“When we help families afford quality care, we know it sets children up for success in school later and success in life later. That increases our workforce,” Sutherland said.
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According to Sutherland, a portion of the grant will go toward reducing the cost of care for families. The program will connect with interested employers in the area to see how they can implement it. It will also go toward funding “shared service positions.”
The grant will also provide administrative support to child care providers to help them create quality care for children and attract, retain and train qualified staff.
The program will be available to working families in 11 northeast Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley.
Sutherland said he hopes the new program will begin in September.
Timoria is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at tcunningham@wfyi.org.
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