WEDG commissioning child care study

The Washington Economic Development Group plans to commission a study on the effects of child care on the county’s workforce.

“Childcare is a workforce issue,” WEDG Executive Director Mary Audia said. “If working parents don’t have a place to keep their kids safely, it’s really challenging for them to be able to work as well. Many times they have to call in sick or just forego working because they aren’t able to secure child care.”

Audia said a newly commissioned study was the only way to address the group’s specific areas of concern.

“There’s been other studies done in this region, but it was more of a four-county area,” Audia said. “And those look more at the health and well-being of children ages 0-5. So we’re looking at workforce issues specifically, since that’s such a big issue.”

Audia said WEDG planned to commission First Children’s Finance, a national nonprofit organization that Audia said had performed several surveys and data collection projects in Iowa.

Audia said the project would cost around $12,000 and run from July to December of this year. The funding for that payment comes from contributions from the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, the Washington Chamber of Commerce and cities within Washington County, although payment arrangements are not yet finalized.

Audia said WEDG’s goal was to create an unbiased, objective data set for public use.

“People can kind of talk and say, ’Oh, I know of this child care,’ but we want a full data set that shows what is available,” she said. “It would give us data for businesses or companies that are looking to either open or expand child care.”

Audia said the data would help organizations and families demonstrate qualifications for need-based funding, such as through the CARES Act, which provides federal COVID-19 relief funding.

“It may turn out that we’re set as far as child care goes, but I kind of doubt that’s going to happen,” Audia said. “If people get these surveys, it’s just vital that they fill them out and get them turned back in a timely manner.”