Group discusses daycare dilemma in Sanders County

Similar to many other regions of Montana, Sanders County suffers from a lack of childcare facilities within its boundaries.

The county has only one licensed childcare provider located in Thompson Falls. With a maximum capacity of eight children, this childcare provider can only scratch the surface of the needs of the many young families.

A group of concerned citizens and agencies met together last Tuesday evening at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital to gather information on how to solve the area’s daycare problem.  

Ray Brown, executive director of Sanders County Community Development, was on hand to facilitate the meeting. Sanders County Community Development is an organization that promotes economic growth within the county.

Also attending the meeting were Clark Fork Valley Hospital CEO Dr. Gregory Hanson, SCCD Board of Directors Carissa McNamarra and Karen Thorson via video, as well as several individuals that were struggling with finding affordable childcare. John Caldwell from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry focusing on childcare, attending via video, as well.

Brown’s role for the evening was to gather input on how the community could increase childcare facilities in the county. He also discussed other organizations that are available to help communities in Montana start daycare programs. Brown spoke about an organization called Zero to Five, a statewide resource that works to improve access to quality early care and education.

Brown started the discussion by polling the room for ideas.

“Are there assets that the hospital has that we are not aware of?” he asked. 

Quoting a survey on families in Sanders County, Brown discussed the some families travel more than 30 miles to find quality daycare.

One local resident in Plains spoke about setting up potential co-op childcare centers. Childcare CO-OPs have been in existence since 1915.

Brown continued his discussion on the county’s population of children in the childcare age group. Statistics show that Sanders County has 307 children within the group requiring in-home or outside home care. Yet, the county only has facilities to care for 4% of childcare aged children.

Brown asked, “What barriers are young families facing in Sanders County?” 

Answers ranged from the inflated cost of housing, the lack of good affordable childcare and good paying jobs.

Montana has many organizations that support childcare as a business and getting a program up and running. The Montana Department of Health and Human Services is available to help those interested in starting up a childcare program. Several small grants are available through the MDHHS who were recently awarded a multi-million dollar grant that may help programs open.

Community involvement will be especially important to help solve the childcare issue. 

Meeting attendee Celewe Ralison said, “I am trying to help the community find better childcare needs.”

Additional meetings will be held to further address the childcare issues in Sanders County. Those dates will be announced when available.

    Celewe Ralison discusses childcare solutions for Sanders County at a recent meeting. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
  

    Clark Fork Valley Hospital CEO Gregory Hanson at a meeting to talk about childcare needs in Sanders County. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)