CHILDCARE

 

Childcare is essential for a vibrant community in the San Juan Islands - supporting the workforce, strengthening families, and promoting healthy children.

 

The San Juan Islands face a critical shortage of affordable childcare, which significantly impacts working families.

 

Compensation for childcare providers in the islands is not viable for many working families. Wage disparity plays a significant role in this equation.   Families with young children face immense stress due to the lack of secure housing and reliable childcare options.

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Providers have a difficult time finding workers.  Low wages make it difficult to find teachers and assistants to serve middle income families.   Access to quality childcare services, and funding agencies that support these services allows parents to work, businesses to thrive, and children to develop essential skills. By cooperating and pooling resources across all islands, including meaningful discussions with the businesses with the highest labor forces, we can turn this around.

 

I believe we have the core tools to pull this together and allow working families to access quality childcare and resilient Island community.