Laurel community is working to eliminate childcare gap

LAUREL – Community leaders, and regional and state partners are looking to fill a gap in early childcare opportunities in Laurel with building blocks – not with the square, wooden learning toys with the alphabet printed on them, but with actual brick and mortar to create the Building Blocks Early Childhood & Family Development Center.

Construction is already underway at the site for the new facility, north of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge football field. About 50 people attended a “Sip, Snack & Be Educated” event hosted by Building Blocks last week to learn more about the project.

New details were shared about the 7,600-square-foot-facility including the floor plan, exterior and interior images. The layout will include pod-style classrooms that create small groups of children to provide more personalized attention, enhance social interactions, manage safety, tailor educational activities and reduce overstimulations. The new facility will be licensed to care for 70 children.

The project is expected to eliminate the gap of available childcare options in Laurel.

With 80 children under age 6 with all available parents working, 12 licensed childcare spots available and 20 preschool spots available, that still leaves a gap of 48 children needing care, according to information provided by the Cedar County Communities for Kids initiative.

That leaves parents scrambling to come up with other options or choosing to leave the workforce to care for their young children, said Mike Feeken, strategic partnership adviser of First Five Nebraskas.

As a result, childcare has become a workforce issue statewide as everyone depends on someone who depends on childcare, he said.

“At some point in your day to day, you depend on someone who depends on childcare, whether that was a dentist appointment, getting fuel, going to the grocery store,” Feeken said. “If those providers, if those programs were not operating, and those working parents had to stay home, what would your day have looked like?”

With more than 500 jobs available within 25 miles of Laurel, a childcare center can make the community more attractive to working parents, he said.

The Building Blocks Early Childcare Center building project totals about $3 million. So far, about $1 million has been raised including a $250,000 grant; $200,000 repurposed from LCC School funds earmarked for its before and after school program through COVID-19 federal dollars; and two verbal commitments from foundations totaling $600,000.

The Laurel Area Community Foundation Fund is assisting in raising funds through private donations and grants. Other future expenses will be paid for through tuition and endowments established through the fund.

Prices for childcare have not yet been set but continuous charitable donations will be sought to help keep care costs low for families.

Childcare is categorized as being affordable at 7 percent or less of a family’s total income. In the state of Nebraska, childcare costs average about 13 percent of a family’s income, Feeken said.

Jeff Yost, president of Nebraska Community Foundation, said efforts are being made to encourage charitable investment in the future of communities through estate planning. The Community Foundation’s 5 to Thrive campaign’s goal is to inspire Nebraskans to give back five percent of their assets to their hometown or to the Foundation to benefit all communities.

The need for funding will be ongoing, said Megan Pippett, Building Blocks board president.

“We will explore any and every opportunity for grants. We’re really trying to create a cradle to career opportunity here for the future of our community. Without your support it’s not possible. I really appreciate it,” she told supporters at the meeting last week. “Right now we’re asking for financial support, but this facility is going to need community support forever to continue on.”

Building Blocks will be partnering with LCC in a number of ways for smooth operations and benefits to both facilities, as well as to in-home childcare providers.

LCC schools has been troubled by the lack of childcare options for years, said Superintendent Jeremy Christiansen.

With an identified gap in providers locally, children were being cared for in other communities, making connections there and ultimately choosing to attend public schools elsewhere.

He also saw childcare as a specific workforce issue when recruiting and retaining employees to work for the school district.

“About a year ago, we had a quality staff member we were trying to recruit. They were trying to balance no childcare locally and their existing childcare was in Jackson,” Christiansen said. “They were actually considering driving to Jackson twice a day for childcare. … And so in the end, I basically talked her out of the job because it wasn’t going to work.”

Administrators and school board members worked to establish a before and after school program and while it worked to fill some needs, barriers still existed including care on nonschool days, preschool children who needed care before or after, and others. Many families also have children at a variety of ages and found it inconvenient to use the school’s before and after school program for school-aged children and having to drop off younger children somewhere else.

The school board also looked at the possibility of opening a childcare facility for its own staff.

Ultimately, the board had to look at its responsibilities to taxpayers and determine how best to use its gifted resources without any additional tax asking to subsidize childcare, Christiansen said.

“There was a willingness to really be creative about how to share services and resources,” he said. “No matter what we did, we were absolutely committed to making sure our in-home providers and families would ultimately benefit, not just the childcare provider or the daycare.”

As a result, LCC schools has committed to collaborate in early childcare in the community in a variety of ways.

Building Blocks will contract menu planning, meal preparation, delivery and service from LCC schools and in turn will have access to requisition and purchasing program discounts.

The school district will also provide transportation services at no cost to Building Blocks for the before and after school programs; any child enrolled in the Building Blocks program; any child enrolled in another preschool program and any licensed childcare provider within the district.

“We drive a lot of bus routes and go by a lot of places already,” Christiansen said of the 275-square mile route. “It really isn’t going to cost us a significant amount more for us to stop at a couple of different places or at the childcare center to allow and help those programs out.”

Support for Building Blocks and in-home childcare providers will include curriculum development and training, consultation and support in the areas of behavioral and mental health, training and professional learning, and support in seeking licensure.

LCC will provide ongoing funding to Building Blocks with the new center operating the school’s before and after school programs. Funding will amount to the salary of two fulltime employees.

“Some of the things we’re trying to accomplish and maybe think a little bit differently haven’t necessarily been done in Nebraska but it’s an opportunity where we can really work together as a whole community . . . including our businesses, our school, in-home providers and so forth,” Christiansen said.

Currently, Building Blocks is taking applications for center director and assistant director positions, with plans to open early next year.

Others who presented information at the meeting last week included Melissa Polinoski, Cedar County Communities for Kids technical assistant; Jackie Steffen, early childhood educator with Cedar County Extension; and Lisa Guenther, early childhood education instructor at Northeast Community College.