The North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education has released its interim report outlining six recommendations to make high-quality child care more accessible, affordable, and sustainable in North Carolina.
Governor Josh Stein said North Carolina’s child care system faces significant challenges with recruitment and retention of early childhood education professionals and the availability and affordability of care. He noted that average cost of infant care in North Carolina is more expensive than the cost of in-state college tuition.
“Investing in child care benefits everyone. When children grow up in a supportive and nurturing environment, it sets them on the trajectory to thrive as adults,” said Stein. “We must come together to make child care more accessible and affordable so that we can secure a brighter future for North Carolina’s children.”
“North Carolina families are struggling to find quality child care while centers are closing their doors, making it harder for children to get the education they need and for parents to go to work without worry,” said Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt, who chairs the task force. “This Task Force has brought together industry leaders and community partners to find real solutions. While our work will continue, I believe this report lays out a path forward to make child care more accessible and affordable.”
The report outlines six recommendations to explore the key factors impacting child care in the state. They include:
· Setting a statewide child care subsidy reimbursement rate floor
· Developing approaches to offer non-salary benefits for child care professionals
· Exploring partnerships with the UNC system, community colleges, and K-12 schools to increase access to child care for public employees and students at public institutions
· Exploring subsidized or free child care for child care teachers
· Linking existing workforce compensation and support programs for early childhood professionals
· Exploring the creation of a child care endowment
“Child care is a business issue, a talent issue, and a health issue that must be addressed to maintain our competitiveness and to increase statewide prosperity,” said Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. “Public-private solutions, like Commerce’s Child Care Business Liaison position, supported by the NC Department of Health and Human Services and Invest Early NC, are a critical piece of this puzzle and increase capacity for identifying collaborative solutions to addressing the multifaceted child care challenges in North Carolina.”
In coming months, the Task Force will dive deeper into the recommendations outlined in the report, and examine additional challenges, opportunities, and innovations affecting child care and early education in North Carolina.
The Task Force will also produce an additional report and set of recommendations to submit to Governor Stein by the end of December.
