BOONE COUNTY, Ind. — For many central Indiana families, the cost of child care is a major financial struggle.
13News reported on a new study ranking Indiana the worst when it comes to access for child care.
Now, leaders in Boone County are taking steps to try and help ease that burden on families.
The Boone County Economic Development Corporation started looking at where the gaps are in child care.
They're conducting an analysis to identify issues.
"We have some basic data about Boone County about child care, how many seats we need or how many we're lacking," said Molly Whitehead, CEO of the Boone County Economic Development Corporation. "Let's give us a starting point. Let's start with a study, and let's dig in and figure out where we need to go."
Whitehead said this is a complicated issue with no quick answer.
"As a mom myself, I knew how challenging child care was to find. I knew how expensive it was, and I happen to work in an environment where I do have the flexibility, but most people don't," Whitehead said.
Indiana came up with the Employer-Sponsored Child Care Fund in 2023. The program provides funding to employers and local communities to help provide more access to child care benefits.
"We literally just jumped on it. We've not done anything with this yet. We need to start somewhere, so we're going to start with a plan," Whitehead said.
Whitehead said this analysis will identify needs, support workforce, boost economic development and help strengthen the community.
"I have a friend, when her two kids were in day care, or pre-K, she was paying for the two of them more than their mortgage to send them to a quality program," Whitehead said. "We know that in Boone County, we don't have a child care facility that is on the pathway to a quality program that's open past 6 p.m. What do you do if you're a parent, right? Like you've got to figure it out and for some people, they choose not to work because of that."
Whitehead said that impacts the economic base.
The EDC is hoping to attract more child care facilities to Boone County.
"But when there are policy barriers in place, when there is cost, a lot of our child care facilities aren't paying very good wages, and there are reasons why they're not, and some of that may be out of their control," Whitehead said.
Whitehead is looking at how to impact policy and more.
The analysis is expected to continue through January 2025.