Virginia Tech works to address child care gaps across the commonwealth

Julia Kell

8 Aug 2024

Economic development specialists Dylan Andrews and Ashley Posthumus pose for a picture in front of the caboose at Blacksburg Municipal Park. — Ashley Posthumus (at left) and Dylan Andrews, economic development specialists for the Center for Economic and Community Engagement, found that the lack of child care options has had a severe impact on families in the Danville-Pittsylvania region. Photo by Julia Kell for Virginia Tech.

Virginia’s economy is feeling the pinch from a widespread lack of affordable child care options, forcing many parents to reduce their working hours, pass up promotions, or leave the workforce entirely. The impact is particularly severe in the Danville-Pittsylvania County region, where over half of child care centers report waitlists, according to a study by the Center for Economic and Community Engagement.

Recognizing that the issue extends far beyond individual families to impact the broader economy and community well-being, the center also is helping communities such as the New River-Mount Rogers region address the ongoing crisis. Through comprehensive research, data gathering, and collaborative partnerships, the center is working to understand the unique challenges facing different regions and to develop targeted solutions.

In Danville and Pittsylvania County, the center engaged with local stakeholders — including parents, providers, and employers — to gain a holistic perspective on the issue.

Out of the nearly 700 parents surveyed, only 6 percent were completely satisfied with child care offerings and 15 percent were mostly satisfied. These findings, presented at a recent child care summit in Danville, indicate a significant portion of the population is unsatisfied with the available options — which could be from cost, lack of availability, or quality of care.

Many child care centers in both Danville and Pittsylvania County are also far away from where families work and live. According to the study, 52 percent of the region is considered a child care desert — with either no providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots.

The center worked on the study with the Partnership for Regional Prosperity, a civic think tank serving the region.

“The leadership group knew that it couldn’t address the issue of child care without a thorough understanding of the existing child care ecosystem,” said Beth Doughty, senior fellow with the partnership. “Good research is the basis of great action. Now, we have baselines as well as ideas from which to advance toward solutions.”

The Center for Economic and Community Engagement researched ways to improve the situation, administered parent surveys, and held focus groups with parents, local providers, and regional employers.

“Child care isn't just a personal issue; it’s a community issue,” said economic development specialist Ashley Posthumus, who led the project for the center. “It’s about supporting families, but it’s also about supporting industries. Reliable child care allows parents to work without worrying about the well-being of their children, which in turn boosts productivity and economic growth. The 6 percent satisfaction rate is not just a statistic. It is a call to action to come together and create a child care system that meets the needs of all families.”

One of the problems facing child care facilities is a lack of staff, the study found. Over the past decade, there has been a 22 percent decline in child care jobs, and this was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The median wage for these jobs in the Danville-Pittsylvania region is $13.05 an hour, and many child care providers cannot afford to offer benefits to their staff, such as health care, retirement plans, or paid time off.

“Being a child care worker is a difficult job. Younger workers may expect this work to be similar to babysitting and are not fully aware what skills are required when working in a licensed child care facility. In particular, parents have said there is a need for staff to be more knowledgeable about mental health challenges and developmental disabilities,” said Sarah Lyon-Hill, the center’s director for research development. “However, not all child care providers are able to compensate workers for training costs, making it difficult for caregivers to hone their skills.”

Supporting families

Some of the study’s recommendations include creating before- and after-school programming, collaborating with providers to ensure they have access to public funding sources, and making parents aware of child care subsidies. About 30 percent of parents surveyed for the Danville study either did not have knowledge of available resources or did not understand how to access them.

The report also raised on-site child care as a possibility, finding examples in Tennessee, where a Tyson Foods plant opened an employer-sponsored child care facility, and in Floyd, Virginia, where Red Rooster Coffee provides an on-site child care facility that is convenient and affordable.

“This could be a model more organizations could follow, and it would be especially helpful for second- and third-shift workers where child care options are harder to come by,” said Dylan Andrews, economic development specialist with the center.

Supporting child care workers

Meanwhile, about 150 miles to the west, the Center for Economic and Community Engagement is also working on a child care project with the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board focused on the evaluation of the Ready SWVA child care program, led by the nonprofit EO. Ready SWVA is part of Ready Regions, a statewide program responsible for coordinating early childhood care and education services.

One of the benefits that Ready SWVA provides is money to cover certification costs for caregivers. The Center for Economic and Community Engagement is working to see how this initiative has impacted child care centers and if it has improved the quality of care.

“Child care workers must be recertified every few years, but it can be difficult to pay for these certifications. We’ve already found that by paying for caregivers’ training, more child care centers are able to stay open,” said Elli Travis, the center's senior economic development specialist.

As part of this partnership, the center is also analyzing available child care career pathways.

“There are challenges in attracting individuals to the child care field, but some of the ways we can build the child care workforce include providing scholarships and grants for those pursuing childhood education degrees,” Posthumus said. “Loan forgiveness programs for graduates who commit to working in the field for a specified period can also be an effective incentive.”

Part of Outreach and International Affairs, the Center for Economic and Community Engagement is a university-level center that helps advance Virginia Tech’s economic engagement mission. The center engages with internal and external partners to drive economic growth, address workforce needs, and build resilience in communities across Virginia.

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