A new program to help Wyandotte County families gain access to child care will launch at 5:30 p.m. today, Aug. 15, at the Children’s Campus of Kansas City, 444 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The event is open to the public.
The Family Conservancy, a nonprofit serving at-risk children and families throughout the Kansas City metro area, is launching Start Young.
Start Young is a public-private collaborative designed to improve child care in Wyandotte County, increasing access to high-quality, full-day, full-year child care for working families, according to a spokesman.
The program will work with 16 existing child care centers in the community to help improve child care programs, to help serve more children.
A $1 million grant over three years was received from the state of Kansas, according to a spokesman. The grant funds have to be matched with private funding, and several Wyandotte County businesses have invested in this project.
Currently, Wyandotte County only has capacity to serve about 40 percent of working families with young children, according to the spokesman. Many of the programs that are available are not full-day, full-year programs. Further complicating the issue, even when parents can find high-quality care that meets their needs, many have difficulty paying for it.
Access to high-quality child care provides benefits to parents and children across Wyandotte County by allowing parents to be gainfully employed so they have the resources to better support their families, and by preparing children for success in school and life by maximizing the crucial period of early brain development, the spokesman stated.
Evidence shows that investment in these areas increases workforce participation, high school graduation rates, and community health outcomes; while decreasing rates of abuse, neglect, early parenthood, substance abuse, and incarceration, according to the spokesman.
The Start Young three-year pilot program is expected to help 1,200 children in the first year. The funding for this project is provided by Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund through Communities Aligned in Early Development and Education (CAEDE), and matched 1:1 with funds from the private sector, including investments from Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Wyandotte Health Foundation, Stanley H. Durwood Foundation, Olathe Wesleyan Church, Hall Family Foundation, and other pending and secured funders.
Community partners who will deliver the project include the Mid-America Regional Council, United Way of Wyandotte County, Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, and Child Care Aware of Kansas. In addition, 16 Wyandotte County-based child care providers have been identified to participate in the project.