Cheryl Watkins
This opinion piece originally appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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Accessible and affordable early childhood education is the backbone of a thriving community. Many local and state entities are prioritizing our children in the St. Louis region, a welcome and positive development. It’s urgent that these jurisdictions finalize plans and pass initiatives that promote child care accessibility for the future of our state’s economy, families and children.
Child care is an obvious necessity for working families and has the potential to change the lives of our most vulnerable citizens. We see this daily at YWCA Metro St. Louis, which is the only Head Start program in Missouri to receive the 2022-2027 National Program of Excellence accreditation from the National Head Start Association and is the largest provider of direct Head Start services in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County. We serve more than 1,200 preschool-aged children through affordable, high-quality, accessible child care.
We believe in Head Start’s ability to transform the lives of families in our community. A study that began in 1979 by the Brookings Institution shows that children who participate in Head Start programs have better educational outcomes, stronger emotional and behavioral development, and benefit from more positive parenting practices.
Further studies demonstrate that families participating in Head Start are more likely to maintain jobs and be less dependent on social services. Early childhood education has long-term impacts on economic self-sufficiency that cannot be denied.
Clearly, early childhood education is an economic issue.
The discussion about the benefits of early childhood education is important, but so are the harsh realities of sparse access to care. The state of Missouri has a growing child care crisis, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, when 1,000 centers closed and only 300 later reopened. Of the centers currently operating, only 7% are nationally accredited.
The Post-Dispatch has called on lawmakers to address the issue and bring Missouri out of the child care desert. These deserts refer to regions where child care is either unavailable within a suitable driving distance or where there are more than three children for every child care opening in the area. Nearly two-thirds of Missouri counties are considered child care deserts, with the crisis even more acute in rural areas.
YWCA Metro St. Louis is working hard to be part of the solution. In fact, we have created a workforce development program, Successful Pathways®, that trains Missourians to become early childhood educators. It is a win on three fronts — putting people on professional career paths in early childhood education, creating valuable jobs in our economy, and helping address the child care shortage.
We are pleased to see that public officials also want to be part of the solution. Fortunately, solutions being discussed at the city and state levels can fuel economic, educational and public safety progress, ultimately benefiting every Missouri resident. A bill previously proposed in the Missouri House outlined a three-part tax credit initiative to benefit working families and child care providers. This solution would provide necessary funding and oversight to improve the quality of existing child care programs and open new centers.
Meanwhile, incoming Gov. Mike Kehoe has a fresh opportunity to rally his party to pass tax credits through the General Assembly. As one of six children raised by a single mother in St. Louis, Kehoe has called his victory a win for single mothers in Missouri and has previously placed a high priority on supporting working families and business owners.
Further, the city of St. Louis has an incredible opportunity to lead the way by using about $37 million of the Rams settlement money to subsidize child care for city residents, with first priority given to parents who are city workers. After all, public service employees are especially vulnerable to child care shortages when their jobs require them to work around the clock. Everyone suffers when parents are forced to choose between working and caring for their children.
This would be a groundbreaking solution at the foundational level and a true investment in the future of St. Louis’ public safety and economic development.
If there’s a choice to be made, let’s prioritize our children. Investing in children is not just a parental responsibility, it is a collective imperative that uplifts our entire community.
Watkins is a physician, president and CEO of YWCA Metro St. Louis and an entrepreneur in the St. Louis region.
YWCA Metro St. Louis is the region’s leading advocate for the safety, security and stability of women and children, serving more than 10,000 women and families annually. The mission of YWCA is eliminating racism and empowering women. YWCA offers crisis services and rapid re-housing for victims of sexual and domestic violence; services for pregnant women, Head Start and Early Head Start early childhood education; career readiness and economic empowerment services for all clients; and racial justice educational programs.