State, business, education leaders discuss child care crisis, solutions in Columbia forum

Panelists in a Wednesday forum on child care described it as critical infrastructure and an economic and workforce development issue.

The panel discussion was presented by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Columbia and Jefferson City chambers of commerce and the University of Missouri. It was held in MU's Center for Family Policy and Research in an unassuming industrial-type building off Rock Quarry Road.

Moderator Kara Corches, vice president of governmental affairs, kicked things off with results of a recent study.

Lack of child care causes a loss of $1.35 billion annually to the Missouri economy, she said. The tax revenue loss was $280 million annually. Sixty-one percent of Missouri parents missed work in the past three months because they couldn't find child care. Another 9% of parent left their jobs because they couldn't find child care.

"We need to think about child care as a state as critical infrastructure," Corches said.

It's an important issue for everyone, she said.

"This is also a bipartisan issue," Corches said. "Both parties care about this and should care about this."

Eighty percent of business leaders in the study said the child care issue negatively affected their ability to recruit and retain employees, Corches said.

The state started its Office of Childhood, said Alex Tuttle, legislative budget director for Gov. Mike Parson.

"During the pandemic, we lost 30% of our child care providers in the state and we knew we had to take action," Tuttle said.

There's no silver bullet or single answer to the issue, he said.

Multi-pronged child care tax credits proposed by State Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, didn't pass last session.

It was introduced too late, she said.

The legislation would provide credits for child care providers who make improvements and for businesses who contribute to child care providers.

It allows businesses to have "skin in the game," she said.

"From zero to five is the most important time of a child's life in terms of development," Shields said. "I think we can say that these tax credits pay for themselves."

That statement was backed up by another panelist, Brenda Lohman, director of the Center for Family and Policy Research.

"It's about a seven-to-one return on investment, which is the biggest return than for any other economic segment," Lohman said. "It impacts our economy."

Early childhood education is critically important to the future of the state and the futures of individuals, Lohman said.

"It starts children on a pathway to a successful education and a successful life," Lohman said. "It is not just a now issue, but it's a generational issue."

Mizzou Academy with a $7.5 million grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education developed 30 online training videos for childcare workers, said Chris Riley-Tillman, dean of MU's College of Education and Human Development.

"It's a professional development resource for the state," Riley-Tillmann said.

There is no single solution to the child care crisis, Riley-Tillman said.

"No one thing is going to solve our current problems," he said. "We need to get away from having this one thing is going to make everything OK."

The research about the lifetime benefits of early childhood education have been around for 25 years, Shields said.

"We're in the crisis we're in today because we didn't address the issue 25 years ago," she said.

The forum was useful, said Paul Prevo, owner of Tiger Tots Preschools, with 350 children at several Columbia locations.

"It's fantastic there is a focus," Prevo said.

The Office of Childhood is a great idea, but there's not enough representation on its board for providers, he said.

The conversation was useful, but whether it will lead to meaningful changes is to be determined, said Kylie McKinney, director of the startup Super Start Preschool and Infant Care at 300 Portland St.

She liked that there were so many references to early childhood education during the discussion, she said.

It's accepting children, she said.

Startups would be eligible for the tax credits, if Shields' bill passes, McKinney determined during questions and answers at the end of the forum.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Forum participants describe child care as critical infrastructure