Child Care: The Missing Piece in Workforce Development?

Arkansas’ economy is growing — and quickly. Over the past few years, the state has seen a steady stream of large-scale development projects, including advanced steel mills, manufacturing facilities, production plants and more. The state has also welcomed announcements from existing businesses ready to double down and expand their footprints. Nearly every investment has promised new jobs, and good-paying ones at that. In 2023 alone, economists at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business in Fayetteville said 15,000 new positions were created.

With that upward trajectory expected to continue into 2024, how does Arkansas expect to meet the growing demand for employees to staff new and existing businesses? Of course, workforce development will be crucial, but so will the need for the state or private sector to provide additional support, such as professional development that allows individuals to stay on the job. First and foremost is ensuring that Arkansas families have access to quality child care and early learning programs, no matter where they live in the state.

Arkansas is already ahead of the curve on workforce development. Under Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ leadership, the state has been laser focused on building its talent pipeline. Like its predecessors, the Sanders administration understands that equipping workers with in-demand technical and durable skills is vital to recruiting new companies and industries, but the administration also recognizes that the state must address its child care shortage to retain employees and businesses.

The Arkansas Department of Education recently announced, “Too few children and families have access to early care and education, let alone ones of high quality.” This absence of services can force parents, particularly women, to limit their workforce participation or leave their jobs altogether. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, about 10 percent of Arkansas parents voluntarily left a job due to child care issues. Simultaneously, children cannot gain the brain-building experiences needed for long-term academic or career success. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count report emphasized the importance of early childhood education and how such experiences are “invaluable for preparing young learners for elementary school.”

Unfortunately, Arkansas’ scarcity of child care options is particularly notable in rural areas. Consider Jackson County as an example. According to a recent Newport Economic Development Commission assessment, nearly 70 percent of women in the county cannot participate in the workforce, and the unavailability of quality child care is the primary reason for that decision. The commission noted that well-paying jobs are available, and residents are interested in filling them, but residents don’t have the child care needed to do so.

The LEARNS Act passed by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2023 intends to address the state’s lack of child care options by helping to create a “unified early childhood system.” The state is also seeing progress from targeted public-private partnerships in areas of great need like Jackson County. There, the Newport Economic Development Commission has partnered with Unity Health, the Newport School District and the Early Years Place in Newport to create an infusion of affordable, high-quality child care seats. With the support of Joyfully Engaged Learning, the Early Years Place is taking it one step further by pursuing accreditation from the National Association for Education of Young Children, the gold standard of early childhood education. Once achieved, the Early Years Place will receive an immediate six stars under Arkansas’ Better Beginnings Quality Rating Improvement System, the highest-quality tier.

Through the partnership, the hope is that the Early Years Place will add hundreds of early education seats in Jackson County. When children enroll, parents can put in more work hours, miss fewer work days, and pursue continuing education or credentials. At the same time, their children will benefit from experiencing a quality early education program. Evidence consistently shows that kids in NAEYC-accredited schools, which include developmentally appropriate activities, positive child-adult interactions, small student-to-teacher ratios and more, report greater kindergarten readiness and better long-term academic outcomes.

Many have heard the saying, “If you build it, they will come.” Arkansas has hit its stride in recruiting new industries and opportunities to the state. As a result of rigorous workforce development efforts, there is a pipeline of workers who are prepared and ready to thrive. However, individuals cannot enter or stay in the workforce without access to affordable, quality child care. Fortunately, public-private partnerships like those underway in Jackson County can help ease the burden. By expanding families’ access to quality early learning seats, the state can help workers take advantage of new opportunities and sustain Arkansas’s economic growth.

Leigh Keener is the executive director of Joyfully Engaged Learning, an Arkansas nonprofit committed to supporting early learning programs in their voluntary pursuit of NAEYC accreditation. She is a former classroom teacher and serves on the state board of education. Her email address is leigh@joyfullyengaged.org.