An economic leader is looking into how to fix the child care issue in Moniteau County.
The Moniteau Regional Economic Development Council (MRED) continues its push for research into available child care. In early March, the organization sent out a survey to employees at Cargill, Burgers Smokehouse and other businesses to evaluate the need for child care in Moniteau County.
According to MRED President Mike Kelley, the lack of child care for working families is an issue affecting much of the country, however, Moniteau County is considered to be a "child care desert," an area with families in need of 50 spots for child care services. This led to the organization working with local industries, consulting companies and legislators to get a grasp on the issue.
Kelley said the results from the survey showed there is a serious need for child care for children ages zero to 4 and for children in upper elementary through middle school. He added many parents also need after-school child care as well.
MRED will create two groups to address the child care issue. One focusing on regional child care needs, which will meet quarterly, and the other focusing on Moniteau County specifically, which will meet monthly.
"That Moniteau County specific group...the people involved with that group will volunteer be in certain projects of focus like zero to 4-year-olds, preschool, after-school and partnerships or facilities or child care providers," Kelley said. "That group to where we can find out how we can assist them and also try to bring programs to the county that will help parents and providers alike."
Kelley said representatives from Cargill, Co-Mo Connect, the Moniteau County Library, Moniteau County Health Center, local school districts and various child care providers will be involved in the process. He said his organization is trying to hit every aspect of issue.
"There's a need to help providers with resources that they can use to either expand or increase the number of children they serve. And that's why we have a provider focus as well," Kelley said. "We're looking at it with open minds, and we're not ruling any type of program out because in all reality this is going to take more than one thing to fix this."