Stone & Taney Counties

The Taney County Partnership and Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce are collaborating to support a multi-sector team of community stakeholders in Stone and Taney Counties. The team has identified and addressed gaps in the local childcare ecosystem by collecting and analyzing data, prioritizing issues, developing strategies, and building solutions as a team.

The outcome will be a community- and data-driven childcare and early education action plan, designed to establish a high-quality, accessible early childhood system that guides Stone and Taney Counties into the next phase of implementation addressing their community’s top ECE priorities.

Key Findings

The number of children who need care is higher than the number of available slots. More than 1,400 additional infant and toddler slots, and more than 250 additional preschool slots, are needed.

On average, families are paying 15% or more of their income to cover the cost of care.

Current, unaffordable annual tuitions are not enough to cover the true cost of high-quality care.

Community Priorities

Increase public-private partnerships to support the child care system.
Support existing child care providers to ensure sustainability, and then focus on increasing the supply of quality infant-toddler care.
Ensure child care providers and families are accessing and utilizing all currently available supports and resources.
Increase supportive policies and public investment in child care at all levels.

The Research

Child Care Is A Workforce Issue

56%

of surveyed employers report that employees’ access to child care greatly or significantly affects their business

91%

of surveyed employers report employees doing at least one of the following during the past year: terminating their employment, permanently changing their work hours/availability, trading shifts with co-workers, or otherwise temporarily changing their work hours/availability, taking time off to fill child care gaps, candidates declining employment offers, or other.

“It is hard to find quality childcare in our area for “off-hours” but because of tourist-related businesses, parents work at all hours, except overnights around here.”

– Employer

Quotes and survey data are drawn from a non-representative convenience sample of Stone and Taney County residents, ECE Directors and Owners in the two counties, and senior leaders of employers in the region.

Families Lack Access to Child Care

The number of infants and toddlers who need care is higher than the number of available slots, with 1,435 kids who do not have a slot. Pre-K capacity is sufficient for the needs of the community, but an additional 280 slots are needed for preschoolers ages 3-5. This data is based on 70% of the estimated total number of children in the area, aligned with policy research estimates used by the State of Missouri.

“When my child was born I worked at a much lower paid position and the waitlist for the preferred daycares were 18 months from when I found out I was pregnant. I called 10-12 home daycares to find a place for my son. He ended up in a home care situation that was more expensive than I wanted. The home daycare took 60% of my take home pay.”

-Stone & Taney Counties Parent

Infant & Toddler (Birth-2 Years)

18%

Kids Served

1,756 Kids
321 Slots

Pre-Kindergarten (4-5 Years)

100%

Kids Served

595 Kids
687 Slots

Other Preschool (3-5 Years)

84%

Kids Served

1,795 Kids
1,514 Slots

THE COST OF CHILD CARE IS UNAFFORDABLE FOR FAMILIES

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), child care is considered affordable if it costs families no more than 7% of their income. With median household income of $59,791, local families are paying 15% or more of their income to cover the cost of care for one child.

% income parents pay for Infant & Toddler Care

25%

% income parents pay for Preschool

17%

* 7% affordability threshhold

Median Household Income (MHI)

$ 59,791

Infant & Toddler parent tuition

$ 15,210

Preschool parent tuition

$ 10,400

Affordable Cost Level ( 7% MHI )

$ 4,185

More Resources ARE NEEDED to Provide Affordable High-Quality Care

In addition to being unaffordable to families, the annual cost of tuition does not cover the true cost of high-quality care for providers. Additional funds from other stakeholders are needed to support high-quality care.

Total Cost: $21,728

Infant & Toddler

$ 4,185

$17,543

Total Cost: $12,717

Preschool

$ 4,185

$8,880

Investment Gap

Affordable Cost for Parents

“[Biggest challenges are] being able to pay quality employees a good wage while still keeping tuition prices affordable for families.”

– Provider in Stone & Taney Counties

REACH OUT

Contact Taney County Partnership hear about the leaders, organizations, and advocates involved across Stone and Taney Counties and learn more about this exciting work.

Matt Adkins, Vice President/Chief Economic Development Officer, Taney County Partnership
madkins@taneycountypartnership.org

Community planning, research, and facilitation by Child Care Leadership Lab; in addition to supply building initiative co-design and implementation with community partners. Data compiled and presented by IFF in partnership with Kids Win Missouri. Thank you to our partners Taney County Partnership and Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce. We also thank our funding partners Children’s Trust Fund, Silver Dollar City Foundation, First Presbyterian Church Branson, and Neighbor: The Herschend Family Giving Collective.