Marion County is a rural community in central Kansas that is home to roughly 11,800 individuals. Of these individuals, there are approximately 700 residents under six years of age (Child Care Aware of Kansas). The County has identified the top three challenges residents face as the following: child care, housing, and workforce.
The Hillsboro Community Child Care Center (H4C) Board has been addressing the child care crisis in Marion County, Kansas since 2019. It was initially presented as a workforce issue due to the lack of available child care for employees. According to Child Care Aware of Kansas, Marion County is only meeting 40% of the demand for child care. Within the USD 410 School District, there is one in-home provider and one child care center that offer a combined total of two infant spots. The current child care center wishes to merge with Hillsboro Community Child Care Center upon opening.
The H4C Board conducted a Community Needs Assessment in partnership with K-State Research and Extension in July of 2021. The Board reported the following findings from the Community Needs Assessment: need for infant care, weekday care for birth to five years, and school age care. In addition, the Board reported feedback indicating the lack of child care as a workforce issue, “Many (families) are not able to work or have moved from the community to find available child care elsewhere.” In addition, the feedback indicated the “Lack of child care a deterrent to new young families looking to move into the USD 410 School District.”
Upon reviewing the findings from the Community Needs Assessment, H4C began to devise a plan that would include establishing a child care center for up to 99 children birth through 5 years of age. In January of 2022, the plan began to come to life as H4C was gifted a building from Trinity Mennonite Church with the intent to establish a child care center. In addition to the child care center, the facility would include office space for community entities that support families and youth.
H4C’s short-term goal is to renovate the facility into a child care center. The child care center would not only decrease the need for child care in the USD 410 School District, but across Marion County as a whole. The cost for the renovation is estimated to be over $3 Million.
When looking at the long-term outcomes of establishing a child care facility, up to 99 children would have the opportunity to be engaged in high quality early learning. In addition, the availability of child care could lead to an increase in economic development as more families are able to reside in the community. In turn, this would allow for more families to become invested in the workforce. Overall, the establishment of a child care center in Marion County would benefit not only the families seeking care but the County as a whole.
To date, the H4C board has raised roughly 75% of the total estimated cost for renovation. Over $1.2 million of said funds have been provided by the local community through private donations. The remaining funds have been raised through extramural funding sources including: Child Care Capacity Accelerator Grant from the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund, Community Development Block Grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce, and the Child Care Community Partnership Grant through Child Care Aware of Kansas.
The Hillsboro Community Child Care Center (H4C) has truly been a community lead initiative. The need for child care was brought the City of Hillsboro’s attention by the businesses and industries within the community. The understanding and value of child care has only grown since that initial meeting in 2019. Over the past five years, the work has shifted and grown from a group of 15 to 20 passionate community members, to a steering committee, to an official 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit governing board. The H4C Board represents various sectors of our community including: Civic, Education, Public Health, Religious, Business, Parent Representative, Hillsboro Community Foundation, and a Child Care Provider.
The H4C Board has scheduled bi-monthly meetings to ensure progress is being made on the initiative. H4C has hired a General Contractor and is excited to begin renovations this Summer. The renovation is expected to be completed by Spring of 2025.
