Family Support First: Aligning Childcare, Work, and Well-Being

“The family is the backbone of the community and if we want our community to thrive, we need our families to thrive.”

Nathan Winiecki, MS, a therapist with Living Well Professional Counseling, was one of several local experts who gathered in Crawford County to confront a shared reality. Parents of children ages 0–5 struggle to find work and childcare that align—jobs with hours and benefits that match real family life, and care that is safe, consistent, and reliable. Families face stacked obstacles: limited funds, few nearby openings, centers that don’t accept vouchers, and hours that don’t match shift schedules.

On the ground, the stakes are immediate. Tammy Predmore, Director of Workforce Development at WAPDD, notes that unreliable childcare pushes parents to call in or arrive late, triggering discipline, lost pay, and eventually turnover. Flexible scheduling, remote options where feasible, and onsite or co-located care convert avoidable absences into reliable work hours—protecting productivity and family stability. This is why childcare is a workforce issue as much as a family one.

“If an employee doesn't have the flexibility to meet their needs of their child, they aren't going to stay employed there.”

Missy Love, Director of ChildCare Aware, agreed and underscored the retention payoff for employers. “People will leave a job with higher pay so they can have a job that offers childcare benefits.”

Both Predmore and Love agreed—investing in retention is the smarter move for employers. When employers invest during the preschool years—through stipends, onsite care, or flexible schedules—parents are more likely to stay and advance. That reduces costly turnover and preserves institutional knowledge, strengthening teams well beyond the early-childhood stage.

Elizabeth Scudder, MED, Co-Founder of Early Childhood Education Solutions, sees the burden from both sides. For families, the price tag is steep: “It is costing most families 30% of their salaries to pay for childcare right now.” As a former childcare director, she also knows how thin provider margins are: “The profit margin on a childcare facility is about 3%”—leaving little room to pay competitive wages or retain staff, especially in birth-to-three classrooms.

To reverse the trend, she called for a cultural shift that truly values early educators and for policy changes—sustainable funding and wage supports—so centers can pay competitively without operating at a loss.

“We're treating infant and toddler care workers as second class citizens,” Scudder laments.

Infant care is the tightest pinch point. Required ratios are four-to-one, yet the revenue from four infant slots often cannot cover one staff member’s wages. The result: long wait lists and program deficits.

Inconsistent care is more than an inconvenience or an employment barrier for parents; it carries developmental costs for children.

“It affects cognitive development and social skills when there is inconsistent care,” Scudder explains. She adds that parental stress spills over to children with lasting consequences: “It's cripling them as adults. We have to stop that stress reactor early.”

To combat this, Nathan Winiecki, MS, Therapist at Living Well Professional Counseling, points to mental health support and parenting education to ease pressure at home and at school.

“We are all a product of the households we grew up in,” he says. He’s seen how simple, practical coaching can shift family routines and outcomes in lasting ways.

He also notes that teachers are carrying too much and calls for more providers to stand alongside families: “Teachers aren't really teachers anymore. They're teachers and social workers.”

Gwen Couthren, Early Childhood Coordinator at the Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative shared how their programs offer classroom-aligned support for behavioral challenges and wraparound mental-health services for families. She notes that identifying root causes takes time but reduces disruptions at school and at home. She also emphasizes outreach and navigation—programs such as ARHIP and TEFRA can help cover the cost of therapeutic childcare so children receive specialized support without pushing families into financial crisis.

“A thriving workforce needs thriving childcare,” stated Love, “You can't have one without the other.”

That truth puts the next move in the community’s hands. Employers can offer childcare benefits, predictable schedules, and onsite or co-located care to keep parents working and teams stable. Local leaders and businesses can expand family childcare homes and fund infant–toddler classrooms where costs and ratios are highest, while schools and cooperatives connect families to financial supports. Providers and mental-health partners can pair quality care with parenting education and counseling so stress drops at home and learning rises at school. When we act together—business, education, providers, and neighbors—families thrive, employers retain talent, and communities grows stronger.

The 100 Families Initiative is community-led and moves families from crisis → stability → career with collaboration and existing community resources. By aligning agencies and data around a single family plan, communities reduce duplication, shorten time to stability, and help prevent unnecessary foster-care entries by solving root issues earlier.