Who pays the cost when west central Missouri families are unable to find quality child care? A new Missouri study puts it into dollars and cents. A new west central Missouri team of community leaders is paying attention and taking action.

If you're a child care provider looking to grow your business skills, sharpen your professionalism, or better understand your bottom line, this summer learning series is for you.

Leaders in Cedar, Henry, Polk, and St. Clair counties are using recent survey results to guide a regional child care action plan. With affordability and availability as key focus areas, they’re exploring innovative solutions like a Community Child Care Exchange and shared services to better support families and providers.

Information gathered from surveys for parents, employers, and providers, open until April 30, will be an important foundation to the community action plan to address child care options in Henry, St Clair, Cedar, and Polk counties.

Parents, employers, and child care providers in Cedar, Henry, Polk, and St. Clair counties—your voice matters! Please share your experiences by survey before April 30, 2025, to help build an action plan for better child care solutions in west central Missouri.

Building on insights from the recent report, Solving Missouri's Child Care Puzzle, this webinar series advances the discussion and explores actionable shared service solutions for child care in Missouri.

With nearly half of Missouri’s young children living in "child care deserts," a new report from the New Growth Women’s Business Center and University of Missouri Extension, proposes a business-oriented solution: shared services or central office support for small and home-based child care providers.