The Villages of Indiana opens new infant wing to address childcare gap
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOn the southwest side of Indianapolis, there are three times as many children than licensed childcare seats.
To help bridge the gap, The Villages of Indiana recently opened a new infant wing to double the number of babies the center can take care of.
“If you find affordable, accessible childcare for an infant, it’s like you just won the lottery in the state of Indiana,” Villages CEO Shannon Schumacher said. “Childcare—affordable childcare—is a workforce issue. To attract and retain employees, particularly women employees, you must have some kind of daycare, and a high-quality daycare.”
The Villages serves many low-income families who have state vouchers that help pay for childcare. During this year’s legislative session, a law passed that will create a dashboard that provides monthly information regarding state and federal childcare subsidies available to Indiana residents.
The Indiana Chamber says childcare access and affordability is a statewide infrastructure challenge with significant implications for student learning, labor force participation and economic development.
“[This new wing is] going to allow families to be able to continue to work, allow families to be able to continue to pay their rent and their car expenses just by having access to this facility that will take vouchers,” Schumacher said.
The center says it gets at least a dozen calls a day from mothers looking for childcare. The 16 new openings for babies are already filled, and more than 200 kids are on the waiting list, Schumacher said.
“How is our economy in Indiana going to grow if we have people who want to work but cannot work because they can’t find high-quality affordable childcare?” she said.
For parents paying out of pocket, childcare at The Villages is about $360 per week. Many families don’t quality for the vouchers, so the not-for-profit wants the state to expand assistance to help more parents.
“It’s life changing. It’s going to allow families to be able to continue to work. It’s going to allow families to be able to continue to pay their rent and their car expenses just by having access to this facility that will take vouchers.
The Villages says the new wing will be a long-term blessing for families. After the baby ages out of the infant area, they can stay at the center until they’re 12 years old.