Gov. Matt Meyer joined a roundtable of childcare leaders in the First State Thursday.
The group met at the Beach Babies Child Care Center in Milford to examine what is and isn’t working in Delaware.
Parents in Delaware have a hard time finding affordable childcare, according to a study conducted by non-profits last fall.
Costs continue to rise, with tuition for some daycares costing as much as $16 thousand per year, according to the governor.
“And so what does that mean for parents?” Meyer asked. “What does that mean for equity, if we want to have a truly equitable society? If we want to give opportunity and access to all, and not just the richest of the rich, how do we make sure that equal opportunity starts really from the age of zero?”
Meyer spent the morning reading to kids at daycares in Kent and Sussex Counties. He then attended the round table to hear from those on the ground in child care.
Maintaining the industry is going to take efforts to support its workforce, according to Delaware Department of Education’ Associate Secretary for Early Childhood Support Caitlin Gleason.
“Many of the strategies that we work on together at state agencies are to support our workforce, to get more people trained,” Gleason said. “The governor mentioned pathways, and so we're prioritizing focusing on the people because they're the ones that are interacting with kids every day.”
Meyer said he doesn’t have a full plan to address childcare accessibility yet, noting his administration is still in the listening and learning stage of the process.
Meyer noted the challenges with workforce and inflation especially in Kent and Sussex, adding it’s hard for facilities to even stay open, much less recruit and retain staff.
On top of that, federal funding cuts are worrying those in the child care industry, creating a cloudy picture of what funding might look like going forward.
