Accessible, high-quality child care starts with a strong workforce

We need to think differently about our system of child care

Simply put, it costs a lot to provide high quality child care – more than parents can reasonably pay. Working parents are struggling with high costs and a shortage of care offerings. Child care providers, who can’t make a living wage despite working extremely hard, are leaving the workforce. Business and economic growth in our region is hindered by a constrained workforce.

We need a different model where child care providers have enough resources to operate effectively, parents have access and can afford the quality care they need to help their kids thrive, and communities have a strong, stable workforce.

What is causing the problem?

This is not a failure of providers or parents being unable to pay high costs, it is a decades long system failure with complex root causes including a lack of long-term, cross-sector investment into child care as critical community infrastructure.

Child care workforce compensation has emerged as a central issue driving the lack of enough child care openings in the region to meet demand.

Root Causes

The Basics of Child Care

Resources & Data

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The Alliance

Fostering a More Sustainable Model of Child Care

The Northeast Wisconsin Child Care Alliance is a network of partners working to make it easier for children and their families to get the high-quality, affordable early care and education they need to thrive. The Alliance works to create a shared understanding of the child care system, to increase public will and action while working to align priorities across sectors to improve coordination across local, regional and state systems.

Our vision is a region where all young children and their families are thriving because they can equitably access high-quality, affordable, early care and education that provides competitive wages and meets the needs of diverse families across Northeast Wisconsin.

With support from the Basic Needs Giving Partnership, the Alliance is working to build a broad network including families with lived experience, the child care workforce, the public sector, businesses, and community groups.

Our Strategy

The Alliance’s Strategic Framework maps out the different roles and priorities our network is taking to advance our vision. Our near term priorities are mobilizing and equipping an advocacy network of parents, providers, and business/community leaders; and supporting policy and funding innovations to support child care operations, tuition, and wages.
Strategic Framework