SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — According to First Things First, 60% of young children in the state live in a household where all adults work, leaving a need for child care. The cost of child care has steadily increased each year since 2018.
"Our youth are our number one investment in our community,” said Cochise Regional Council Member, Demetry Simonton.
There are more than 10,000 kids under the age of 5 in Cochise County, but there's just over 3,000 child care spots through legal operations in the area.
“The biggest concern is really having programs and services for children, birth through 5, as they go into the K through 12 system," said Regional Director for Cochise Regional Partnership Council, Melissa Avant. "If they don't receive the services that they need, it becomes a bigger problem in the K through 12 system, and later on in life.”
First Things First is a statewide organization that focuses on early child care resources. They are funded by a tobacco tax, which is causing a decrease in funding, as fewer people smoke.
"Our regional council members really felt the need to expand as our funding is decreasing, and so we're really hoping to have a community conversation for long-term solutions,” Avant said.
On Wednesday the Cochise Region hosted an Early Child Care Summit, to start thinking and brainstorming how to sustain and grow resources for kids in Pre-K and younger.
"We’re really excited about just hearing what the community wants to see from us, and then how they see a path forward,” Simonton.
The conversation centered around the need for more child care services in the area and taking the cost burden off of families.
"(Parents) need to get back in the workforce. They need to get back out there being able to go to school and reach their goals and quality," Simonton said. "Education is the foundation.”
Cochise County Superintendent, Jacqui Clay, says exposing kids to reading before kindergarten can increase local reading scores and can increase the graduation rate.
“Pre-K, we didn’t pay attention to them, but if we prepare them before they get into kindergarten, how amazing would our society be?” she said.
The Cochise Region Partnership plans to take the ideas from the summit and put more local resources into early child care. They also hope to find funding for these resources, whether that's by partnering with cities and the county.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
