League of Women Voters’ Feb. 3 public forum discusses childcare
From staff reports
A skilled, capable workforce in our country requires high-quality, affordable child care for our children. Child care needs to be viewed as a critical part of our country’s infrastructure, and, unless it’s in place, children, their families and our economy will not reach their potential, states the League of Women Voters Leelanau County.
Affordable, quality child care was in short supply before the pandemic. Now families’ inability to find child care has reached a crisis stage, preventing many parents from returning to work. This forum on Feb. 3, available via Zoom and presented by four panelists, will provide a local perspective on the state of child care, with input from both those involved in finding and providing child care. Panelists include:
Mary Manner, a leader in the five-county (Leelanau, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Antrim and Kalkaska) effort to grow the availability of affordable, quality child care, presenting an overview of the state of child care in this area;
two Leelanau County child care providers, Molly Grosvenor, Program Director for Leelanau Children’s Center and Corine Couturier, a home-based provider, sharing providers’ perspectives;
and Kendra Deering, a parent speaking about her challenges in finding flexible, affordable and quality child care for her four children.
The forum will include recommendations for what we all can do to address the child care crisis. The public is welcome. Mark your calendar for February 3 at noon. Click here to register.
