Throughout 2024, with support from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and MIBOR, Invest Hamilton County engaged hundreds of local residents, businesses and stakeholders in the development of a child-care Action and Investment Plan. The goals of the project were to help identify gaps, quantify the impact of child care on residents and build a plan to guide solutions.
Research, conducted by TPMA, showed that in 2024, Hamilton County was 4,644 seats behind demand across the community, and needs to establish 9,405 seats by 2034 to meet community demand. This demand will only be met by developing and attracting approximately 1,500 additional child-care workers.
The lack of quality and accessible child care has led to 2,339 “work willing” parents in Hamilton County who would return to the workforce if their need could be addressed. These parents returning to the workforce has the potential to generate $242 to $316 million in annual economic impact.
“Seeing in this research how often parents were willing to relocate to find child care, and how often they left jobs or reduced hours because of access, showcases the impact this challenge has on our residents,” says Mike Thibideau, president and CEO of Invest Hamilton County. “It also presents a tremendous opportunity for talent and corporate attraction if we can develop solutions. Sixty-seven percent of businesses surveyed said that when considering new hires, reliable child care or pre-K is raised as a concern by the candidate.”
In 2025, guided by this planning process, Invest Hamilton County and other key community partners will be establishing a child-care-focused coalition, and within the next few months will identify a staffing solution to build boots-on-the-ground capacity. Other key action items over the next few years include the development of career pathways, establishing a countywide joint services hub for child-care providers, identifying creative methods for subsidizing costs, and supporting a no-wrong-door approach that increases the capacity of home-based, faith-based and center-based care across the county.
The full plan, summary docs, and a link to engage with the community-wide effort can be found at investhamiltoncounty.com/childcare-action-investment-plan.
