Child Care Strategic Plan launches with request for feedback

Indiana State University (ISU) and Ivy Tech Community College Terre Haute are launching Grow Up in West Central Indiana, a collaborative Child Care Strategic Plan for the West Central Indiana region.

Grow Up in West Central Indiana is being supported, in part, by a grant from the Lilly Endowment’s College and Community Collaboration Initiative.

The strategic plan will identify child care challenges that are prevalent in communities throughout West Central Indiana and develop recommendations to address the growing demand for high-quality child care.  

“Indiana State University is committed to researching and tackling the issue of limited child care availability in West Central Indiana, which has impacted our community for far too long,” ISU President Deborah J. Curtis said. “Through this collaborative partnership, ISU looks forward to addressing and resolving topics like childcare availability, cost, etc. We must be proactive to ensure our region’s employees have one less thing to worry about to help advance the State of Indiana economically.”

To best understand the community’s needs, ISU and Ivy Tech are collecting data from Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties in various forms, as well as other surrounding communities that rely on West Central Indiana for work and child care.  

The first phase is launching a West Central Indiana Child Care Strategic Plan survey. The survey targets employers, employees, child care providers and families and individuals both receiving and seeking child care.

In order to gain perspective and insight throughout the region, ISU and Ivy Tech representatives will meet regularly with identified stakeholders and partners and will hold community forums in each of the six counties that make up West Central Indiana. 

Following receipt of community feedback, the task force from ISU and Ivy Tech will work to compile the data and make recommendations regarding implementation of the plan and will present them to the community.

“As the community college, Ivy Tech strives to align our programs and work with the needs of West Central Indiana,” Lea Anne Crooks, chancellor of Ivy Tech Terre Haute, said. “I look forward to witnessing the impact this initiative will have on families, students and employers.”

The survey asks a variety of questions related to individual experiences and the overall state of child care. All information in the survey is confidential and will only be used for the purposes of this plan.  

To participate in the survey, visit https://surveymonkey.com/r/ChildCareStrategicPlan.