Jefferson County Looks To Improve Access To Childcare With C4K Initiative

By Gordon HopkinsIn an attempt to address the need for childcare and early education, Jefferson County is looking into partnering with Communities for Kids. The Communities for Kids (C4K) initiative was launched in Nebraska in 2017. According to C4K’s website, “Calls for support from rural Nebraska communities seeking resources to develop quality child care were the spark needed to create C4K by Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, along with two key philanthropic partners. In a span of seven years, C4K evolved from initial discussions to a dedicated initiative now serving over 67 communities statewide. The primary work includes collaborating with communities to prioritize child care, delivering essential resources, and offering expertise to establish sustainable early childhood care and education infrastructure.”Commissioner Danielle Schwab updated her fellow commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, “We are looking at the Communities for Kids, C4k, initiative, starting in Jefferson County.”Schwab recently attended a meeting to look into the initiative, “It was the first meeting. It was a very on the fly meeting so, there wasn’t a ton of people there, but (there was) a representative from Head Start, a representative from Kids Connection, which is our childcare center in town.”“I was there for the county, but also I’m a childcare trainer, so I’ve been training for like, the last 25 years. So, I have some interesting perspective into that,” said Schwab. “And Sarah Roesler with Educational Service Unit Five (ESU5), who kind of put it together. So, we’re really in the beginning stages of talking about it.”Schwab added, “I’m actually having this same talk with Tri County, who’s looking at putting in a childcare center in their school.” While there is a statewide shortage of childcare options, especially in rural Nebraska, Schwab noted the matter is more complicated than simply not having enough childcare providers, “Although we hear that there’s a lot of lack of childcare, sometimes it’s not the whole picture. And so, I started calling around to all of the Jefferson County childcare. So for example, in DeWitt, let’s say they’re full and they’ve got a waiting list. But then Plymouth, we have one gal who could take 12 and she only has four. Another one who has one opening and another one who will be down three in June. So, there’s more to this story, and we’re trying to figure that out. Same in Fairbury. I called a couple in Fairbury. One has three openings in Fairbury and has had them for a very long time, can’t fill them.”Age can complicate placing children with childcare providers. For example, Schwab noted, “Babies are harder to find spots for because you can only have so many.”Because every county is different, the C4K initiative provides what it calls a, “customized approach aligned to each community’s strengths and needs.” Schwab said that many of the surrounding counties already participate in the C4K intuitive, “We’re going to talk to some of the other communities because the C 4k initiative looks different in every county, but all the surrounding counties have done it.”Commission Chair Mark Schoenrock said, “Everywhere you go, it seems like childcare always comes up as an issue. So, that looks like a great initiative.”

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