Alaska childcare providers, families and employers are under intense strain with the lack of available openings and funding, according to advocates. They are calling for major state investment in the childcare industry and seeking policy changes under the next governor and Legislature.
Leaders with several nonprofit groups held an online webinar Sept. 23 focused on barriers and potential solutions to what they called “Alaska’s childcare desert.” The group included advocates with the Alaska Children’s Trust, Southeast Childhood Collective and thread, a statewide resource and referral organization.
They described a patchwork funding system of federal, state and some municipal grants for childcare providers, which has resulted in a lack of spaces to meet demand, long waitlists, high costs for families and a lack of qualified providers, who work for low pay.
“It’s a battle right now,” said Candice Vialpando, marketing and communications director with thread. “But every little bit helps, and every bucket of money that we are getting, we’re just putting out into the field to try and help and keep programs open.”
Alaska has seen a wave of childcare centers close in recent years. Last year, one of Anchorage’s largest childcare facilities, Bright Beginnings Learning Center, closed due to rising costs and a shortage of workers, displacing 125 children and 35 staff. Since 2019, 25% of childcare facilities have closed, according to thread.
The organization estimates 50% of Alaskan families cannot fully participate in the workforce because they lack access to childcare. They estimate the average cost Alaska parents pay is nearly $14,000 per year per child.
There are no state-licensed childcare centers in Wrangell, where parents depend on friends and family and small operators who take in a few children.
The advocates are pushing legislators and state political candidates to make childcare a priority in this election.
“Alaska is a childcare desert,” said Blue Shibler, executive director of the Southeast Childhood Collective, which provides resource, funding and workforce development support.
Shibler said childcare providers are struggling to recruit workers and pay livable wages, which can result in long wait lists for care. “Childcare providers cannot charge families enough money to pay competitive wages in this labor market, and so they’re limited at how many kids they can take based on that,” she said. “We’re working to improve that.”
This year, the Legislature approved $6.4 million to help boost pay and retain childcare workers, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed it.
Dunleavy also vetoed Legislature-approved increases of $355,000 to the family support program Parents as Teachers, a $3.7 million increase for Head Start programs and a $3 million increase for infant learning programs to support children with developmental delays or disabilities.
A spokesperson for the Dunleavy administration, Jeff Turner, said by email Sept. 24 that “substantial funding was provided,” for childcare. He pointed to the governor’s approvals in this year’s budget for $13 million in Head Start grants, $475,000 for Parents as Teachers and $12.3 million for early intervention and infant learning programs.
Nonprofit groups are working to boost childcare worker support and professional development opportunities, including apprenticeship programs, and helping new providers with licensing and regulatory standards for new childcare programs.
Shibler and others said providers continue to struggle with licensing issues and regulatory hurdles, and the Department of Health could do more to ease the strain.
“A lot of the licensing regulations are just really old and outdated. They just need a review,” she said. “To figure out how many of these are really important to maintain health, safety and quality, and which ones are just sort of extra that we don’t need to be dealing with and putting on providers.”
Teresa Wrobel, director of policy and advocacy at the Alaska Children’s Trust, said childcare is becoming a priority issue for employers, as there’s a loss of hours as employees need to tend to childcare needs. She and others said the lack of childcare is a major factor in some families leaving Alaska.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization, online at Alaskabeacon.com.
