Wrangell needs child care services

Parents, community leaders, borough and tribal officials are talking about what can be done to help solve Wrangell’s lack of child care options.

Valerie Massie, of the Wrangell Cooperative Association, said she and others at a recent meeting all see the lack of child care and housing as the biggest hurdles to economic and community development in town. Lack of child care keeps people out of the workforce, and it seems there isn’t an employer in town without job openings.

Part of the problem in establishing and running a child care center is paying a living wage to attract workers, and then finding a way to cover those costs without charging unaffordable fees to parents. That will require a collection of funding sources, including state child care assistance and possibly borough and tribal funding.

The fact that everyone is working toward the same goal is a good start. The problem has gotten too big to set aside, though solving it will be a major challenge — and cost money. But making a place in the community for working parents is essential if Wrangell is to offer a future for families with young children.

-- Wrangell Sentinel