North Central Michigan College to hold survey for employers and employees on child care needs and benefits
With a child care crisis underway in the Petoskey area, North Central Michigan College has set up a Child Care Initiative to address the problem. Part of the initiative is to hold a survey asking employees what they need, and employers what they offer, to help figure out where there are gaps, and how to bridge them.
North Central Michigan College’s Child Care Initiative is holding a survey about childcare needs. Employers in the area will be asked about the kind of child care benefits they currently offer, and how many employees they have recently lost for child care related reasons. The survey will also talk to workers with children about how their availability to work has been affected by those child care options. Researchers hope to use the data to offer solutions to help alleviate the child care crisis.
The lack of options for child care in the area has been negatively affecting businesses and families, according to the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce President Nikki Devitt, who talked to the Record Eagle about the impact child care needs have had on the area. Devitt said, “It’s one of the trifecta that we hear about all the time when it comes to the workforce. The combined hurdles of lack of housing, lack of affordable and available childcare, along with public transportation has become an extreme deterrent to young professionals in the area and established ones as well.”
Jennifer Wixson, early childhood professor at North Central Michigan College and member of the research team, also spoke to the Record Eagle about how the data should help take first steps toward solving the problem: “If we really dedicate ourselves to looking at what is going to sustain the test of time, then we will have a system that is here for generations to come and is not constantly spinning its wheels for investments and spinning its wheels for workforce.”
Wixson also mentioned that one of the biggest barriers to employers who want to provide child care is hiring a sustainable workforce. Currently, there are only 16 child care providers in Emmet County. Most families looking for child care are on a nine-to-twelve month long waiting list.
The Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation awarded a grant for $50,000 back in May to support North Central Michigan College’s Child Care Initiative, with more funding coming from the Frey Foundation.
The research project should take a year to finish, with data collection from the surveys mentioned above, and should be completed sometime in December.
Both the employee and employer surveys are available on the school’s website, with more surveys being available through the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce. Nikki Devitt reiterated her support for the survey and the work North Central Michigan College is doing, saying, “We’re extremely proud of our college and the work that they’re doing to address childcare, and many workforce issues.”
More information about North Central Michigan College can be found on its website.