Childcare Task Force Seeks Input

July 22, 2025

Original coverage in Pike County Express by Jim Filbert.

Working parents in Pike County are faced with a dilemma on proper care for their children while they are at work. Currently there are 1,100 children between the age of 0-5 years in Pike County. Not all of those children will require childcare, however, the ones that do have 164 licensed spots available through seventeen licensed daycare facilities in Pike County. Some employers offer daycare for their employees but are few and far between.

These conditions are the driving force for the formation of the Pike County Childcare Task Force. JWCC Early Childhood Professor April Darringer is the point person for the organization with fifteen to twenty volunteers through Pike County providing input and ideas for a solution to the problem. Closure of several facilities and difficult rules to enter childcare services have put a strain on the area.

Regional Council Manager Bridget English with Birth to Five Illinois indicated the timeline to get a full-blown licensed facility to opened to be approximately two years. Even if facility, funding, meeting code and being approved by DCFS, staffing is the biggest problem to open a day care center. As an example, Allie Welch mentioned Beardstown has a new day care facility but is not operating at capacity because of staffing.

The focus of the task force is to first establish a presence and then help sustain facilities in existence and provide information on establishing licensed or unlicensed daycare. The solution will probably involve a multi-tiered approach with one-on-one unlicensed care to a full-blown licensed facility.

The task force has a SWOT survey on their Facebook page which can be assessed by entering Pike County Child Care Task Force. The public is encouraged to complete the survey to accumulate ideas. Darringer, English, and Welch agree solutions to this problem will be better served if solved at the local level to meet local needs. The first five years of a child’s life are extremely important and task force members are eager for local advice.

Besides the SWOT survey Darringer can be contacted by email, adarringer@jwcc.edu. A solution will not occur overnight but action will definitely assist the process for attaining better daycare options for Pike County.