THEY'RE FINALLY LISTENING, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

🚨🎙️ Emergency Episode: Indiana Is Finally Listening!

In this episode, Katy and Jessica dives into recent developments in Indiana and what it means for the childcare community. After ongoing conversations and challenges within the industry, there are signs that voices are being heard.

Katy and Jessica share their perspective on what’s changing, why it matters for providers and families, and what steps could come next. This episode highlights the importance of advocacy, speaking up, and staying engaged in the future of childcare.

If you’ve been following the challenges in childcare, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hello and welcome to Childcare Confidential. I am Jessica Hampton, and this is my lovely co-host, Katie Dink. Hi, Katie.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Long time ago. Boy, Jeff.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Yes. Yes. Boy, do we have a show for them today?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Do we? Okay. So I need everyone to just pause for a second, just pause. Because this is not something that we get to say often on this podcast, but we actually have good news in childcare today.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Oh, like actual good news. Not we're trying to like, hey, we're really thinking about it, but we have a real movement happening right now in Indiana.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Say it ain't so. Today, Mike Braun announced that an additional $200 million is gonna be available for child care funding. Those are our CCDF parents.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Yes, $200 million, y'all. And if you're in this field, you know that that number is not jump change.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

No, it's not small, but it's also not random. This didn't just happen out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

You got that right. It happened because people are getting involved. This let's just take a step back for a second. Okay. Childcare has been in survival mode for years, guys. Years. We're not talking about the last few months and everything that's been going on. We're talking about years of insanely tough times in this field. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

And when we say survival mode, which I think is really perfect for exactly what we're talking about, but when we talk about survival mode, we mean centers closing. I can tell you off the top of my brain, but it's uh past 300 now in the yeah, I think we're at 311 since September. Centers closing, staff shortages, teachers completely burned out, and families struggling to even afford the care.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Guys, the wild part is even through all of that, the expectations for childcare never changed ever.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Right. We're still expected to provide the high-quality care. We're still expected to meet the obscene regulations, and we're still expected to somehow hold every single thing together. But less and less support, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Yeah, getting a little emotional because we got the word this morning, and I've been crying all morning. It's such a relief for child care providers. Happy tears. Such a relief for those of us that have been holding on and holding on and just going, how? How are we gonna do this? For a long time, we felt like all we were doing is talking, like we were advocating, we were showing up, we were speaking out, and nobody, it felt like nobody was really hearing us.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

I agree. Happy tears, Jess.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Happy tears, happy tears, relieved.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

But here's what I do want to make clear, right? This moment, this exact moment, and this specific type of funding, it didn't just happen. This happened because people like Jess, like myself, like all the wonderful advocates that we get to see show in, show up every single day, they refuse to stay quiet.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Yeah. Providers showed up even though we were afraid because we were afraid of consequences that might happen at our schools if we spoke out. But we did it. We showed up, directors showed up, teachers spoke out and said, we need this. I've gotten messages from our staff with articles keeping us up to date. People went to the meetings, we had the uncomfortable conversations, but we kept pushing for change.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

And we kept pushing, and we pushed the more. And even when we felt like nothing was happening, there was no like silver lining or light in sight, we pushed even harder, I feel like, as providers.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yeah, and honestly, that is why this what was announced today matters so much because it shows that advocacy actually does work.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

That's crazy. That's I feel like this is the first aha moment that we've had in our field in years.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Yes. I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Let's just talk about what this actually means then, okay? Because people hear, oh, 200 million dollars, and they think, okay, great, problem solved.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Right. They sure do. And it's kind of like, no, not quite.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

But it is a step, a a big step, actually, but it is still a step because funding like this really does have quite a few big potentials to it. Um, it can stabilize our programs, it can support the providers that have been doing the advocacy for so long to try to get this back into the hands of the government. It can help families access care. And this is for all my teaching friends out there on this side. It potentially can improve the wages and resources that we're able to give to you all, which hello.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Right, exactly. And just to stop there for a minute with wages and resources. Our team specifically has been on hold for raises and they have been in there and they're doing it. And that's hard. That is hard as a business owner, that is hard as the director to say, hey, we just don't have it.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

I don't know where we're gonna pull it from. We already were taking paychecks. Like, how do we keep finding this money? So this is coming at a time where we were to our point of like, how what are we gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Our absolute breaking point.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

The key word though is potential, it has the potential to do all of those things, exactly. Because when it all comes down to is how this money is going to be used and allocated appropriately, yes, and this is where we have to be honest, we can't be emotional. Some of us can be, although these are tears of joy and relief. Um, but we've seen funding come through before, and it hasn't always reached the people that need it the most.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

What? Say it louder, Jess. You mean it hasn't reached the people that actually needed it?

SPEAKER_00 6:51

No, turns out we've had this before.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Well, I think that people fail to realize or see the aspect from if this funding actually doesn't make its way into the classrooms and to actually support the providers and everything that we need to do to be able to have quality programs, if it doesn't support the teachers, if it doesn't impact the day-to-day operations, then what are we doing? I mean, exactly. That's kind of the like we can't afford for this just to be another fancy headline that makes them sound like there's movement and pushing forward in any capacity.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Exactly. So this is where we have to shift from celebration, which is amazing. And I've been in tears all morning because reworking budgets all last week and going, people are up for raises. I've got to figure this out. Um, but we shift from the celebration to the responsibility. It's great to celebrate, but we also have to remember this responsibility part.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

I don't like the responsibility aspect of it. I'd rather just say in the celebration, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Girl, I don't know how many more tears could be cried. I'm not a crier, and it has been an emotional morning. You've just teared them all out. I feel like maybe I have. We're trying to keep mascara on at this point.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Okay. Well, as leaders in this field, we do have to stay engaged and we have to ask where's the funding gonna go? Who is it actually gonna be supporting? Um, and is it actually gonna make a big enough difference that's going to affect the families that are in such dire need of the child care to be purposeful and like helping us as providers to provide that care?

unknown 8:33

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Absolutely. We can't just assume that it's being handled correctly. We've learned that from time to time in this field. We have to get involved in the conversations. This does not mean that we stop our advocacy here because we have to remember this funding is great, it's exciting. I'm excited for it. But there are 34,000 children on that wait list right now in Indiana for subsidy. This is going to impact 14,000 of them. We have 20,000 children that this is not even gonna touch.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

That just made my celebration maybe get a little bit smaller there.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

I know. I know, I'm sorry to be the real talk for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

I know, real talk, real talk. But I mean it does. This impacts our staff, our families, our classrooms, kind of everything as a whole. It is a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, this is our field, guys. We have to stay involved. Agreed, we have to stay involved. So let's talk about who this really impacts. The teachers, the families, and I gotta say, the private childcare owners that have had a huge weight lifted off of them this morning.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Oh, I I yeah, I actually don't have words for it. It's fine, everything's fine, everything's fine. But these teachers who have been overworked, overstretched, they've been spread thin for way too long. I know our staff specifically, even they bust their rump day in and day out. They do a fabulous job.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

They've we love you all. We love you, we love you. We send in the hearts, yes, and we gotta remember the families who are trying to balance work, finances, and finding childcare that they actually trust, quality childcare.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Well, that's why this funding has the opportunity to actually relieve some of that pressure and stress, but it's only if it's done correctly.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yeah, I think that what hits me the most is this is the first time in a long time where it feels like someone in Indiana is actually paying attention to us.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

What? To us, well, on the Indianers.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Hey, we gotta take the win when we can get it, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:02

I mean, yes, but honestly, it shouldn't have taken this long. I think we are, and we're gonna take the win for now, but we're not stopping here. We're just not it's not happening.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yep. Today we are gonna celebrate with progress, not perfection.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

I like the progress, but tomorrow we're gonna keep.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Yeah, we have to, we have to, guys. Don't give up because all the children need and deserve long-term investment, not temporary fixes.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

And that's really just the beginning, too.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Okay, okay. Listen, before we wrap this up, I do think that we need to have a real conversation because you did just say real talk and it made me think of it. Now I can't help myself. Um, because while this is exciting, and don't get me wrong, I am quite happy and thrilled and all the things. The ooey gooeies, um, not everyone is celebrating in the same way.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

No, they are not. And honestly, some people are side-eyeing this just a little bit, a little side-eye going on. Like, what are they doing over there?

SPEAKER_01 12:11

But I get it. I mean, I really do, especially after everything that we've been through. Because here's the question is this funding actually going to fix anything? Or is it just gonna make it look like something is going to be done to fix the problem?

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yeah. And I hate to say it, but we've seen this before, so we have to walk cautiously.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Big numbers, big announcements, and then on the ground, not much changes. Sound familiar?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Uh yeah, it does. Um, and I'm just gonna say, I'm gonna throw it out there for everybody. If this money gets tied up in systems, red tape, or it gets distributed in a way that doesn't actually reach the people and the families and the providers that it's meant to, um, then what's the point? Exactly. Because the people who need it most are the teachers, the prog program struggling to stay open. How many people did we have, Jess? Just in like friends, in colleagues, and acquaintances in different entities across the state of Indiana that have closed their program, and now they're like, Hey, don't worry, we got you, we're gonna give you funding.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Yeah, it's so sad. I mean, my heart breaks for every friend that we have had that has come to us and said, We can't do it, we can't be the last one standing. We can't do it. We we've run out of funding, like there's nothing we can do. It just my heart breaks for you. I'm I'm thankful that we were able to hang in there. Yeah, but it has not been an easy road. So let's just be real. If the teachers are still underpaid, if the centers are still barely making it, then did we solve the problem?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Nope, we dressed it up, yeah, we made it look real nice, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

And while we are not sat, like we are excited about the news that came today. Do not get us wrong. We are very excited, it's good news, and we're happy to bring good news to people. Yes, we're realistic, but you have to be realistic, like it can't all be sunshine and rainbows, but this is where it kind of gets uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yes, because it's not just on the state, it's on the leadership within the programs, too.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Exactly. So we're talking to all of you directors, private child care owners, corporate franchise owners.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yes, yes. Um, it can't stay and not get to where it needs to go.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah. If programs are receiving the funding, then how are they using it or going to use it? Are they supporting your staff? Are they going to improve their environments? Are they going to invest back into their programs or even keep their doors open? I guess I should say.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Because yeah, I mean, or are we just going to be maintaining? And I gotta be honest, maintaining looks pretty good right now after not being able to maintain after the last several months. Um but we have to make sure that we are balancing the maintaining with new enrollments, with still advocating. Yeah, there's more to do here, guys.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah, because maintaining is not the same as improving the system, right? And this field deserves improvement, not the maintaining that we have been. Like just said, we've literally been in this like survival mode. I feel like for months and months and months, I'm ready to improve. I don't want to maintain, I want to improve. We're ready.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

I know it feels like a breath of fresh air today, even though we still have work to do. But I want to be clear that we are not being negative here. We are very excited about the funding. Yes, we know that it is gonna help 14,000 children. Like that's amazing. Yeah, but we're also being realistic. We don't want that funding to stop. We want to make sure that we are helping to improve the field, that we are working hard for our families and for our teachers, our teams, the people that are in our field, the people that are gonna be in our field for years to come, even when we're not. Yeah, we need that.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Exactly. We can be grateful for the progress and the fact, the fact that someone is finally looking at us and listening to us, but we can still ask for accountability. And that's just his favorite phrase and word is accountability.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Oh gosh, she's the accountability queen, integrity and accountability. I tell you what.

unknown 16:42

Self-trust.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Those are my like key words. But funding is powerful if it reaches the people doing the work, you know?

SPEAKER_01 16:55

No, and this is what happens when a field actually refuses to stay quiet and we continuously put our foot down and demand better for the families that we serve.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Yes, yes, yes. But we're not done yet. Oh we are not done yet. We have to keep going, right? We just have to keep going. So let's keep advocating, let's celebrate the win momentarily and keep going for more improvement in our field, not just in Indiana, but in all of the states. We love you guys. We're so happy to be here. Make sure to like, comment, and share. Tell us what's going on in your state. We want to know.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Please give me all of the things. I love submission stories. Just found that out. She does. She does.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

And we're going to be sharing more and more submission stories. So make sure you are keeping on there, paying attention because we've got more things coming out for you. We like to do episodes together, but we also like to tag team, and we have some other things in the works as well that we will be sharing soon. So we love you guys. Keep celebrating and keep advocating. Until next time. Bye.