Achieve Brown County Pillar: Shared Community Vision, Evidence-Based Decision Making
Achieve Brown County Outcome: Kindergarten Readiness (direct effect)
Achieve Brown County Partner Author: Sarah Beckman, Achieve Brown County Backbone Team
Key takeaways: solving the childcare crisis requires collaboration, innovative thinking, and sustained investment from all sectors.
On October 29th, I had the privilege of attending the Door County Childcare Summit, an event put on by the United Way of Door County and the Women’s Fund of Door County. The summit brought together experts and stakeholders from across the state to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing families today—childcare. I joined this event as a representative of the Achieve Brown County Collective Impact Partnership and was able to both share and take away insights on the current state of childcare, locally and nationally.
Our day began with a welcome by Molly Gary of United Way, who set a collaborative tone for the event. Following the welcome, Ruth Schmidt, Executive Director at the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA), provided a wealth of data on the state of childcare, highlighting the systemic challenges and simplistic solutions that are often proposed.
One of the most compelling sessions came from a doctor at Door County Medical Center who spoke on the crucial role of early brain development and how quality childcare directly impacts children’s futures. This was followed by a keynote from Elliot Haspel, an author and commentator on early childhood policy. Elliot provided a national perspective, referring to the childcare system as a “broken market” and noting how other countries like Canada are moving toward affordable, accessible solutions, such as $10-a-day childcare models.
After the presentations, a panel discussion featuring local and regional leaders offered insights into current pilot solutions being tested in Wisconsin. Ryan Brown from Waupaca County shared how they utilized ARPA funds to provide flexible grants to childcare providers, a model now gaining traction elsewhere. Sachin Shivaram from Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry spoke to the challenges of privatizing childcare and emphasized the need for public funding. Finally, Michelle Paschke of Door County highlighted efforts to provide financial support to families, while acknowledging that long-term solutions are still being worked out. These topics transition into table discussions to brainstorm the next actionable steps for local efforts to address its childcare crisis. Themes of collaboration, investment, and sustainable models were top of mind.
See United Way of Door County’s Child Care Summit information page >>>
The event was both inspirational and communicated a very clear call to action. While the challenges are daunting, the solutions discussed—from leveraging public funds to community-driven initiatives—left me hopeful about the future of childcare.