COVID-19 has only added to challenges many child care providers face, especially in rural areas. New partnerships are helping some groups address those challenges, like staffing and funding, to make more high-quality care available. But rural providers are mostly on their own to solve a growing list of problems, and many say it s up to their communities to support child care or face the fallout from a lack of options.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has already laid out the technical side to ending the public health emergency. There are only three legislative changes he needs lawmakers to make to ensure Indiana wont lose hundreds of millions in federal funding tied to the pandemic.