Juneau’s students are going back to school in two weeks, but they’re not physically going back to school. That means many parents will have to confront the city’s lack of child care all over again.
The Assembly will take up child care recommendations from their Economic Stabilization Task Force in a committee meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.
Citing survey results, the task force says about 1 out of every 6 of the school district’s students will need childcare for their parents to keep working.
One concrete step that the task force is pushing is to create a staff position responsible for designing a temporary, city-backed child care program for the duration of the pandemic.
Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove said a lot of thought and effort needs to go into creating more child care in Juneau. Decisions need to be made about physical space, staff, budgeting — even what the fundamental goal should be. She discussed that last point in a July 30 task force meeting.
“Are we looking for a space where school-aged children can come and we know they are safe? That’s a minimum bar, right?” she said. “Safe and entertained is another bar. Safe and educated is a higher bar, right? I mean, so those are the things that sort of have to be thought through and filled in. And it’s all doable to get to a potential solution, but it’s time and other associated resources.”
Another task force recommendation is to pay employers to run on-site child care programs. The task force recommends an employer subsidy of $350 per month per child. Those employers could also take advantage of an existing federal tax credit to cover some of the cost.
The Juneau Assembly’s Committee of the Whole meets at 6 p.m. You can follow the meeting over Zoom or through the city’s Facebook Live feed.
