Alachua County Commission moves forward with exploring 24-hour childcare for public sector employees

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the August 12 meeting, the Alachua County Commission voted unanimously to move forward with exploring a 24-hour childcare facility that would serve public sector employees.

Facility would serve Sheriff’s Office employees and first responders

Tourism and Economic Development Director Jessica Hurov presented information on a potential 24-hour childcare facility that would serve Sheriff’s Office employees and shift-working public employees, including first responders and essential personnel. Hurov said these employees face “a lack of access to high-quality, affordable childcare, especially during non-traditional work hours. This unmet need has ramifications that extend into the ability of people to enter the workforce into some of these career paths, as well as supporting the workers who are currently in them.” 

Click here to see the presentation, including survey results on the interest among employees.

Hurov asked Commissioners to provide feedback on making a legislative request to establish a childcare facility that operates 24 hours a day as a pilot program serving public employees. She said the facility would have three shifts a day: a daytime shift, a “transition shift” from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., and an overnight shift. Based on having 120 children during the day, the County estimated about 15 full-time caregivers; if 60 families used the transition and overnight care, that would be about eight caregivers on the transition shift and eight caregivers on the overnight shift.

The estimated operating budget includes 73.4 employees, 21 of whom are classified as apprentices/trainees; the annual operating budget is estimated at about $5.6 million, with one-time capital expenses of $2.4 million. The estimated revenue is about $2.16 million, and the County hopes to make up the different from a legislative appropriation, funds from the Children’s Trust, block grants, and sliding-scale parent fees. The County hopes a facility will be donated, possibly by the School Board, but it would still require refurbishment.

Partnerships with Children’s Trust, Santa Fe College, School Board, etc.

Commissioner Mary Alford said she had brought the idea forward, and “the big picture involves partnerships with the Children’s Trust, partnerships with Santa Fe, partnerships with the School Board, and potentially other folks, and those partnerships are the key to bringing those costs down and making this all work together.” She said she hoped Santa Fe College would start a one-year training program that would include classroom activities and on-the-ground training, and those students could work at the facility and help fill out the required student-teacher ratios. 

Alford also supported providing this training to “all the childcare workers in Alachua County and supplement[ing] their pay through a grant from the Children’s Trust, like is happening in other places.”

Alford: “Quite frankly, the legislature is doing a good job of supporting law enforcement right now, and we could, you know, ride that wave just a little bit.”

Alford added, “I don’t think this whole program should be predicated on a legislative request, but I do think that we need to start having the conversation sooner than later. I’m not holding my breath on getting anything funded this year,… but I do think we need to start that conversation… Quite frankly, the legislature is doing a good job of supporting law enforcement right now, and we could, you know, ride that wave just a little bit.”

She also said the program could start with a smaller number of children using capacity at SWAG for a proof of concept. 

Cornell: “I don’t know of any other Florida counties that are really taking this on, and so once again, here’s a place where Alachua County is probably leading.”

Commissioner Ken Cornell agreed that this would be a “recruitment and retention tool for some of our employees that have such a difficult 24-hour shift; those are hard jobs to fill and to keep, and there’s a huge cost to not retaining these personnel… I don’t know of any other Florida counties that are really taking this on, and so once again, here’s a place where Alachua County is probably leading, but it’s something that I think will get a lot of traction in the next couple of years.” He liked the idea of offering this to employees “as an extra benefit.”

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler wanted to include teachers because they have to be at school before many childcare facilities open. 

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said she was excited by the idea: “I mean, this is why the Children’s Trust exists, right?… Because we recognize that by investing in children, we’re investing in the future of our county.” She said she wanted to solidify the partnerships before making a legislative appropriation request and also thought the budget was “way low.”

Motion

Alford made a six-part motion:

• Create a team across all the needed County departments and outside partners;
• Consider a stepped process where they work with existing childcare providers and create a pilot;
• Formalize the relationships and the commitments with those partners;
• Begin conversations with the legislators and make the legislative ask when appropriate;
• Continue to investigate other sources of funding;
• Create a business plan and model and firm up the financial numbers.

Prizzia seconded the motion but said she just wanted the team to bring back information to the board instead of moving forward right away with implementation.

Chair Chuck Chestnut said he needed to know more about the details, “but I support the concept.”

Cornell said the Children’s Trust unanimously supported the idea and had “standing direction to work with our staff on this initiative.” He agreed that teachers also need the service. 

Wheeler: “Guys, this is huge, and it almost needs its own department.”

Wheeler said, “Guys, this is huge, and it almost needs its own department.” Alford said she didn’t want to put it in one department; she wanted to make a “cross-functional team to build the idea, and then once we have all of the bits and pieces and we know what we want, then we can decide how we want to go forward with it being a department or part of a department.”

Wheeler added, “Why do you want to lose good people on our staff because we worked them to death and they died?” When the other Commissioners laughed, she said, “No, don’t blow it off, y’all, I’m taking up for these County employees, because seriously, this is monumental, and I think it’s a beautiful idea.”

Prizzia said, “Do I think we should have a County-owned and run childcare facility? Absolutely not. Do I think we should be potentially subsidizing childcare as a benefit for our employees? Possibly. Do I think we should be providing workforce development in this area so we have quality childcare across our county? Absolutely.”

The motion passed unanimously.