Utah families are struggling with child care. Two innovative Utah programs are working to bring relief-- one helps parents afford the cost, and the other makes access to care quick and easy. Could these programs become models for communities around the nation? Join Lauren Steinbrecher in exploring what local leaders and organizations are doing to address the child care crisis in Utah.

Parents across the nation are devoting huge chunks of their paychecks to child care, and parents in Utah are looking for ways to find relief. “Child care is a crisis,” said Anna Thomas, policy director for the nonprofit Voices for Utah Children. “The way we know it’s a crisis is because families suffer, and they suffer in a variety of ways.” According to a recent state legislative-funded report, for Utah parents making the state median income, child care often costs double or triple what the federal government considers as affordable.

At the same time, the report states child care centers are “operating on razor-thin margins” as it is, with many unable to pay a competitive wage to keep employees.

“It’s a community issue,” Thomas said. “[Child care is] too expensive to provide, and it’s too expensive to afford. And something has to bridge the gap.”

While the report recommends actions including state funding, legislation, and programming to address issues like affordability and accessibility, Thomas is beginning to see entities at the local level build that bridge.

“Cities can't wait,” she said. “They need a workforce, and their workforce needs child care.”

Utah Insight explores two programs catching attention for their leading-edge models; one helps parents afford the cost, and the other makes child care easier to access.

In Park City, a community known for its high cost of living—that also relies on working class families to thrive—parent Evelyn Herrera was experiencing the child care crisis firsthand with her two girls.

Last year, four-year-old Harlow and then five-year-old Victoria both attended daycare and preschool while the single mom worked.

Herrera was trying to cover the cost on just her income, but said she was barely skimming through paycheck-to-paycheck.

“It's giving me anxiety just thinking about it,” Herrera said, thinking back to the stress. “It was kind of it was difficult figuring out, like, where am I going to… find the money to pay for food, or to make a car payment, or to make sure I have enough for rent.”

“We kept hearing over meeting after meeting from our public saying, ‘Help!’” expressed Park City Mayor Nann Worel. 

A community-specific child care needs study, conducted by the Park City Community Foundation’s Early Childhood Alliance, found troubling data when it came to how much Park City families were paying for child care.

Similar to the statewide report, the needs assessment also found child care providers were facing major financial challenges.

Child care nonprofit PC Tots in Park City relies on philanthropic fundraising to survive.

“Our mission really is to provide high quality early education and care for our children, so that they're kindergarten ready,” said executive director Sue Banerjee.

Banerjee expressed how PC Tots tries to keep tuition affordable by offering an income-based sliding pay scale, while also trying to keep great educators on staff by offering competitive salaries and benefits.

“We value our teachers as professionals, and so we pay them a higher wage,” Banerjee said. “But that comes at a price. It is expensive. And so, to offset those costs, it is tuition that becomes higher.”

In early 2024, hoping to help the child care catch 22, the Park City Council approved setting aside a million dollars to create a subsidy scholarship fund.

Mayor Worel explained staff couldn’t find any other city in the nation modeling this kind of program.

“At the end of the day, you just got to say, we're going to give this a try. We're piloting this, and let's step out there and do it,” she said.

Under the program, Park City began offering a monthly child care subsidy to community members.

They also started up a monthly child care stipend to city employees as a benefit. Mayor Worel said they were encouraging local businesses to help employees with child care.

“We didn’t feel like we could ask other people to do that, if we weren’t willing to step up and do the same,” she said.

Summit County later joined on with additional funds, widening the scholarship’s reach. The two entities partnered with child care network company Upwards to process applications and award funds.

Michelle Downard, resident advocate at Park City Municipal, explained that scholarships are provided based on household income, cost of child care, and community needs.

“We have over 100 families participating in the program right now,” Downard said. “We’re excited about that response.”

In Salt Lake City, Neighborhood House has 130 years of experience in making child care affordable.

Executive director Jennifer Nuttall said the nonprofit provides care for both children as well as disabled and aging adults on a sliding pay scale commensurate with what families are making.

330 kids are dropped off every day at their site, but even more can’t attend Neighborhood House at all right now.

“Neighborhood House has a very long waitlist that exceeds sometimes the amount of kids we serve a day,” Nuttall explained. “Sometimes our waitlist has gotten up to 400 kids whose families are searching for a solution and don't have anywhere else to turn.”

If Neighborhood House was to expand beyond their Poplar Grove facility to serve more families in the valley, Nuttall indicated that would create a huge cost for the organization.

Having been a client herself—the single mom gained custody of two children at one time—Nuttall understands firsthand the importance of accessibility to child care.

“They helped me to get access to quality care for my kids so that I could keep working,” she said. “I could keep moving up the economic ladder and get to a point where I didn't need that help anymore.”

On North Temple in Salt Lake City, Nuttall walked up to the doors of a building under construction, her eyes lighting up at the sight of new playground equipment outside.

“So exciting to see it all in and ready,” she said enthusiastically. “It’s all shiny and new, and ready to go.”

She walked into the very first Neighborhood House satellite facility, which was built for them free of charge. That was thanks to a public-private partnership with Brinshore Development, which built an affordable housing complex called SPARK and created a space on the first floor just for the daycare as a complex amenity.

“With Brinshore, they were able to get their own funding and therefore able to do all of this work based on their own funding rather than on ours,” Nuttall said, walking down a hallway as painters touched up bright blue and green walls. “Which I think is really fabulous and made it possible for us to do this satellite location.” According to Salt Lake City, the city’s Community Reinvestment Agency (CRA) and Housing Stability Division also provided a combined $15.5 million in financing on the $99 million affordable housing project.

Neighborhood House will expand their capacity by 55 children, Nuttall said, serving toddlers and preschoolers.

SPARK residents are expected to make up their main clientele, but Nuttall said the satellite facility is also open to the community.

She walked into one of two preschool classrooms, explaining how they’ll stay open 11 hours a day, offering the same sliding pay scale, curriculum, and services as their flagship location.

All parents will need to do is head downstairs in the morning, and in the evening, pick-up is just a few steps from the front door.

SPARK is right on the TRAX line, Nuttall pointed out, making accessibility that much easier.

“They can drop their kids off here first, get where they need to go for the workday, and come on back,” Nuttall explained. “It's really exciting that we're going to be able to provide that for families and for our hardworking parents.”

Nuttall hopes SPARK is the first of other locations around the valley, but she expressed that the appeal goes beyond Neighborhood House.

“It really is a solid model that can be replicated not only here but in other communities,” Nuttall said.

David Brint, co-founder and principal of Brinshore Development, said they’ve gotten positive feedback on the project, and he praised Salt Lake City and the CRA for support.

“I almost don't want to say it's an amenity. It's a need,” Brint said. “It's a requirement of our residents to have that sort of support to make it, and to have families and have them succeed.”

He said they’ve proposed other projects in the region with daycare included in the plans. They’ve also seen interest across the industry.

“We've had other developers call us and say, ‘How do you do this? How did it work? What did you do?’” Brint said. “And so, we've been really forthcoming to try to tell them how it works.”

Meanwhile, in Park City, Upwards conducted a one-year analysis report of the child care subsidy scholarship and found the program has been a complete success.

Their analysis measured a $4.64 million dollar impact on the local economy. The study states most families reported significant relief from financial stress, and a majority maintained employment.

Jessa Santiago, vice president of development and community impact at Upwards, talked about how a few unemployed families even found a job within three months of starting the program.

“We're incredibly proud of what Park City has done,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to showcasing this model across the nation, so that other cities can get involved.”

Mayor Worel said several cities within the state have been reaching out to her about the subsidy scholarship fund.

She, along with resident advocate Michelle Downard and Upwards representatives, have traveled across the country to talk about the program as well. It’s received accolades on the national level, including from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“I think it's going to continue to evolve,” Mayor Worel said. “I'm thrilled that we've had the response that we have, as more and more people are finding out about it.”

Sue Banerjee at PC Tots said 51 of their children are now part of the scholarship program. She said it’s been a “game changer” for the families they serve.

“I think it's lessened the stress that families face with making rent, finding child care,” she said. “It is a life-changing program for many families.”

Matt Lee is a Park City employee who uses the monthly child care stipend benefit to help with the care of his two young children, four-year-old Henry and one-year-old Addison.

The dad explained how he left a demanding job before he his wife started their family because child care would have been an issue. Last year, he decided to re-enter his career field.

“Originally, I was looking for a job mainly just for benefits,” Lee said. When he received two job offers, Lee took the job with Park City, saying the child care benefit was a huge reason why.

“It’s really refreshing to have an employer that wants to take on some of that responsibility,” he said.

Mom Evelyn Herrera said she found out about the program last year while enrolling Victoria in school at McPolin Elementary and was approved for the scholarship.

“It relieved a lot of stress,” Herrera said. “I knew that, okay, with this help, I'll be able to make it. My kids will all be able to be okay.”

Herrera said the subsidy has helped her afford necessities like groceries as well as one-time costs like winter snow tires.

All while she’s able to access high-quality care for her girls, which Herrera is grateful for.

“Just because them being able to get the schooling that I never got, so that they can have a better future and not have to go through the things that I'm going through right now,” she said. “What else can I ask for?”