Survey of Child Care
Is lack of child care a problem where you live?
If you live in Cedar, Henry, Polk, or St. Clair counties, this is your chance to share your experiences and help us understand what’s really happening in your community. Your responses will help us build an action plan for our region.
Community partners from four west central Missouri counties are working together, between now and December, 2025, to assess child care and early education needs, explore solutions, and move our communities forward.
Jump to Child Care Surveys.
Community Planning Project
The four-county, west central Missouri planning effort is part of a multi-year, statewide initiative sponsored by Kids Win Missouri. The New Growth Women’s Business Center will serve as coordinator.
Missouri families are struggling because of the lack of child care and early education services, with a ripple effect on our communities’ businesses and the state’s economy. As the state of Missouri increases investments in child care and early education, communities must find ways to address gaps, enhance strengths, and best utilize the state’s investments.
Kids Win Missouri is helping Missouri communities create action plans that are custom to each area's unique needs and strengths. The four west central Missouri counties are part of Kids Win Missouri's third cohort for a Child Care and Early Education Community Planning project.
Developing a child care and early education development action plan includes a landscape analysis, fiscal mapping, and cost modeling research.
Using data from local surveys, the community planning team will then identify the top three to five priority issues, develop strategies, and start building solutions to prepare for a two-year implementation.
How YOU can help right NOW!
Help us gather needed information from parents, employers, and child care providers.
Surveys are open until April 30 only.
Please share this information with your networks. Encourage parents, employers, and child care providers to click the survey links and add their insights!
All who participate can enter the drawing for a $100 Walmart gift card!
Access our online folder for ready-to-share graphics, copy, QR-codes, and a flyer to help spread the survey links through social media and print.
For Parents – Are you the parent or guardian of one or more children under the age of five? Do you know the frustration and fear of not having child care when you need it?
Please help by sharing your experience - what’s working, what’s not, and what you need.
https://bit.ly/parent-survey-about-child-care
Your information will help to improve child care and early learning in your community.
For Employers – Do you hire or manage employees at your company? You understand how critical reliable child care is so that your team can show up and perform their best.
Please share your challenges and successes through this survey.
https://bit.ly/employer-survey-about-child-care
Your information will help improve your employees’ access to resources for child care and early learning.
For Child Care Providers – Are you the director or owner of a child care service, in-home or center based? You know what it takes to nurture young minds, often with limited resources.
Please share your challenges and successes with us in this survey. Any child care providers, licensed or not are encouraged to respond. Responses can be anonomyous.
https://bit.ly/child-care-providers-survey
Your information will help to improve child care and early learning in your community.
Because surveys will only be available for one month, it's important to participate immediatly.
Deadline for response is April 30, 2025.
All who respond are eligible to enter the drawing for a $100 gift card.
Thank you so much to all who participate. Your answers are very important!
These surveys are the first step toward an action plan to tackle the critical child care challenges that our rural Missouri families and communities face.