When Tiffany Arett of Austin saw that there was a need for more childcare providers, she got right to work and will be opening the doors to her first home-based childcare business on Monday.

Back in January and February, Arett started researching the process of becoming a licensed home-based daycare provider after seeing the calls for more daycare providers, specifically infant care, pop up on social media.

“Nobody can find care for infants,” she said. “I saw one woman stay home and quit her job, and she was gonna stay home for that first year. The infant need is so high.”

Despite expensive start-up costs, Arett was able to open her home-based services with additional supplies and toys for the children coming under her care, thanks to a new loan-grant program specifically for first-time home-based childcare providers.

The Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Austin (HRA) Board approved the Childcare Grant Program back in November 2018. The program gives the HRA the means to provide a loan to new home-based daycare providers that will convert into a grant if the provider stays in business after one year.

Those interested in the program must meet the following criteria:

•The applicant has to be an Austin resident

•Only new care providers would be eligible

•Provider must be licensed for infants

•Provider must be in business for one year in order for the loan to become a grant

•Funding provided would be based on acquisition of eligible items

•Maximum loan/grant would be $2,000

•Applications would be limited to funding available

“From a community standpoint, there is a big gap of childcare providers,” said Jon Erichson, HRA executive director. “We saw a need for someone to be involved in trying to stimulate extra spots in childcare.”

There wasn’t a firm number on the exact shortage of home-based care providers within the Austin area, nor was there a number given on how many providers would meet the need in Mower County, but Sheri Dankert, assistant secretary-treasurer for The Hormel Foundation, shared that the number of licensed providers has dropped significantly within the last 20 years.

“We want people to have a choice,” Dankert said. “We’re really trying to have a broad brush and help anyone we can, anyway we can with childcare. We’re really about connecting people with resources and we worked with people who are interested in exploring childcare and also working with childcare providers that are in existence right now.”

In 1998, Mower County had around 176 licensed home-based childcare providers. Today, the area only has about 75 licensed providers in operation, meaning there was about a 57 percent decrease in the number of licensed home-based childcare providers.

“We lost over half of our providers,” Dankert said. “We have a number of children in school that’s increasing. There are more kids to take care of, but there are less people to do it.”

What’s considered to be not just an isolated Mower County issue, but a statewide and even nationwide issue, providing childcare services, specifically infant care, has continued to be a challenge. While spearheading this effort about six months ago while serving as a volunteer on a childcare taskforce, Dankert knew that there was something that needed to be done to help increase the number of licensed home-based childcare spots.

“Globally, infant care is expensive,” she said. “Some providers even choose not to take infants and the staffing ratios is higher for kids who are older. AS a whole, we have a lot less home-based providers in Austin.”

After the Blandin Foundation awarded the program a $5,000 grant, the HRA stepped in and contributed about $2,000 for the program.

Erichson believes the increase in home-based childcare providers will also improve the local economy.

“There are jobs that need to be filled, and there are people who want to work,” he said. “However, they might not be able to because of the lack of daycare options in the community. We think this will be good for an economic standpoint in the community.”

A needed service

Once word of mouth spread that Arett was pursuing her daycare licensing, she was almost immediately bombarded with phone calls from parents who were anxious in finding a childcare provider to look after their children during the work day. That was only in March.

“There’s such a need, and you can only have so many,” she said. “We need a center in town that can take more. We have Apple Lane, but they’re full too. One family is even driving back and forth from Lyle. That’s like 45 minutes to your day everyday with drop-off times.”

Since Arett was the first recipient and applicant who was approved, she used $1,800 of her $2,000 loan to help purchase toys and supplies.

“I was going through updates to my house, had to get the fire marshal out here to inspect the place, and I also had to get my licensing process,” she said. “I was also able to get a new laser printer that’s going to help me save money in the long run.”

Although Arett is the only one who had been approved so far, she highly encourages those who are interested in becoming home-based daycare providers to apply for the loan-grant program.

“I’d recommend it to anyone going into it,” she said. “The program made it affordable for me to pay for a lot more things to invest more into my kids.”

Because Arett was able afford additional supplies and equipment with the Childcare Grant Program, Dankert believes that the program achieved what it was meant to do. She hopes that more people take advantage of this new resource.

“We saw (finances) as a potential barrier for people,” she said. “We wanted to remove that barrier to make that feasible for people wanting to start a home daycare.”