OVERTON — Overton has a “huge” need for more child care options and a group of local residents has formed, with help from Communities for Kids, to address the longstanding issue.
Shonna Werth, Assistant Vice President of Early Childhood Programs with the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation said Overton was selected as a Communities for Kids, C4K, community and a committee of local residents will be working to address the child care needs in the area.
Brooke Puffer, an Overton native, is one of the members of the Overton C4K committee and the need for child care options in the community is, “huge.”
Puffer said she graduated from Overton High School and furthered education in Lincoln and later moved to Omaha. After becoming engaged, she and her fiancé decided to move back to Overton to start a family.
People are also reading…
When she learned she was pregnant, Puffer said she realized there were few child care options in Overton, she said it had been a long standing issue in the community that she wasn’t aware of until she needed to utilize it.
Since this realization, Puffer said she has been passionate about the child care needs of her community.
Overton is not alone in its need for more child care options, in fact, nearly every community in Dawson County has some amount of need when it comes to child care. Gothenburg residents launched the Gothenburg Early Childhood Learning Coalition. Both Gothenburg and Lexington are C4K communities.
Overton has just two in-home child care providers, only one is located in Overton itself, with a total capacity of 20, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
Puffer said at the moment the two providers are completely full and there is a waiting list for other parents. The children don’t just come from Overton but from Elm Creek, Loomis and other surrounding communities.
Samantha Hubbard is the one in-home child care provider in Overton, she opened her business in 2017 after giving birth to her youngest child. She said there was no place for her children to go so she opened her own daycare.
Hubbard’s capacity is 10 children and she is currently full, but still receives monthly calls from families inquiring about child care, however, her waiting list stretches all the way into 2022.
Puffer said the need for more options is obvious and it is across multiple counties.
Lindsay Meier, Overton Public Schools’ preschool teacher, is also aware of the need for more child care options.
She said as the preschool teacher, she often is asked by parents if there are any options for child care on the days preschool is not in session. Meier said she would unfortunately have to tell them no. She said the in-home providers in the area are usually full and there is a long waiting list.
She said in some cases, families have to find non-licensed care, such as a family friend, or some children are not able to attend preschool at all because their parent’s didn’t have any other options.
Meier herself said she and her husband were one of the lucky ones, when she became a mother three years ago, a neighbor who provided in-home care was able to accommodate them.
Puffer worked with other residents concerned about the issue and reached out to C4K about their needs. Meier is one of the people Puffer reached out to and offers valuable insight on the committee as the community’s preschool teacher.
Hubbard was also contacted to be a member of the C4K team as one of Overton’s few in-home providers.
In early March, Overton was approved as the latest C4K community and an orientation was held on March 30.
The C4K orientation had, “great attendance,” Puffer said and those who gathered well represented the Overton community, they included parents, grandparents, teachers, school administrators, child care providers, members of the Overton Area Community Foundation, etc.
“The C4K initiative was created in response to community requests for assistance with shortages of high-quality early care and education programs, shortages that both impact children’s optimal development and pose a challenge for communities hoping to attract and retain the viable workforce they need to thrive,” according to the C4K website.
C4K helps to provide expertise and coordination to support communities with the following approach:
Engage: stakeholders in identifying the strengths and gaps of the current whole-child, early care, and education resources in the community by completing a thorough data study and community assessment/survey.
Utilize: informed decision-making to determine strategies and desired outcomes most relevant to meeting the priority needs identified in the community assessment and detail a community action plan. Whenever possible this will be completed in coordination with existing planning efforts and groups to maximize local resources.
Connect: communities through peer learning networks regarding research, best practices, program implementation, quality measurements, financing, use of government/public resources, and physical environmental designs.
Explore and assist communities with identifying and applying for all available sources of funding (public and private grants, public funding programs) to implement and sustain the identified strategies.
“Communities for Kids is excited to work closely with the Overton community partners using a collective impact approach to address their quality early care and educational needs. With this approach, community partners will lead the way by determining their own needs and strengths while Communities for Kids provides support and technical assistance along the way.” Werth said.
Puffer said during the orientation the community members talked about their hopes and ideas, as well as five year goals. She said people left the meeting, “motivated,” and excited about the goals and having a timeline in place.
Meier said people left the orientation feeling excited and hopeful the child care challenges in Overton could be addressed.
Hubbard said she found the orientation informative and thought many of the initiatives would be beneficial to the community.
Meier said her hope for the future is that all parents will have quality child care options for their children and be able to feel confident about the care, education and social skills their children are receiving.
It was noted during the meeting, that Overton sits in a prime spot for the development of child care options. Situated along the heavily traveled Highway 30 between Lexington, population 10,097 and Kearney, population 33,464, it could be the place people bring their children for child care.
Hubbard said Overton is positioned to be a place where people can drop off their children on their way to work along the Highway 30 corridor. She said it wouldn’t only be a benefit to Overton, but the surrounding communities as well
The Overton C4K committee members will meet again this month to develop a work plan that will include target dates, funding, assignment of tasks and developing a budget.
Hubbard said she hopes the child care initiatives they plan to work on will open more doors for people in Overton, providers and parents alike.
Having joined C4K, they have access to a two year grant of $30,000, of which, $15,000 will be distributed each year. The group will also discuss how to best utilize the funding.
The Overton committee is also planning to release an early childhood quality and capacity survey, which will be used to identify the child care landscape not just in Overton, but 30 miles around the community.
Puffer said the survey will find out what the child care needs are, if they are looking for education or care, if they require before school or after school care and if people understand what makes up quality early childhood care.
Meier said the C4K team hopes to get enough responses to have quality information about the needs people have in Overton. The C4K committee is encouraging everyone, even those without children, to take the survey to better form a picture of the child care needs in the community.
