(Beaver Dam) How dwindling childcare funding is impacting Dodge County employees, businesses, and the community was discussed Wednesday. The presentation was hosted by Dodge County SHRM, an organization dedicated to providing meaningful professional support for its members.
This is an issue that has been highlighted by the impending end of the Wisconsin Child Care Counts program, which was initially funded by federal pandemic aid. It was set to end in January of 2024 but Governor Tony Evers directed $170-million-dollars in emergency funding to continue it through June of 2025. The program was initially created during COVID to support childcare businesses, helping them increase wages, offer recruitment bonuses, and pay for recruitment tools.
Human Resource Consultant with Dodge County SHRM Mary Vogl-Rauscher says the local workforce is seeing challenges with going into work while making sure their child is taken care of.
“Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation did a state survey and what it talked about was stability for both the parents and the child,” says Vogl-Rauscher. “From a parents perspective…the number of people in Dodge County that have called in sick for childcare issues was over 70-percent. It also effects their mental health, their productivity…their ability to stay on task.”
There were a number of speakers on hand including Wisconsin Early Childhood Association Executive Director Ruth Schmidt, Dodge County YMCA Chief Executive Officer Dirk Langfoss, Beaver Dam Unified School District Director of Human Resources Nicole White, Beaver Dam Mayor Bobbi Marck, and Beaver Dam Chamber Executive Director Tracy Propst.
