February 14, 2025

Showing Love for Montana’s Childcare Workers

This Valentine’s Day, let’s show some love to the real heart of our communities—Montana’s child care workers! They pour their hearts into nurturing our kids, shaping the future, and keeping our economy strong. And guess what? 97% of them are women. Women who give their all, every day, to ensure families have the care they need. 

At WFM, we believe love means action—advocating for fair wages, better support, and a child care system that works for everyone. Because when we take care of the caregivers, we take care of Montana’s future. 

That’s why we’re celebrating the work of WFM grantee, Central Montana Childcare Alliance (CMCA)—a true champion for child care in rural Montana! CMCA has tackled child care deserts head-on, creating a strong support network for providers, helping to create hundreds of new child care slots, and ensuring that every town in Fergus, Judith Basin, and Petroleum Counties has local child care. 

Bills moving through the Montana State Legislature could make a big difference:

• HB 360 — Tabled in committee. This bill would have helped supplement child care worker wages. The bill it had a strong hearing on Feb. 6, with advocates showing up to highlight the huge gap between the cost of child care and what families can afford.
• HB 457 — This bill would expand Best Beginnings child care scholarship eligibility to 85% of state median income.
• HB 456 — This bill would provide Best Beginnings child care scholarships to child care workers.

Montana’s families and child care workers deserve real solutions—let’s keep the momentum going! 

Want to learn more about solutions to Montana’s childcare crisis? Check out the Montana Budget & Policy Center’s latest report: Montana’s Child Care Crisis: Workforce Solutions Are the Key to Progress.

Childcare: It Takes A Village

By Jennifer Pfau, Central Montana Childcare Alliance Executive Director

In 2022, the Central Montana Childcare Alliance (CMCA) officially formed to fulfill its mission to partner with childcare providers, families, and stakeholders to improve the quality of programming and expand the availability of childcare options in Central Montana (Fergus, Judith Basin, and Petroleum Counties). Since then, a concerted effort has taken place to delve deeper into issues that have plagued the childcare industry for decades, not only in our local area but across the nation. Led by a group of concerned business leaders, we believe that by coming together as a community and focusing on key initiatives, as identified by a local case study, we could effectively help improve the overall childcare situation and eliminate “childcare deserts” in our area.

We are thrilled to report that we have been quite successful in achieving our goals and objectives with the following milestones accomplished to date:

Helped create 200+ new childcare slots and 15 new childcare programs;

• Offered free technical assistance to help childcare businesses grow and thrive;
• Trained hundreds of childcare workers;
• Provided/paid for individuals to obtain specialized certificates and college courses;
• Awarded $140,000+ in pass-through grant funding to strengthen childcares;
• Recruited 9 childcares to join the State’s quality ranking program;
• Assisted childcares with improved marketing;
• Helped childcares offer employee benefits;
• Initiated innovative partnerships with the community;
• Advocated for the childcare industry,
• And much more! 

We often get asked, “How did you do this and can it be replicated?” The answer is – YES, it absolutely can be replicated, and here are some key takeaways from our work. Read the entire article here.

ELEVATING EXCELLENCE:

Empowering a Professional Early Child Workforce

You are invited to CMCA’s Annual Spring Mini-Conference for Early Childhood Professionals taking place on Saturday, April 26 in Lewistown. Join childcare workers, board members, and industry leaders from across the state for a day of networking, camaraderie, and the opportunity to improve your skillset. 

Earn 7 ECP credits for attending workshops (6+ options focusing on infants/toddlers, children with special needs, administrative/leadership topics, etc.), engaging with panels, gaining insight from keynote speakers, and discovering resources, tools, and services offered by exhibitors. Registration opens at the beginning of March. 

For more information, contact CMCA at 406-366-4777 or visit www.mtchildcarealliance.org.

WFM is a powerful force for philanthropy in Montana because of your support. WFM grantees lead the way in creating strong communities that work for women and girls.

Learn more about WFM grantees here and see our 2024 funding summary.
 

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