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Local businesses can ease Forsyth child care crisis, experts say

Samantha Cole, the Child Care Business Liaison for NC Department of Commerce, speaks at a podium
AMY DIAZ/WFDD
During a discussion about child care at the Goodwill Career Center Friday morning, Samantha Cole, the Child Care Business Liaison for the NC Department of Commerce, spoke about the ways businesses can better support their employees in need of child care, and providers in their community.

Forsyth County community leaders convened Friday morning to discuss how businesses can help with the child care crisis.

Families, providers and educators are struggling with the child care system right now.

The cost of care is too high. Wages for teachers are too low. And providers can’t afford to adjust either of those without going under.

Samantha Cole, the child care business liaison for the State Department of Commerce, explained a few ways businesses can help, including taking part in a new program called NC Tri-Share.

“If an employer organization wants to enroll in the program, they commit to covering 33% of the cost of that child care tuition," Cole said. "Their employee who qualifies for the program financially covers the remaining third. And then the state dollars that support this program right now also cover a third.”

She says a 66% cut to child care costs is an attractive benefit.

Businesses could also open a back-up child care site for workers who rely on family or friends to watch their kids, or offer grants to local providers.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

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