How Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board and community partners are helping grow the childcare workforce and expand access to early learning programs.

Reliable childcare is essential to a strong workforce. When families cannot find care for their children, parents may struggle to find employment, maintain consistent work schedules, or remain in their jobs.

On Oregon’s South Coast, workforce and community partners are addressing this challenge by investing in the people and programs that provide childcare.

With support from the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board (SOWIB) and partners including South Coast Business, two innovative initiatives are helping strengthen the region’s early learning workforce.

Creating New Pathways into Childcare Careers

One initiative established a substitute pool to help early learning programs address staffing shortages while creating opportunities for people entering the field.

Ten participants received three weeks of foundational training to prepare them to work as qualified childcare substitutes.

For Dallas Brown, the program became a pathway to permanent employment.

After participating in the substitute pool, Dallas began working at Bandon Community Child Care Center. The experience proved to be a great fit, and Dallas was offered a full-time position.

“I just fell in love with the program and the people there and the staff,” Dallas shares.

The substitute pool helped childcare providers find trained workers when regular staff were unavailable, while giving participants an opportunity to gain experience and build relationships with potential employers.

Helping New Childcare Programs Take Root

Another initiative, Launch and Learn, supports people interested in opening childcare facilities.

Through an eight-week training program, aspiring childcare providers learned about the requirements for becoming licensed, connected with community partners, and supported one another as they developed their plans.

One participant used the program to help establish a place-based preschool serving children ages three to five. The training provided practical guidance and a supportive network during the process of opening the program.

Together, these initiatives demonstrate how workforce investments can address childcare shortages from multiple directions: preparing new educators, supporting existing programs, and helping create additional childcare opportunities.

For South Coast families and employers, the benefits reach beyond the early learning industry. Expanding reliable childcare helps more parents participate in the workforce, strengthening the region’s economy and communities.

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