AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – Families across the Texas Panhandle are struggling to find available and affordable childcare.
There are 18 zip codes in the Texas Panhandle classified as childcare deserts, which are areas where the demand for childcare outweighs the available supply.
To bring awareness to this issue, representatives from Children at Risk visited the Amarillo Area Foundation, where they presented the latest research on childcare deserts.
Those in attendance also spent time sharing ideas of how to improve availability.
“It not only affects that children and families, but it affects the larger economy because now you have more families that are needing public assistance because they can’t work, and they can’t help get themselves into improved economic outcomes,” said Kim Kofron, senior director of education for Children at Risk.
Kofron says there have been some positive developments. The Texas Workforce Commission recently invested $100 million into early childcare and education for scholarships.
Children at Risk will announce an updated report of childcare statistics in the near future.
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