Reno County Child Care Needs Assessment and Market Study

During a series of public listening sessions held across Reno County in the fall of 2021, residents identified the top priorities facing their communities. The No. 1 issue identified by Reno County residents was access to quality, affordable child care and the sustainability of the child care system. In early 2022, the United Way of Reno County K-Ready Coalition’s Child Care Systems Team commissioned Bradford Wiles, Ph.D., with K-State Research and Extension, to conduct a market study of the Reno County child care system. The research was funded through grants from the Schmidt Foundation and Greater Hutch and from contributions from the Davis Foundation and Hutchinson Community Foundation donor advised funds. Through the spring and summer, researchers conducted 43 in-person focus groups and administered 667 anonymous surveys to four audiences: adults seeking child care, adults who currently have child care, early childhood professionals, and members of the general public. Those findings were synthesized in the following report. Completion of the study marks the first phase of a process aimed at sustaining and strengthening the local child care system.   

  • Report to providers at the Communities in Action Workshop: Nov. 12, 2022
  • Report to the Reno County Commission: Nov. 22, 2022
  • Report to the Hutchinson City Council: Dec. 6, 2022

Summary of Study

Full Report of Study

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Child Care Systems Leadership Team

Beth Carlton
Child Care Links
Heather Faulkner
Abundant Life Community Childcare
Denice Gilliland
United Way of Reno County
Kari Mailloux
Hutchinson Community Foundation
Betsy McKinney
Fairfield USD 310
Ashley Webster
Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities

American Rescue Plan Act

Reno County Resident Engagement

In May 2021, representatives from organizations serving Reno County formed a group to work with city and county leaders to gain input from Reno County residents on how they would prioritize the $17-plus million coming to our community from the American Rescue Plan COVID-relief bill passed in March 2021. In accordance with the inclusive, equitable spirit of the ARPA guidelines and recognizing that it needed more voices to help guide the process, the task force expanded to eventually include 16 residents representing various community organizations, governing bodies and groups. To further ensure an inclusive, high-quality process, the task force also partnered with Kansas State University’s LEADCOMM Associates to help craft a facilitated civic engagement experience. The resulting plan was simple: Reach roughly 1 percent of the Reno County population through 90-minute facilitated discussions with groups of eight to 20 residents. The first meeting was held in late August 2021, and by the time of the final meeting on Oct. 21, 2021, the task force had heard from 553 residents at a total of 45 meetings hosted throughout Reno County.

In the fall and early winter of 2021, the team at LEADCOMM Associates, led by Dr. Sean Eddington, gathered the data collected from the meetings and synthesized the findings into a report.  Below is a video overview of the report delivered by Dr. Eddington to the Reno County Commission and Hutchinson City Council. Alongside the video are links to the full written report and the Reno County ARPA Task Force’s recommendations to governing bodies.  

  • Report to the Reno County Commission: Jan. 25, 2022
  • Report to the Hutchinson City Council: Feb. 1, 2022

Useful Links

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Reno County ARPA Task Force

Dedria Ashworth
Retired teacher
Sara Bagwell
Hutchinson City Council
Jeff Cantrell
City of Hutchinson
Tony Finlay
Hutch Rec
Oscar Garcia
RCB Bank
Lisa Gleason
United Way of Reno County
D’Naeya Gray
Boys & Girls Clubs of Hutchinson youth representative
Lynette Lacy
Leadership Reno County
Logan Leuenberger
Young Professionals of Reno County
Quintin Moore
The Father’s House
Randy Partington
Reno County
Aubrey Abbott Patterson
Hutchinson Community Foundation
Ron Sellers
Reno County Commission
Jackson Swearer
StartUp Hutch
Debra Teufel
Hutchinson Reno County
Chamber of Commerce
Calvin Wright
Hutchinson NAACP