Bay County officials conducting a survey to address local childcare needs

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – Affordable childcare is one of the biggest obstacles for young parents returning to the workforce.

The Bay County Chambers Childcare Tasks Force and the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida are conducting a survey to address local childcare needs.

Bay County Chamber of Commerce officials said the survey is meant to identify childcare needs, challenges, and possible solutions.

Suzan Gage with the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida said it’s just the first step in bridging a gap.

“The goal here is to figure out what it is that the families need and want for their children. Who in the community is offering those types of services and programs and then meeting them together and hopefully having a very you know, I want to say a lifelong relationship with the family, because for my children, because they all were in child care, it is we still keep up with the center that our children went to,” Gage said.

“While the childcare survey is meant for all families in Bay County, the organization is hoping to hear from the local military community as well,” Gage added.

Active duty service members receive child care from the government. But civil servants do not.

That’s most of the military community in Bay County, who are not eligible for government childcare.

“What they do contribute to the warfighter, the soldier and sailor and Marine and airman out there in the field, they don’t have access to the same benefits as someone in uniform. They’re looking for child care in the same market that anybody else is in the broader community,” NSWC-PC Commanding officer Capt. David Buck said.

Officials urge everyone in the community to fill out the survey no matter their circumstances.

“We really want anybody’s impact that you can, have a grandmother who cares for her grandchildren during the day while mom and dad work or mom works or whatever the situation is. So we just want to get the input from everybody, regardless of family size, makeup, or anything else,” Buck said.

The childcare task force will review the response, devise solutions, and present the plan at the chamber’s first Friday meeting in November.

The survey is available until July 15.

For more information, click here .

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