Washington County experiencing shortage of child care options, advocates say

Washington County has a shortage of child care options, Gabrielle Jacobi, an Oklahoma child well-being policy analyst, told community leaders during a Kiwanis Club of Bartlesville meeting Wednesday.

Representatives from the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy and the Oklahoma Policy Institute visited Bartlesville to discuss child well-being issues. 

"Even if you can access it, it's super expensive, and that impacts families' ability to work," Jacobi said. "And that puts children behind in school themselves."

From 2016 to 2021, Washington County saw a 23% drop in the number of licensed child care facilities, resulting in 28% fewer child care slots, Jacobi said.

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That leaves an estimated 500 children from newborn to age 5 whose parents are working and are without a licensed child care facility in Washington County.

The cost of child care is also high. Child care costs in Oklahoma average more than 10% of weekly income, Jacobi said.

Having a child under a year old can cause that percentage to balloon to nearly 15% of weekly income, a troubling fact considering the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advises day care should amount to no more than 10% of a household's budget.

However, Washington County is doing better than the state in many other areas, including the infant mortality rate, percentage of homeowners, unemployment and other factors, child advocacy leaders said.

"Bartlesville is a shining gem on the plains as far as what the community does together as businesses and civic organization," said Joseph Dorman, CEO of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.

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The group specifically noted Bartlesville's approach for having unique approaches to youth challenges, such as Run the Streets.

Run the Streets is a mentoring program started in 2009 that uses long-distance running to reach at-risk youth, with over 1,000 youths who complete the program each season.

Overall, Oklahoma ranked 40th in child well-being, 32nd in economic well-being, 45th in education, 42nd in health care and 41st in family and community, according to The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

A further breakdown and explanation for these rankings can be found on the okpolicy.org website.