How You Can Help

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You care about your community and your state, and you’ve likely heard or experienced the impact child care challenges are having on Kansas kids, families, businesses, towns, and neighborhoods. Developing a stronger early care and education system can be complex, and you might not feel like the best person to contribute to this work.

Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone. Many small-scale solutions have already worked— both inside and outside Kansas — and the families and providers in your community know what they need. By learning more about the issue and working alongside us — and with others in your region — you can have a significant impact with less effort and fewer resources than you might expect.

Here's How to Get Started

Learn

Learn how the business model works when building child care capacity in your community. Like all businesses, balancing the money coming in with the money going out is vital to the long-term success and survival of child care. Use our Child Care Budget Tool to assist with planning in your community.

Communicate

Discuss with people in your workplace, community, or social network about your experiences with the child care system and listen to their opinions and unique experiences as well. We can connect you to others in your area who are interested in this issue.

Share

Share what you’ve learned with your network and other leaders and contribute your own ideas through the form below.

Identify

Identify small steps you can take to expand early care and learning options in your community, through our research, data, case studies, thought leadership, and Kansas Child magazine. 

Invest

Invest in Child Care Aware of Kansas with a tax-deductible gift. Your donation will help equip stakeholders with the tools they need to build a better early care and education system.

Advocate

Advocate for policies that can improve early care and education opportunities in your organization, community, or state. 

Action Steps

Everyone has a role to play in helping our children to grow into happy, healthy, productive Kansans.​

Advocate for Policy Changes

Advancing equitable access to high-quality child care for Kansas families and communities takes all of us working together. Decision-makers need to hear from families, early care and education professionals, and communities about issues that matter. We can all be part of the solution by speaking up for policies that improve our early care and education system. Join our efforts by getting involved today.

Share Your Ideas

We want to hear from you — whether you’re a parent or guardian, a child care provider, a government leader, an employer, or a community member who wants to make a difference.

Use the form below to share your personal experience with child care in Kansas, offer ideas and solutions, or explain why this issue is important to you. We’ll use this information to inform the solutions that we advocate for and the work that we lead. 

Contact a Community Outreach & Engagement Specialist

We can help you learn what’s possible and begin to take small, actionable steps to expand
access to quality, affordable child care for everyone.

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