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Dodge County officials hear UW Extension presentation on child care shortage as stabilization funding nears end
Summary
UW Extension educator Patty Carroll told the Dodge County Executive Committee that child care stabilization funding is scheduled to end in June and that local providers face closures and workforce shortages; a local operator described long wait lists, low pay, and looming center closures.
Patty Carroll, Human Development and Relationships Educator for UW Extension in Dodge County, told the Dodge County Executive Committee that child care stabilization funding scheduled to end in June has created renewed urgency for local planning and support for early childhood care.
Carroll said the county’s strategic plan names child care as a priority and cited a March 2025 study from the Institute for Research on Poverty that examined what would happen if stabilization funding ended. “Child care matters,” Carroll told the committee, and she urged supervisors to consider county actions that could support providers, employees and families.
Carroll outlined three arguments for county involvement: boosting workforce participation and local economic productivity, supporting healthy child development that can reduce later special-education costs, and saving public dollars over time by reducing reliance on other social services. She listed options for local action including subsidized child care, public–private partnerships such as the Wisconsin Partner Up program, on-site child care for county employees and family-friendly workplace policies.
Tricia Peterson, of Future All Star Academy (an early childcare center in Juneau), described operational pressures facing providers. Peterson said many centers cannot charge the “true cost of care,” noted low wages and high turnover in the workforce, and warned of imminent closures: “I will be one of those that will be closing,” she said, describing long wait lists for infants and constrained group-size rules that make infant care financially difficult. Peterson said she is licensed for 48 children but currently cares for about 55 and estimated her infant wait list at roughly 20 children.
Carroll and Peterson discussed staffing ratios and training requirements cited in the meeting: infant ratios of 1 adult to 4 infants (group cap eight), a 2-year-old ratio of 1:6 and a 3-year-old ratio of about 1:13; Carroll said early childhood educators are required by state policy to earn 15 registered training hours and that Extension provides some free professional development to help meet that requirement.
Committee members pressed for more local data and next steps. Carroll said county staff — including Nate Olson and HR representatives — plan follow-up conversations to explore employee-focused options (for example, whether on-site care for county employees is feasible) and to develop proposal language for future committee consideration. Carroll also said she would share the Institute for Research on Poverty report with Representative John Jagler and others.
No formal county action was taken during the presentation. Committee discussion emphasized urgency and a desire for concrete proposals; supervisors and staff asked that any proposed county grants, contracts or pilot programs include clear timelines and accountability measures if funding is provided.
Carroll closed by urging the committee to treat child care as a cross‑sector issue that affects schools, workforce development and public health, and she asked the committee to consider the matter for future agenda work and proposals to support local providers.
