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Seward council approves MOU to create substitute pool for child-care providers
Summary
The city council voted 7-0 to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership to pilot a substitute-worker pool for licensed child-care providers, funded in part by a private foundation over three years.
The Seward City Council voted unanimously to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership to create a substitute-worker pool for licensed early-childhood providers.
The agreement, approved 7-0, authorizes a partnership to pilot a substitute network this summer that the parties said would let child-care centers find on-call workers similar to school substitute lists. Jonathan, representing the chamber partnership, said the pilot is intended to improve sustainability for providers and make child care more viable as a career path.
Samantha Patterson, identified in the meeting as the city’s childcare director, is slated to help stand up the program while her schedule is lighter over the summer; the MOU covers initial work through the start of the school year. Jonathan said a private foundation has committed funding to help steward the pilot for three years and that the pilot would begin locally in Seward County with the possibility of later scaling regionally and statewide. "We're trying to create this for them because we need childcare, to have sustainability," Jonathan said.
According to the agreement presented to the council, the city’s role is to help launch the effort and host early activities through the wellness center’s child-watch operations; the chamber will lead coordination with licensed providers. The MOU funds some of Patterson’s time and anticipates hiring part-time caregivers who could also serve as substitute staff for participating providers. Details on program governance, data sharing, and the full budget were included in the MOU packet provided to council members.
Councilmembers moved and seconded the measure and the mayor called for a roll-call vote. The motion passed by a 7-0 margin.
The council did not specify a formal start date beyond the plan to operate through the summer and into the school year; the MOU describes the initial phase as a pilot rather than a permanent city program. Council members asked staff to return with any metrics the chamber and child-care director could track in future admin reports.
