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Salina United Way details childcare shortages, asks city for $50,000 in 2026 budget
Summary
Salina Area United Way told the City Commission study session that childcare access and low wages remain critical problems; the nonprofit thanked the city for a $500,000 2025 allocation and requested $50,000 for 2026 to continue an Early Childcare Initiative.
Christina Small, executive director of Salina Area United Way, told the Salina City Commission at an April 28 study session that childcare access remains a serious challenge in Saline County and asked the city to consider a $50,000 commitment in the 2026 budget to sustain the early childcare initiative.
Small said the United Way packet included a Childcare Aware of Kansas point-in-time estimate showing 3,917 children under 6 live in Saline County; 2,742 of those children live in households where all parents are in the workforce, leaving roughly 1,475 children under 6 who may need care. She said the early childcare initiative — which launched in 2023 and is currently open to nonprofit centers in Saline County — helped create 225 new childcare slots, including 49 infant slots, with grant support from Childcare Aware of Kansas and the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund.
The initiative’s primary wage goal, Small said, is to raise…
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