County refines childcare needs survey; will publish draft after edits

Gilliam County Court reviewed and revised a draft countywide childcare needs survey at its May 7 meeting, requesting changes to question wording and age bands and advising staff to publish an initial version this month.

County staff presented a draft survey intended to collect information about hours of need, preferred care types and pricing expectations. Public commenter Sarah Kirby McNeese, who said she helped review the draft, urged the court to add questions that cover provider absences and school-closure days and to clarify that “sick child care” is not an option in licensed centers and K–5 schools because those facilities send ill children home.

Following comments from McNeese and discussion among court members and staff, the court instructed staff to: - Remove a middle‑school age category and align school‑age bands with school grade levels (K–5 for grade-school ages); - Add a specific question about what families do when school is closed (holidays, snow days, school vacations); - Remove “sick childcare” as a service option because licensed centers and schools cannot accept sick children; and - Proceed to publish the revised draft as a first-year instrument and iterate the survey annually to improve wording and coverage.

County staff said the survey will support decisions about how to allocate economic enhancement and Strategic Investment Program monies toward childcare supports. The court also discussed methods to limit duplicate responses (QR codes and controlled distribution) and to coordinate the survey with existing outreach by local childcare providers so results are comparable and useful for program planning.

Court members said they want the survey finalized and released quickly so the county can gather baseline data to inform any use of county funds for childcare supports.