Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Childhood Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Birth-to-5 manager urges Bloomington to make child care a standing council priority
Summary
Melissa Bridal of Birth to 5 Illinois told the council that recent child-care closures — including Milestones on July 31 — will displace hundreds of families and urged the city to add child care as a recurring agenda item and to use city resources to stabilize local capacity.
Melissa Bridal, the regional council manager for Birth to 5 Illinois and a Bloomington resident for more than 15 years, told the City Council during public comment that recent child-care closures in the community threaten working families.
Bridal warned that the impending July 31 closure of Milestones and other recent shutdowns will leave "hundreds of families displaced and passionate child care caregivers without a job," and urged elected officials to treat child care as an economic infrastructure issue. "Investing in early childhood education not only supports the next generation of workers in our community, but it also helps to stabilize our infrastructure in Bloomington economically as well as socially," she said.
Bridal asked the council to make child care a consistent agenda item, emphasizing both access and affordability as barriers in Bloomington and arguing that local government needs a persistent voice at the table to coordinate solutions for families and providers. She offered to work directly with council members to continue the conversation.
The council did not respond to public comment during the meeting; public comment rules prohibit council engagement during the three-minute speaker period. The city manager and staff did not announce any immediate follow-up actions during the meeting.
