Illustration by Kendall Williams

Julia Williams

Editor-in-Chief

On average, families across Missouri spend anywhere between $10,000 and $14,000 annually on child care services, which rivals more than 5.3% of average rent costs throughout the state, and equals around 14% of a median family’s income. 

These numbers mirror the lived experience of Kansas City parent Shiya Pouncil-Brookins, who currently pays $225 per week out-of-pocket for her youngest child’s care, in a household, which operates on a combination of one full-time income and a second as needed work for flexibility. 

“We’ve really been working through how to navigate financially and responsibly to create a quality life for our kids,” Pouncil-Brookins said in an interview. 

Pouncil-Brookins and her husband have four children and she shared that at times, their family has paid upwards of $500 per week in child care expenses when more than one child required care simultaneously.

We’ve had to cut back on what often feels like needs — including child care at times — just to stay current on bills and make space for groceries,” Pouncil-Brookins said. “It’s taken intentional strategy as a family to protect our kids from feeling a lack of stability.”

She shared that her family is currently in their eighth year of navigating the child care system, and this year, they are contemplating moving their youngest child forward into their school’s Head Start program, which could aid in alleviating weekly costs. 

Pouncil-Brookin’s situation is a reality for many families across Kansas City that are underserved with full-time jobs and children in child care.

In an effort to address what has become a statewide financial challenge, Kansas City nonprofit, the Mid America Regional Council (MARC) began strategic planning for an initiative in February 2024, which included a data search of average child care costs in the area and the planning of a community forum, in search of the best way to offer support for families and child care providers.

In partnership with Kids Win Missouri — an alliance of organizations and individuals across the state focused on improving the well-being of Missouri children, according to its website — several communities across the state have convened to develop implementation plans for the Missouri Child Care Exchange — a program, which leverages cost-sharing among employees, employers, the state of Missouri (if eligible) and other potential local funding sources — ensuring families have access to high-quality child care. On June 30, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed this bill, which includes $2.5 million into the 2026 Missouri State Fiscal Budget for the Missouri Child Care Exchange program.

MARC Director of Early Learning Toni Sturdivant shared that this program will be a public-private partnership, which is meant to stabilize the child care system, and where MARC will serve as an intermediary for Kansas City. 

Sturdivant and MARC are currently collecting pledges from employers and organizations that are interested in participating in this program. She shared that this Child Care Exchange program is open to all businesses of any size — with a few stipulations. For State funds to be eligible, there must be a community match — meaning, the employer or organization must be enrolled in the exchange program. While Sturdivant mentioned this program will have the potential to serve as a benefit for employers to offer their employees — in a similar way to health care — it will additionally be available for any community entity or nonprofit organization that is interested in sponsoring child care tuition. 

Interested parties will be required to match 30% of average child care costs within their region for employees or organization members. Employers or organizations will have the option to contribute more than 30% of costs, however, that is the program’s flat rate requirement. As this total is based around the regional average of child care tuition, an employer or organizations minimum match requirement will not increase based on individual employee or member child care costs. For the Kansas City region, this percentage averages out to $5,232.24 per year per child for ages infant to toddler, $3,871.92 per year per child for preschool and $3,120 per year per child for school-aged children.

While these funds will be available to anyone who can match this amount, there is an employee income cut off to which those above 550% of the federal poverty level will not be eligible to match state funding.

Sturdivant shared she will be submitting an application for the program between August and September based on company pledges. MARC is planning for the Missouri Child Care Exchange program to launch in October, which she said is when state funds will be pulled. 

An added incentive for interested businesses includes the federal tax credits, which accompany program enrollment; Up to 40% of contributions of large businesses will be eligible for federal tax credits as well as 50% of small businesses. 

Pledges are currently open for any interested business of any size. Sturdivant shared that there is no minimum amount of pledges required for the program, but that this allocated funding must be used within the 2026 fiscal year. 

“Once we use all the funds, the funds are gone; There’s no guarantee when there will be another opportunity,” she said in an interview. “We need to have as many pledges as possible when submitting the application.”

While MARC can apply for the exchange program to continue beyond this year, there is no assurance that the Missouri legislature will renew funding for this program beyond 2026.

A concern for Pouncil-Brookins in relation to this program, she shared, is what it will mean for child care providers. 

Pouncil-Brookins and her family have sustained the same child care provider for all four of her children, which she believes has allowed them to build a solid foundation from age two until they were ready to branch off into public school.

She additionally shared that her provider offers culturally affirming care, working primarily with Black and Brown children, and has helped her children build a strong sense of identity and belonging.

For Pouncil-Brookins, maintaining her family’s current child care provider is important to her.

With the Missouri Child Care Exchange program, in most cases, Sturdivant said, parents will still be able to choose their providers. The one requirement for providers to be eligible is that they must be registered with the program’s payment system.

“It’s not designed to tell parents where they should enroll their children; it should be the parents’ choice,” Sturdivant said. 

Both MARC Early Learning Program Coordinator T’Kayla Callahan and Pouncil-Brookins shared that they, like many parents with young children, carry the weight of having to pay high-cost tuition for child care. 

“I’m happy to be able to move forward in providing something like this to our region,” Callahan said in reference to the Child Care Exchange program. “This is a model that leverages support from all entities within our community; if we’re going to make strides to sustainability, we have to recognize this is not something a single entity can take on alone.” 

And for families who are currently or who have faced financial constraints due to child care, Callahan shared that what they can anticipate from this program is relief. 

“This is an opportunity for employers to support the needs of employees with children under five, for parents to experience cost savings, and for providers to receive consistent payments that help stabilize the child care market ” she said.

For businesses or organizations that are interested in pledging to join the Missouri Child Care Exchange program, they can fill out the form here: https://marc.jotform.com/242966915077065.

For additional information on MARC, to contact its Early Learning team or on the Missouri Child Care Exchange program, visit: https://www.marc.org/early-learning/child-care-exchange.