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From YouTube: County Board Wrap-Up: Childcare Initiative
Description
Discussions from the January 2018 Arlington County Board Meeting.
A
This
work
has
been
underway
in
some
former
fashion
for
probably
about
a
year
now
we
started
last
year
with
the
approval
of
a
new
full-time
employee
in
our
Community
Planning
Housing
and
Development
team,
as
well
as
designating
a
series
of
actions
we
were
looking
for
this
year.
The
the
childcare
initiative
is
now
in
the
incredibly
competent
hands
of
some
leadership
from
the
Department
of
Human
Services,
who
have
brought
together
both
a
leadership
team
and
a
working
group
that
draws
on
I
believe
over
25
different
agencies
and
organizations.
A
They
have
created
a
draft
action
plan
for
us
organized
around
the
goals
of
accessibility,
availability
and
quality,
as
our
three
guiding
lights
for
how
we
want
to
seek
to
expand
the
childcare
supply
in
Arlington
County
and
last
twenty
last
Thursday
January
25th
was
an
opportunity
to
roll
out
that
action
plan
and
start
to
get
some
feedback
from
the
community.
It
was
really
an
exciting
night.
A
A
large
turnout,
an
enthusiastic
turnout,
I
think
it
turned
out
that
actually
reflected
the
full
diversity
of
Arlington
County,
which
was
inspiring
to
see,
and
a
lot
of
people
have
a
lot
of
opinions
and
experiences
and
feedback
for
us
about
where
we
need
to
go
to
be
expanding,
supply
and
affordable
quality
supply
of
child
care.
In
Arlington.
Now.
B
C
A
Sure
so
affordability,
of
course,
is
one
of
the
biggest
challenges
and,
what's
interesting
is
that's
all
the
way
up
and
down
the
economic
spectrum.
You
know
even
for
middle-class
Reif
and
upper-class
families.
You
have
childcare,
especially
if
you're
looking
at
more
than
one
child
or
a
very
young
child
that
cost
more
than
rent
or
mortgage
payment
on
a
monthly
basis.
So
as
we
seek
to
expand
supply,
one
of
our
biggest
challenges
is
going
to
be.
A
How
do
we,
as
government
or
with
partners,
try
to
tackle
some
of
the
biggest
drivers
of
cost,
which
of
course
comes
back
to
rent,
so
we'll
be
looking
in
a
series
of
potential
land-use
or
regulatory
strategies
that
might
help
us
tackle
that,
and
one
of
the
challenges
as
well
to
starting
a
childcare
center
can
sometimes
be
the
regulatory
burden.
We
want
to
keep
quality
high.
C
You
know
I
applaud
the
chair
for
for
coming
up
with
this
as
a
focus
of
our
County,
because
you
know
it's
often
overlooked
how
unique
childcare
is
as
being
a
disproportionately
expensive
thing
for
families.
You
know,
while
everything
is
expensive
in
Arlington
we're
a
high-cost
area,
it
also
happened
to
be
a
region
that
has
the
most
expensive
childcare
in
the
entire
country,
and
you
know
eating
up
a
disproportionate
number
of
a
disproportionate
amount
of
a
family's
budget
means
that
this
is
a
huge
concern
and
it
has
real-world
effects.
C
It
means
that
sometimes
parents
who
would
prefer
to
be
in
the
labor
force
cannot
because
they
have
to
actually
be
home.
That's
the
more
affordable
version
of
childcare
that
they
can
actually
access.
So
it
really
distorts
a
lot
of
things
in
our
economy
and
in
our
community
and
disrupts
families
to
a
tremendous
degree,
and
you
know
if
we
can
do
anything
to
sort
of
help,
bridge
that
gap
between
the
supply
and
the
demand
and
make
things
at
least
more
stable
from
a
cost
perspective,
we'll
be
doing
a
great
service
for
our
residents.
What.
B
C
You
know
I
think
the
the
focus
on
supply
is
really
key,
because
there
clearly
is
a
demand
deficit.
There
is
a
gap
and
that
gap
certainly
puts
upward
pressures
on
prices
and
if
we
can
figure
out
how
through
doning
and
permitting
and
facilitating
the
creation
of
more
childcare,
coming
up
with
innovative
solutions
that
maybe
involve
the
business
community
and
underutilized
building
resources,
then
we
can,
you
know,
deal
with
affordability
and
supply
at
the
same
time,
and
just
you
know,
take
the
stress
out:
I
can
tell
you
as
someone
who's
put
two
kids
through
through
childcare.
A
I
think
that's
exactly
right
and
there's
some
connecting
we
can
do
between
supply
and
demand.
You
know
I
think
people
are
sometimes
surprised
to
know
that
there
is
no
centralized
point
of
access
between
Zoomers
and
providers
or
coordination
of
wait,
lists
or
slot
lists,
and
so
you
know
for
a
parent,
every
bit
sort
of
every
man
and
woman
for
themselves
and
trying
to
figure
it
out.