GREAT FALLS — Great Falls is continuing to experience a shortage of childcare providers; a childcare assessment by the Great Falls Development Alliance in 2021 estimated a need for an additional 580 childcare slots.
Seeing a demand for childcare in the community, Desiree Vinson opened Gibson Grove Preschool and Child Care in 2022.
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Gibson Grove opened a second location last fall and is now providing care to 30 children per day. Still, their waitlist remains long.
“I think we have probably at least 20 families, and it just keeps getting longer. It just seems like there are a lot of people looking for child care right now," Vinson explains.
The childcare shortage extends throughout the state with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry reporting that licensed childcare capacity only meets 44% of demand statewide.
Even when a family does find a provider, cost is another factor. The average cost for one child in full-time daycare is nearly $12,000 per year, more than in-state college tuition.
Family Connections is one organization that helps with child care expenses.
”For some families, it can be more than their rent. It's a huge burden on families," Family Connections director Kim Stull says.
They offer the Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship to help low-income families cover the cost of child care.
Family Connection also offers free child care provider referrals to families in search of care, and have seen first hand the demand within the city.
“There's some deserts for child care in Great Falls. What we particularly see is a need for infant care," Stull says. "There's just simply not enough of it, as well as what we would call ‘odd hour’ care, those hours that extend beyond 5 p.m. or even overnight care.”
In an effort to bring more providers to Great Falls, the Great Falls Development Alliance is working on an updated assessment for childcare to show potential providers that there is a demand in Great Falls.
For more information about finding and paying for childcare, click here to visit Family Connections or click here to visit Raise Montana.
