Our Work
Building Solutions That Strengthen Child Care Across Coles County
The Coles County Child Care Collaborative is working to strengthen the local child care system through a coordinated, countywide approach. Our work brings together child care providers, educators, employers, workforce partners, families, and community organizations to develop sustainable solutions that support children, working families, and the broader community.
Our focus extends beyond creating new child care spaces. We are working to strengthen quality, improve affordability, develop the early childhood workforce, support existing providers, and align child care options with the needs of working families.
Creating More Opportunities for Families
Coles County needs a child care system with enough capacity to meet the needs of families throughout the community.
The Collaborative is identifying and evaluating opportunities for additional child care locations and programs.
Potential sites are being considered based on factors such as accessibility, licensing requirements, parking, outdoor space, utilities, classroom configuration, operating costs, and opportunities for future expansion.
Our goal is to develop a flexible, sustainable approach that can grow as community needs change.
Strengthening the Providers Already Serving Our Community
Existing child care providers are essential to Coles County's child care system.
The Collaborative is exploring ways to support providers through professional development, training, credentials, coaching, materials, and quality-improvement resources. Current planning includes development of a provider-support framework designed to strengthen quality and long-term sustainability.
Supporting providers helps strengthen the entire system while helping more children access high-quality early learning environments.
Our
Mission
The Coles County Child Care Collaborative works to expand access to high-quality child care and early learning opportunities for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children throughout Coles County. Our mission is to help more children learn, grow, and enter K–12 education prepared for success while giving families the dependable child care support they need to participate fully in the workforce and community.
Through collaboration with child care providers, schools, colleges, employers, families, and community partners, we also work to strengthen the early childhood workforce, connect families with resources, support sustainable child care capacity, and create experiential learning and career-pathway opportunities for high school and college students interested in early childhood education.
Events & Next Steps