Newsroom

Date: September 22nd, 2025

From late fall 2024 through June 2025, the Spokane Workforce Council joined an effort spearheaded by the Spokane University District to conduct an Early Learning and Care Needs Assessment for U District students, employers, and educational institutions. The findings reinforce what we hear from families and employers every day: a lack of accessible childcare is holding our community back.

What We Learned

In the 99202 zip code, where the University District is located, Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families estimates that 1,068 children need childcare. The assessment, conducted by Arrowleaf Consulting, utilized both survey and focus group methods of gathering information. The majority were raising young children while balancing work and school. The survey included responses from employees of Spokane Workforce Council, Next Generation Zone, and WorkSource Spokane, since our offices are located within the U District.

Respondents reported childcare as a major impact on their family and their experience in work and/or school, including working fewer hours and negative academic performance implications due to a lack of childcare. Respondents also report ongoing struggles to find affordable, high-quality, and accessible childcare. Infant care emerged as the greatest challenge, which reflects the same narrative we have heard over the past three years and continues to persist in our region.

Why This Matters

At Spokane Workforce Council, we believe childcare is a workforce issue. Parents cannot participate fully in the labor market if they lack safe, affordable care. Students – our future workforce – cannot succeed in school if they are constantly worried about who is watching their children. Employers cannot retain talent if their workers are forced to scale back hours or step away entirely.

Over the past three years, we have invested millions of dollars in supporting Spokane County families with childcare tuition assistance. These investments helped parents stay in the workforce, supported students in continuing their education, and offered relief to families facing impossible choices. But we know this kind of tuition support is a band-aid, not a long-term solution.

Families need options because the cost of care is only one piece of the puzzle. Without enough providers, there are simply not enough slots to meet demand. Without evening, weekend, or flexible hours, parents working nontraditional shifts – especially in healthcare,

hospitality, and retail – are left without reliable care. Without culturally and linguistically responsive providers, many families struggle to find care that feels safe and supportive for their children. And without a strong, fairly paid childcare workforce, we cannot sustain quality programs that nurture children’s development and give parents peace of mind.

This is why we continue to advocate for system-level change. Spokane’s families don’t just need help paying for care – they need a childcare system that is affordable, high-quality, accessible, and built to last.

Childcare is the backbone of our workforce system, and right now it is broken.

Removing Barriers to Growth

While we continue to face workforce shortages and low wages in the childcare sector, Spokane also struggles with finding appropriate sites for the development of new facilities. Efforts are underway to remove burdensome administrative requirements and increase the residential and commercial zones where childcare centers are allowed in the City of Spokane. If adopted, Senate Bill 5509 would make it easier for providers to expand, and create more options for parents, students, and employees in the University District who are eager for solutions.

Our Commitment

The Spokane Workforce Council is committed to advancing solutions that strengthen our childcare system and, in turn, our workforce. This assessment is one more piece of evidence confirming what we already know: families in Spokane need more childcare, and they need it now.

We are proud to stand alongside partners like Spokane’s University District, Community-Minded Enterprises, local universities, and City leaders to ensure that Spokane’s families, students, and employers are no longer forced to choose between childcare and opportunity. Click here to read the full report from Arrowleaf Consulting