There was good news on the childcare front in 2023. In June, the Vermont Legislature passed a sweeping childcare bill that would invest $125 million a year of new funding into the state’s childcare sector, making it one of the most expansive systems in the nation. 

The bill stopped short of offering free, full-day pre-K in public schools for all 4-year-olds — which was the centerpiece of the original legislation — but it does much to improve what many agree is a broken system defined by families struggling to afford childcare and childcare workers struggling to make a living.

The bill expands income eligibility for financial assistance to families earning up to 575% of the federal poverty level, and it subsidizes programs with state funding so they can offer more childcare slots and pay their workers a more livable wage.

The Middlebury area will see an increase in childcare options next month with the opening of the brand new Red Clover Children’s Center in the Congregational Church of Middlebury. The center will offer 24 slots to families with children ages 6 weeks to 3 years. 

THE FRONT PAGE of the Addison Independent on Mar. 30, 2023

The program received $560,000 in donated seed money, including $200,000 from local nonprofit Table 21 and a $360,000 donation from an anonymous longtime supporter of the church’s community outreach efforts. Naylor & Breen completed renovations on the Red Clover space, which is inside the church, earlier in 2023. And in September, the Red Clover board hired Tessa Dearborn as executive director. She is a childcare veteran who most recently led Kid Logic Learning Center in South Burlington. 

Then in December existing Middlebury program Otter Creek Child Center got the OK from the town to begin a $10 million major expansion and renovation project, which will add 77 new childcare slots. OCCC officials are working toward a fall 2024 groundbreaking on the project, which will create a new 6,900-foot addition on the Weybridge Street building, along with renovations to the existing building and related site improvements.

Officials have so far raised more than half of the money they need to complete the project, thanks to a $4 million commitment from Middlebury College, a $3 million federal earmark through Let’s Grow Kids and several other sources.

In Ferrisburgh, town officials are considering establishing a childcare center that could serve up to 24 children in the former United Methodist Church, aka the Brown Church, on Route 7. Late last year, the church’s congregation, which was no longer large enough to necessitate the use of the building, deeded it to the town.

Last spring, motivated by the results of a survey of town residents, Ferrisburgh officials met with representatives of Let’s Grow Kids to assess the feasibility of creating a childcare center in the church’s lower level. They determined it would be a great space for children, with good light, three exits and two bathrooms. And because the property is town-owned, Ferrisburgh could bond for renovations.

There’s plenty of work to do before the town can establish a timetable on this project, but we’ll be keeping an eye on it.