The issue of insufficient numbers of child care providers in Wood County, WI can be attributed to low profit-margins of providers and unsustainable staff wages; it is estimated by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families that 36% of Wood County zip codes are in a child care desert. This has resulted in long waiting lists for families needing child care, which cumulatively affects the workforce of the county. To address these issues, this paper will propose
possible solutions to increase and retain the number of well-trained, caring providers while maintaining the cost for families and concurrently increasing the wage of providers.
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