KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Wendy Clark Chacon contacted Ryan in tears about building compliance hoops she needed to jump through to start her business. Ryan intends to follow up on the broader impact this red tape has on addressing a rural childcare shortage. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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A rural Harrisonville, Mo., daycare opened with 26 new slots Thursday that provides much-needed childcare services in a community designated as a childcare desert.
The Sunshine Daycare will offer curriculum-based learning through a state-partnered program, Wonderschool. There will be 10 hours of care each day and language-based programs to help serve families in the area.
Harrisonville's childcare shortage reflects a statewide crisis. The community is considered a childcare desert, a designation shared by 97% of Missouri's 150 counties, according to a Wonderschool representative.
Owner Wendy Clark Chacon spent over a year navigating building compliance codes to open the facility.
"What the state wants is what the state wants," Chacon said. "What the city wants, the city wants. Once you get everybody on the same boat of what you're trying to do, things will better."
The compliance challenges Chacon faced are common across many communities attempting to establish childcare facilities.
These regulatory hurdles often delay or prevent new daycare centers from opening in areas where they are desperately needed. These challenges are not solely isolated to Harrisonville. but across the state of Missouri.
The opening of Sunrise Daycare represents a small, but significant step, toward addressing Missouri's rural childcare crisis. But much work remains to meet the growing demand for quality childcare services across the state.
Thursday's ribbon cutting was full of happy tears and hugs to celebrate the grand opening.
KSHB 41 Cass County reporter Ryan Gamboa will follow up on these building compliance concerns to better understand how it is impacting the childcare shortage.
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