Clatsop County

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It's no secret to families who live in Clatsop County that child care is a challenge. In 2024, there was just one opening available for every five infants in the region.

That means four out of every five families with very young children were left to piecemeal child care together on their own or leave the workforce altogether.

The economic shock from this reality is large. Right now, the lack of child care is draining an estimated $2.5 - $3.8 million from our local economy every single year, through lost wages, reduced productivity, and shrinking tax revenue.

Parents lost income, businesses lost revenue, and the county lost taxes from those workers and businesses.

The lack of care led Clatsop County to identify this as a priority for the county's strategic planning. This resulted in a collaboration between the county, other community leaders and the Child Care Resource and Referral to launch an advisory in 2021. The goal of the group is to stabilize and grow child care businesses with grants and training so that more families have access to high-quality, affordable care.

The Goals & Objectives of Our Child Care Advisory Board

The members and associated agencies of the Clatsop Child Care Retention and Expansion Board -- along with Northwest Regional Child Care Resource & Referral -- are committed to working together to retain and support Clatsop County child care providers.

The board represents various groups in our community but is small enough to stay productive. Members of the board are actively working to retain and expand sustainable, affordable high-quality child care in Clatsop County.

The Board’s Goal: Retain and expand licensed child care options so there are fewer than three children per licensed slot of child care in all age groups.

Once more than a third of babies, toddlers and preschoolers have access, Clatsop County would no longer be considered a child care desert.

Strategic Objectives:

Retain existsing child care programs
Support programs to expand their child care offerings
Support child care providers to become licensed with the state
Help more child care providers accept child care subsidies from the employment-related day program (e.g., support providers to become listed with the Oregon Department of Human Services) so that lower-income families have more child care options
Support programs to pay providers higher wages so turnover is reduced and the quality of care improves
Help programs offer scholarships to families who need help paying for child care
Prioritize high-quality programs that create culturally sustaining learning environments for children
Provide business training and advising for child care providers so their programs are more stable

About the Grants the Board Has Provided

Since 2021, the Child Care Advisory Board has awarded $847,493 to 20 child care providers in the county. The money has provided:

$473,144 in scholarships for 164 families
$252,849 to help child care providers offer spaces in their programs for infants and toddlers
$90,250 to help child care providers with business operating expenses
$31,250,000 for child care providers to take classes and incentivize participation in Oregon’s Spark Quality Recognition and Improvement System