The recent closing of Seward’s Bright Beginnings Child Development Center and Kozy Kidyz Daycare forced some area families to find new childcare arrangements, but the overall impact on the county’s childcare capacity data may not be as drastic as it first seems.
Seward County childcare providers can now care for 767 children, a number that is well above the 2022 capacity of 610 children reported by the Seward County Communities for Kids initiative. That countywide venture led by the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership worked to increase the availability of quality childcare here.
In 2022, the initiative reported a gap between the number of available childcare slots and the families needing that childcare at 189 children. Today, that gap is estimated around 32 children, said Jonathan Jank, president and CEO of the SCCDP.
Jank said SCCDP followed up with some of the families affected by the recent closures and most reported they found new childcare providers.
A few factors have not changed. In 2022 and 2025, the state licensing numbers reported 23 licensed daycare providers in Seward County, and then and now there are public programs – like school affiliated preschools and Head Start – that accommodate 190 students on a half-day basis for a full-time equivalence of 95 spots.
Comparing today’s numbers with those researched with the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation in 2022 is not wholly possible, Jank said, because updated numbers on county population, the number of families seeking daycare, the number of children under six, and other measures are not readily available.
But he said they likely have not changed greatly in those three years.
Seward County now has 11 in-home childcare providers who can care for 116 children, 11 licensed childcare centers that can care for 542 children and one licensed preschool provider who can accommodate 14 children.
Jank said he used the 2022 count of 799 children for whom daycare was either in place or sought to determine the current gap of 32 children.
Some childcare providers or options will not show up in the study, he said. Parents may work opposing shifts to cover childcare, have family members who watch children, or take their children to a childcare provider who takes on fewer children than the number that requires licensure.
“I don’t think we are that far off,” he said of the current estimates,” Jank said. “Kids are going somewhere, and fortunately, I think we are providing a lot of options.”
Between 2022 and 2025, Seward County changed from a childcare desert to a childcare oasis, Jank said.
Grants and other programs enabled communities to recruit childcare providers and open centers like the Milford Childhood Learning Center.
And while that seems like it created a glut, Jank said the 2022 study showed that 58% of those providing care were planning to retire or quit providing childcare in the near future.
Finding sufficient infant care may always be challenging, he said, noting the ratio of care providers to infants is 1:4 while care providers for older children can care for more children.
Cost is another constraint in the childcare market, Jank said.
In January, minimum wage in Nebraska will increase from $13.50 to $15 an hour, which will impact centers and possibly the rates they charge.
That can also push other wages up, and affects all consumers, but Jank said it is particularly noticeable with daycare.
“For families, when you need childcare, those years are when you have the least disposable income available,” Jank said.
