Utah Women & Leadership Project at USU Sponsors Online Childcare Symposium

The Utah State University Utah Women & Leadership Project sponsors a free child care symposium from 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11. The Childcare Symposium: Practices, Policies, & Strategies to Move Utah Forward, will be held via Zoom and is for anyone interested in understanding and finding solutions for the complexities of child care.

The symposium will include three panel topics with four panelists each. Topics include: “Childcare is a Business Issue,” “Public Policy Progress on Childcare,” and “Childcare Challenges, Strategies, and Solutions.”

According to Susan Madsen, founding director of the UWLP, Utah families and a growing number of employers often name access to high-quality, affordable child care as a key barrier to prosperity in our state, especially for low- and moderate-income families.

“We need to have conversations that can help increase child care access and affordability in Utah so our families and workplaces can thrive,” Madsen said. “We hope this symposium will provide the environment for these conversations.”

Madsen also noted the release today of a report, “The Complex Childcare Landscape: Public Policy Solutions for Utah,” by Erin Jemison, public policy consultant and former director of public policy at YWCA Utah, and Marin Christensen, associate director for the UWLP and co-founder of the Utah Child Care Cooperative. The report details the complexity of the child care situation as well as recommendations for Utah. Click here to read the report.

To register for the online symposium, click here. For more information, visit the UWLP website at utwomen.org.

The symposium is co-sponsored by USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, USU Extension and the Utah Education Network.