Klickitat County commissioners explore paths for a new child care facility

With a population of roughly 2,400 people, child care in Garfield County currently operates in one of two ways, Lanman said: parents relying on a network of family, friends and neighbors, or driving 30 miles over a mountain pass to Clarkston twice daily. Ever since 2021, there hasn’t been a licensed child care facility in the county.

“They were a private, for-profit provider,” said Alesia Ruchert, Garfield’s child care navigator. “They were completely dependent on their parent fees. They couldn’t weather the waxing and waning of the census, their enrollment.”

That will change next year, however. Pomeroy Community Connection, a nonprofit that formed after residents identified child care as the second biggest need in a 2023 health assessment, is set to begin renovating a funeral home in the county’s only incorporated town this September. Eventually, Donna’s Mama Bear Daycare & Learning Center will have slots for 45 children, from toddlers up to age 12, and be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a monthly cost that comes in below the maximum Working Families Tax Credit.

As Lanman explained, the critical first step was hiring Ruchert with funds from the public health department — acquiring a point person. The nonprofit came next, followed by a planning grant from Washington’s Department of Commerce that covered draft architectural plans for the donated building, and a contract with Arrowleaf Consulting to iron out the operational details.

Another needs assessment and parent advisory group provided more input while workforce and development plans came to fruition via a separate commerce grant. Then, Pomeroy Communication Connection completed the trifecta when it successfully received a $2 million Early Learning Facilities grant for construction this year.

“Data is going to be your best friend,” said Ruchert. “Whether it’s a city comprehensive plan, a county comprehensive plan, a health assessment from your health district, utilize that data to build your case because not only is it going to inform the work that you’re doing, it’s so helpful when you go to write grants.”

According to the latest federal survey data, 1,046 children ages 0-5 live in Klickitat County. Johanna Roe, program coordinator for the Klickitat County Childcare Committee, estimated that there were 190 licensed child care slots available back in December, as previously reported by Columbia Gorge News. Washington’s Department of Youth and Families puts the number of unserved children, within the same age group and across all family income levels, at 868 countywide.

The Klickitat County Childcare Committee, fiscally sponsored by Washington Gorge Action Programs, has helped seven home-based sites receive their license since its founding. 

Last Tuesday’s child care workshop was the fourth organized by Gabrielle Gilbert and Lynn Mason, child advocate and director, respectively, of the White Salmon nonprofit Rural Solutions, for the board of commissioners. Roe attended, as did Sen. Paul Harris and a representative from Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office.

“Understanding the steps you’ve taken are very important,” Commissioner Ron Ihrig said in closing. “We’ll have to do some follow-up on this during our budget process.”

The workshop also included a presentation from Kristin Ramos, the commerce department’s Early Learning Facilities Program supervisor, on how to apply for the capital construction grant.