By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — A new childcare training program will open in December at the Kosciusko Community YMCA in Warsaw.
The new service covers the cost of training for licensed childcare providers in and around Kosciusko County.
The Foundations Academy is funded with $575,000 in grant money, some of which comes from the Lilly Endowment, and is a cooperative effort between Lanchpad, the early childhood and child care program (that is part of the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce), the Kosciusko County Community Foundation and the YMCA.
The chamber organized a ribbon cutting on Tuesday to celebrate the opening.
Ashlee Parker, director of early childhood programming at the YMCA, explained the service.
“We provide the state-mandated training that they have, CPR certification, and the health screenings they have to have, and then also some additional training when they go to their learning settings,” Parker said.
Those itial costs are often $300 to $400 per person, she said.
YMCA Executive Director Jim Swanson said they are excited about the cooperative effort.
“For years, we’ve stayed close to all the discussions and wanted to find a way that made sense for us and made sense for the community to find a solution,” Swanson said.
Classes begin in December. The academy can accommodate 12 people at a time and the first class is already half full. The initial “on-boarding” class extends over one week and participants receive a stipend.
For Launchpad, it’s another unique effort to improve child care in the area, says Sherry Searles, LaunchPad director.
Searles said the program is unique and that she found one other program like it in Indiana but that one did not provide the financial support.
Funding for the academy was provided with money awarded to the community foundation by the Lilly Endowment ($375,000) and another $200,000 from the Employer Sponsored Child Care Fund through the Office of Early Childhood out of School Learning, which is under the state’s Family and Social Services Administration.
The grant will be spread over three years.
The money can also be used for childcare workers who go through the program to cover half the cost of a YMCA membership, she said.
“We’re trying to help the physical and mental health of those educators who are in the classroom,” Searles said. “It’s very high-stress jobs.”
The academy is the first of two endeavors between Launchpad and the YMCA. Plans are underway to open an innovative facility at the main YMCA campus in Warsaaw that would provide oversight of children ages 0-3 by a childcare provider while parents work remotely at the Y for short periods.
Swanson said the facility — known as the Play Cafe — could open next year.
He said he thinks the future service could fill a unique gap in the community
