WATERTOWN
CHILD CARE
Report Overview
In early 2024, the Watertown Development Company (WDC) received a Governor's Office of Economic Development Community Planning grant. WDC partnered with Codington Connects, Harmony Hills and Mother of God Monastery to examine the child care crisis and potential opportunities in the community.
These partners contracted with Klein Visioneering Group (KVG) to conduct a landscape study on child care availability, affordability and accessibility in our community. KVG surveyed local employers to help local policymakers and economic development staff better understand what employee benefits are offered within the community.
The Watertown Child Care Landscape community report includes data from survey responses and recommendations. This report compiles valuable data collected from the survey responses, and provides specific recommendations for our community, employers, providers and policymakers.
DATA HIGHLIGHTS
IN CODINGTON COUNTY
80.8%
Of children under the age of 6 reside in working families.
88.2%
Of school-age children reside in working families.
29%
Of parents are paying between $101 to $120 per week per child for child care. This means that parents could be paying between $5,252 to $6,240 annually.
Child Care Assistance
Did you know you may qualify for child care assistance?
Currently, only 4% of eligible children in Codington County receive child care assistance (that’s about 65 children)!
Using child care assistance when you qualify helps your community. When you enroll in child care assistance, your fee is paid to the licensed day care you are using. This helps providers charge the rates they need to provide livable wages and high-quality care without pricing out families who can afford it the least.
See if you qualify by visiting the South Dakota DSS website.
OUR PARTNERS
A special thank you to the following organizations that helped make this work possible:
