Wisconsin Gov. Evers tours Holmen’s Little Feet & Helpful Hands, highlighting childcare centers’ need for state funding

A local child care business called Little Feet & Helpful Hands is hoping that Wisconsin lawmakers will have helpful hands, and devote more money to child care services.

Governor Tony Evers took a tour of a Little Feet center in Holmen on Monday, and he said child care should be something legislators are willing to support.

“To me, it’s an easy one,” Evers told reporters. “I think there are some people yet that believe that child care is a mom or dad event…but at the end of the day, parents should have that choice, if they want to work.”

Evers has called a special session for next month, to deal with child care and other needs.

One of the owners of Little Feet, Sheri Betz, says cuts in state funding make the cost of her service less affordable for families.

“It’s been cut in half, so right now our income from tuition is less than we have going out for payroll,” said Betz. “So it’s hurtful right now without having it.”

Betz says parents pay around $200 a week in tuition to send their young kids to the Little Feet center. Rules require the company to have one teacher for every four infants at the center.

The state’s Child Care Counts program is scheduled to end in January, and Gov. Evers wants $365 million allocated to keeping child care centers open.

According to a study by the Century Foundation, 2100 child care centers in Wisconsin could close if the Child Care Counts program is allowed to shut down. That could lead to the loss of nearly 4900 child care jobs.