FRANKFORT, Ky. — For parents, trying to find child care has been tough the last few years.

“We’ve known there was a childcare crisis, for sure these last three years of the pandemic, but long before that, too,” Rep. Josie Raymond (D-Louisville) said.

State lawmakers formed the Early Education Task Force earlier this year to address child care. Raymond, one of the task force members, is navigating the issue first-hand.

“I’m the only mom on the task force, and I’m a mom whose got three young children and whose paying the exorbitant cost of child care right now — but it’s worth every penny,” she said. “We’re going to try and help Kentucky families who either can’t find child care or when they finally do, can’t afford it.”

The task force held its first meeting Tuesday, hearing about a number of areas where Kentucky can improve.  

Rep. Samara Heavrin (R-Leitchfield), one of the co-chairs, said the discussion will continue all summer and fall.

“I think one of the most important pieces of when we’re creating policy is actually to hear information from the sector that we’re talking about,” she said. “So we’re going to hear from child care providers, and we’re going to hear from businesses. We’re going to be hearing from all sorts of people.”

This task force is expected to talk about several different issues in regards to child care, but one of the big issues that’s been discussed in Frankfort the last several years is universal pre-k.

Kentucky provides some funding for pre-K, but only for three and four-year-olds with disabilities, as well as four-year-olds from low-income families.

“I think you’re seeing momentum, and I think this task force is going to be valuable,” Raymond said.

Both Heavrin and the task force’s other co-chair, Sen. Danny Carroll (R-Benton), said they’re open to the idea of universal pre-K.

The child care discussion is also taking on a new significance after Kentucky’s abortion ban went into effect with the reversal of Roe v. Wade last week.

“We know we’re going to have more children born in the commonwealth next year, so we’ve got to be ready to support them,” Raymond said.

Data presented by representatives from Kentucky Youth Advocates showed Kentucky lost about 9% of child care programs during the pandemic, but has made up about half of those losses. Carroll said there will be some sort of extra funding to recruit and retain more child care workers.

“The state is going to have supplement, at some level, child care in the commonwealth,” he said.

But just how much will be invested remains to be seen.

Earlier this year, Kentucky created the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership, which helps employers fund child-care programs for their employees.

Editor’s note: Rep. Josie Raymond is married to Spectrum News 1 digital journalist Adam Raymond.