Alaska Documentary Series on Childcare

Thank you! It’s on my to-do list to watch this week, and I’ve sent it to the national org that was curious about it, along with your contact information.

This report by Alaska’s DOLWD shows that the mean hourly wage in AK is $33.60 & median hourly wage is $26.99.

Digging deeper into the data they draw from, we see that the mean hourly wage for childcare workers in AK is only $17.29 (median is $17.84).

Childcare workers are essential workers.

How do we learn more about the MN childcare film? I ask for me/us but also bc I mentioned it to a national organization & funders collab & they want to know all about it 😃.

He truly is! We’re lucky to have the duo we have at work on this series 🥰

At Home / In Home: Rural Alaska Childcare in Crisis This is "At Home / In Home: Rural Alaska Childcare in Crisis" by Joshua Albeza Branstetter on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who…

vimeo.com/814699053?sh... right here! For now the link is in our bio. Once the 1st Kenai Peninsula episode is published we’ll have to create a LinkTree or playlist link to both episodes — & so on as we publish more.

Ppl from Philadelphia have shared that Bailey & Tracey’s story of struggling through arcane licensure processes & Alison, Jerri, Cory, & Chantal’s stories of trying to find childcare are so similar to stories of home-based providers & stories of families across the US. Alaska has so much to offer.

We’re so happy that our 1st film has been selected to another film festival! We believe this story is so important, both for understanding a rural part of the country seldom considered in national discourse, funding, policy, & movements & bc its story resonates across regions & across states.

This is the kind of creativity & self-expression quality childcare/early childhood education allows children to experience.

Another laurel, another film festival where people from all over will get to learn from the amazing Kotzebue families, childcare providers, educators, & community leaders in “At Home/In Home: Rural Alaska Childcare in Crisis”!!!

Heads up: This bill increases the # of families who will qualify for childcare assistance, permits the state to calculate assistance rates to better match the true cost of care, & provides tax credits to businesses who fund their employees’ childcare. www.adn.com/politics/ala...

The childcare was paid for by sponsor SEIU 775, the home caregivers union. Food was paid for by additional sponsors GCI, KPB Architects, Northstar Group, & Geneva Woods Birth Center, w/ chairs & event support by RurAL CAP. Location was donated by Akela Space.

The poster for the film screening, which advertised the post-work & pre-kid bedtime schedule, the dinner, & the childcare, all of which were essential for including parents & childcare providers (many of whom are also parents).

Film producer Laura Norton-Cruz poses for a selfie with Representative Jennie Armstrong, one half of the bipartisan group of legislator emcees for the panel. In the background, event volunteer (and now mayor of Anchorage) Suzanne LaFrance enjoys the dinner we provided from Ray’s Vietnamese restaurant.

The film screening was held in one room of Akela Space, while childcare was held in the next room over.

Importantly, at this screening we provided on-site childcare by licensed providers Hillcrest Children’s Center, and dinner for all guests. We recognize that in order for policy & politics to be accessible to those affected by it, it needs to account for parents & children & their basic needs.

The poster for the film screening, which advertised the post-work & pre-kid bedtime schedule, the dinner, & the childcare, all of which were essential for including parents & childcare providers (many of whom are also parents).

Film producer Laura Norton-Cruz poses for a selfie with Representative Jennie Armstrong, one half of the bipartisan group of legislator emcees for the panel. In the background, event volunteer (and now mayor of Anchorage) Suzanne LaFrance enjoys the dinner we provided from Ray’s Vietnamese restaurant.

The film screening was held in one room of Akela Space, while childcare was held in the next room over.

Importantly, at this screening we provided on-site childcare by licensed providers Hillcrest Children’s Center, and dinner for all guests. We recognize that in order for policy & politics to be accessible to those affected by it, it needs to account for parents & children & their basic needs.

What a perfect photo!

In Sep 2023, we hosted a screening of “At Home/In Home: Rural Alaska Childcare in Crisis” in Anch, along w/ a panel of state policymakers & @lisamurkowski.bsky.social staff, providers, advocates, & journalist—& w/ bipartisan #akleg emcees. Livestream is linked below; panel convo begins at minute 58.

It was inspiring to see a hospital build on community needs assessments & coalition efforts in this way, see that their leadership’s lived experiences match those of employees enough to know why this is a necessity for their employees. & see the work (& money) going into making it happen for 60 kids

In Aug, we spent time w/ a phlebotomist & lab tech & her family, incl. this 3-year-old who will hopefully get a spot in the South Peninsula Hospital’s childcare they’ve been planning, building, & licensing to open spring 2025. 🏥’s leadership believes in supporting employees w/ childcare as a benefit

Like childcare staff, workers in the home care economy — whether they are caring for elders, children, or whole families — do critical work & are often undervalued. This portrait project shows the dignity & beauty of the people doing this work that makes so many other things possible.

That outmigration pattern is true both at the KPB level & the statewide level. Alaska is losing families w/ children under 10. The KPB population is growing but that is being led by retirees; until families w/ kids have their needs met, they may keep leaving. Childcare is critical to keep them.

The tl;dr version is: the Kenai Peninsula Borough is experiencing workforce shortages that make it hard for tourism businesses, restaurants, healthcare, etc. to be fully staffed, & lack of childcare is a major contributor. Families w/ young children have higher rates of outmigration than others.

For this series, we interviewed 3 people w/ insight into the economics of childcare. As statewide economists (Nolan Klouda) & Kenai Peninsula-focused economic development leaders (Cassidi Cameron & Julie Engebretsen), each spoke of how the lack of childcare affects business, tourism, & demographics.

Love hearing this kind of feedback from MN! Our issues in Alaska are in some ways unique but truly, childcare providers, parents, & employers across the country experience similar problems & face similar barriers. We ❤️ to be able to point to issues & solutions together.

Thank you for watching!!! We are hard at work editing the first of the Kenai Peninsula series (rural but much less rural) and that one will also focus on licensing. It sort of picks up chronologically where the Kotzebue one left off. And then next up is an episode on cost.

Our second episode of the Kenai Peninsula childcare series will focus on cost of care, childcare worker pay, childcare assistance, & potential policy solutions.

This needs further support and community consideration- we need solutions like this to help solve our childcare crisis. Having childcare cost as much as rent is untenable…

TY for sharing! They were able to build & do the work to get this childcare licensed, thnx to CARES Act & ARPA funding. Those kinds of startup funds are crucial for increasing capacity—& funds to pay livable wages to workers. There’s a program in Seward called HYPER that helps w/ startup $ as well.

furnishing, & buying supplies, as well as the labor costs for planning, hiring, & going through the lengthy state licensing process. It was an inspiration to see how as a Tribe they put those funds to such meaningful, important use. The children there were very well-cared for. #ChildcareMatters

We visited the day before the childcare’s 2-year anniversary. They were able to build, license & open the childcare using CARES act & ARPA funding. Opening a childcare requires a significant amount of startup funding for both the direct costs of building or renovating, installing playgrounds,

🧵Preschoolers play on the Ninilchik Traditional Council childcare’s playground. Their childcare, called “It Takes a Village,” serves the children of employees & enrolled Tribal members + also serves the communities at large, from Anchor Point to Clam Gulch.

This radio show from summer 2023 is an in-depth discussion between our producer, the Kotzebue-based childcare provider in the 1st documentary, & a board member of thread, on policy, practice, & funding issues facing childcare in AK.