Following eight months of deliberations among 40 key stakeholders, the Kentucky Collaborative on Child Care released more than three dozen consensus-driven recommendations to strengthen access to affordable and high-quality child care in the Commonwealth.
The Kentucky Collaborative on Child Care is a partnership between the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation, and the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. The partnership brought together stakeholders from around the state with different perspectives to identify shared solutions.
“This work creates a foundation for sustainable, long-term child care solutions in Kentucky and underscores what can be achieved when Kentuckians from different walks of life work together to solve big problems,” the report states.
The group’s recommendations span public policy, non-profit and philanthropic action, and employer engagement to build a stronger economy and ensure working Kentucky families have more options and opportunities.
“Access to high-quality child care is critical for working families and improving learning outcomes for kids,” said Ashley Novak Butler, Executive Director of the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation. “But to build an early learning ecosystem that can truly deliver for Kentucky families and children, we need collaboration and consensus among all stakeholders on the best path forward. That’s exactly what this project aimed to achieve.”
Stakeholders included business leaders, public policy professionals, workforce and economic development experts, attorneys, child care providers, advocates, nonprofit leaders, faith community leaders, and educators. The group collaborated from August 2024 through April 2025 and intends to continue working together to implement its shared solutions, including in Kentucky’s 2026 legislative session.
“The power to convene is one of the Kentucky Chamber’s greatest strengths,” said Ashli Watts, President and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber. “When our board of directors charged us with prioritizing solutions to child care challenges, we immediately set out to bring together some of the state’s key thought leaders and experts to establish shared priorities and find ways to work together. Kentucky’s economy, kids, and families will all benefit from this important work.”
Key recommendations from the report include:
- Improve our knowledge of child care in Kentucky through more transparency, research, and better data gathering practices so that we can more effectively target limited resources and ensure return on investment.
- Ensure that low- and middle-income Kentucky families can afford child care by strengthening the Child Care Assistance Program and Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership.
- Make the child care business model more sustainable by streamlining regulations, alleviating workforce challenges, and creating new business opportunities.
- Create more access to high-quality child care throughout the Commonwealth by reforming the Kentucky All STARS Program.
- Encourage more engagement from local communities and employers in solving child care challenges through targeted local matching grants and needs-based economic development incentives.
“Building consensus on complex issues like access to child care is far from easy but is achievable when committed stakeholders take the time to develop an understanding of each other’s perspectives and needs,” said Mariah Levison, CEO of Convergence. “That understanding then lays the foundation for the relationships and serves as a lubricant — greasing the gears of problem-solving and leading to durable solutions that don’t just split the difference but make a difference. And that is exactly what this group did. The Collaborative not only laid a foundation to create more access to quality child care in Kentucky but also demonstrated that stakeholders with different points of view can come together to solve shared problems.”
In the coming months, the Kentucky Chamber Center for Policy and Research, along with key partner organizations, will release new research and information underscoring the importance of implementing the Collaborative’s solutions regarding child care.
The full report from the Kentucky Collaborative on Child Care can be read here.
