WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A ceremonial groundbreaking was held Friday for a new child care center in Dodge City.
The Full Circle Childcare Center will be able to care for more than 100 infants per day and will have extended drop-off hours for shift workers.
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Two floors will be built, but only one will be used as the center for now. The other floor could be left vacant until there are resources to expand or be rented out to providers that complement work at the center.
The project was the result of a partnership between the Childcare Coalition of Dodge City and the Dodge City/Ford County Development Corporation. Employers have been telling these organizations that they need additional child care services to attract more workers to the area.
“The absenteeism from parents needing to stay home because they didn’t have a child care provider, or people not being able to take the jobs because they couldn’t locate child care, became the top issue that we were hearing from our businesses,” said Joann Knight, executive director of the development corporation.
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Another driving force behind the project was the results of a recent state assessment. It showed that the county needed several hundred more child care slots. Knight said this is a good step forward, but more work will need to be done…