Consistent, safe, and affordable early childhood education allows parents to clock in, stay employed, attend school, and pay bills while knowing that their children not only are being cared for but are learning and progressing. When early childhood education isn’t there, even for one day, the impact reaches far beyond a household.
In York County, the challenge is significant. Data from Community Connections for Children, the York County Economic Alliance, and Reinvestment Fund estimates that approximately 21,600 children under the age of five could benefit from early childhood education, yet the county has only 12,111 licensed child care seats—a shortage of more than 9,500 spaces. Even among those available seats, fewer than half are offered by high-quality STAR 3 and STAR 4 programs.
The challenge extends beyond availability. Between 2020 and 2025, York County lost 77 early childhood education providers, representing nearly half of today’s provider base. At the same time, 89% of providers report difficulty hiring qualified educators, contributing to classroom closures, long waitlists, and limited access to infant and toddler care. Low wages and workforce shortages continue to strain a system that families and employers rely on every day.
In York County, parents and grandparents such as Jamie Lancaster, Jenna Frame, Gwyneth Weiser, and LeAaron Henderson know the importance of quality early childhood education.
A threat to being able to work
Jamie works full time at Glatfelter Insurance Group in York. Her son, Connor, is 3 years old. After he was born, Jamie began looking for early learning options. Many centers had waiting lists of six to 12 months. She quickly discovered that her search should have begun before Connor’s birth. Jamie and her husband eventually found the right fit at TLC for Youth, a home-based program in Seven Valleys.
Without care, Jamie says, she might have had to leave the workforce or try to work remotely in a job flexible enough to allow her to care for her child at home. She might even have reconsidered having a child in the first place.
Even one day without care creates pressure. It can mean calling off work, using paid time off meant for family needs or vacations, and returning to a pile of uncompleted tasks. For Jamie’s son, it means missing the structure and socialization that ensures he will be prepared for kindergarten.
‘I have no idea what we would do’
For Jenna, whose 5- and 3-year-olds attend WeeConnect Early Learning Center in York, reliable early childhood education allows her and her husband to pursue their careers. Jenna is a physical therapist for young children.
“If child care stopped, I have no idea what we would do,” Jenna says.
In that event, she says, she or her husband likely would have to stop working, and she probably would be that parent. The financial impact would be immediate, but the ripple effect would extend further. Families who need her early intervention physical therapy would lose a provider.
The impact on children down the line
For Gwyneth, early childhood education is also about peace of mind. Her 3-year-old twin daughters attend Little Bug Learning in East York. Both girls have medical needs, and Gwyneth says the teachers’ communication with her helps her share information with their doctors and know that they are safe when she cannot be with them.
As an elementary school principal, Gwyneth witnesses what happens when children enter school without access to early learning. They start without the foundational skills needed to thrive in kindergarten, which can hold back an entire classroom.
Enabling higher education
For LeAaron Henderson, early childhood education has made not only work possible but higher education and career growth. She has been bringing children and grandchildren to YWCA York’s Early Learning Center for years. Her son attended there and her great-niece and grandchildren have been part of the program.
The YWCA is “like a home for our kids while we’re at work,” she says.
As a nurse, who specializes in geriatrics, she has relied on early childhood education offered during early work hours. When her son was in preschool, she was enrolled in nursing school. Without quality early childhood education for her son, she doubts nursing school would have been possible.
By dropping off her child and grandson, she said, she could go to work and care for someone else’s parents. Early childhood education supports the people who support everyone else.
Affordability is key
Affordability has also been key to keeping LeAaron’s family enrolled in consistent care. As someone who utilizes subsidized tuition, she has seen the impact of what happens when that support is disrupted. During the delay in passing the PA state budget for fiscal year 2026, interruptions in pre-K funding forced the YWCA to shift to a tuition model for families using subsidized care.
This resulted in many families being unable to afford care and having to leave the program. For LeAaron’s grandson, the sudden loss of routine and structure was felt almost immediately. In her view, children need consistency to thrive, and when that consistency disappears, the consequences are immediate.
Early childhood education is infrastructure that should not depend on a family’s income, LeAaron says. Parents should not have to choose between putting food on the table, keeping the electricity on, or paying for the care that allows them to work, attend school, and keep their families stable.
Early childhood education as essential infrastructure
Families require early childhood education and providers want to serve them, yet the system still cannot meet the need that exists. Without necessary early childhood education, parents miss work, lose wages and career opportunities, and are thrust into a cycle of stress and feeling overwhelmed.
When early childhood education isn’t available, multiple systems beyond the family feel the strain.
When early childhood education is stable, safe, and affordable, families are stronger. Children can learn. Parents can work. Employers can count on their teams. Communities can function.
The challenges are real, but so is the work underway to address them. For nearly four decades, Community Connections for Children has worked to strengthen the early childhood system. Today, through the Every Child Has Opportunities (ECHO) initiative, CCC and its partners are advancing solutions that strengthen the early childhood education system from every angle.
Together, they are helping entrepreneurs open new early learning businesses, supporting existing providers through innovation grants, expanding access to high-quality classrooms, connecting families with available care, and investing in the educators who make it all possible.
ECHO’s workforce initiatives, including mentoring, teacher aide training, and Central Pennsylvania’s first registered apprenticeship pathway for early childhood educators, are creating opportunities for educators to enter the profession, advance their careers, and earn family-sustaining wages. For families, those investments mean greater access to consistent care, trusted educators, and stable classrooms. For York County, they represent something even larger: a stronger workforce, a healthier economy, and a community that recognizes early childhood education as the essential infrastructure every family — and every employer — depends on.
Every Child Has Opportunities is an early childhood education initiative in York County, Pennsylvania, led by Community Connections for Children and York County Economic Alliance. Funding partners include WellSpan Health, the J. William Warehime Foundation, the Powder Mill Foundation, United Way of York County, the Kinsley Foundation, and the York County Community Foundation.
YWCA York and Little Bug Learning have received direct investment and support through the ECHO initiative. For more information on ECHO’s grant programs, visit www.echoyork.org/grants-and-programs.