As part of our Whole Family Approach, CMCA offers family coaching through the Head Start and BRIDGE programs.  Families may identify a child care need related to education or employment.  Through the coaching process, families set and meet their child care goals.  Data below indicates the percentage of families who gained access to unsubsidized child care through participation in the Whole Family Approach.

Need child care while you work or go to school?  We welcome to you apply for Head Start.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for child care as a work support.  Without child care services for elementary aged children and younger, many families were left unable to work or were forced into a difficult balancing act between working and ensuring the safety and supervision of their children.  Even before the pandemic, families faced rising child care costs ranging from $11 to $43 per day, depending on the child's age and the child care setting.  Families also face a scarcity of available child care slots in their communities.  In 2019, there were nearly 22,500 children under age 5 in CMCA's service area, and less than 5,500 of them attended public preschools.  Existing private child care programs simply do not have the capacity to meet the demand for additional child care slots.  Employers also recognize the urgent need for child care services.  Approximately 17% of Missouri employers cited lack of child care access as a barrier to expanding employment. 

Data Sources:

1. Missouri Kids Count. (2021). Area vs. Year by Measure, 2019.

2. U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). 2019: ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles, Table DP05.

3. U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). 2019: ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles, Table DP02.

4. Missouri Economic Research & Information Center. (2021). Missouri Workforce 2020 Employer Survey.

Head Start provides comprehensive child development and family support services to young children and their families.  Through intensive family coaching, members can set and accomplish goals that support them in reaching self-sufficiency. 

BRIDGE is a unique program that brings families, schools, and communities together to strengthen outcomes for children.  The program supports social and emotional health in the family, engages teachers in activities that lead to classroom success for students, develops relationships between families and their schools, and connects a community of support to both families and their children.  Through family coaching, members receive supports to better their employment situation and increase their financial stability in order to positively impact their children's success in school.

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Head Start provides comprehensive child development and family support services to prenatal women and children from birth through kindergarten entry.  Head Start is funded through grants from the Administration for Children and Families Office of Head Start.

BRIDGE extends family support services to children enrolled in kindergarten through second grade at Columbia Public Schools, Southern Boone School District, Hallsville School District, and the Centralia R-6 School District.  The BRIDGE program is funded by the Boone County Children's Services Fund.

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