The VCDC is committed to improving childcare opportunities in the Vermillion Area. In 2023, the Government Research Bureau at the University of South Dakota conducted a needs-based childcare assessment for the VCDC and their related childcare stakeholders in the Vermillion community as part of the Community-Based Child Care Program planning stage grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The childcare assessment aimed to collect and summarize current and prospective childcare needs, assess Vermillion’s childcare workforce for future demands, examine barriers and facilitators to childcare capacity, childcare workforce, and licensing, and assess strategies to support, recruit, and retain childcare employees.
The results of this study were used to develop creative and innovative ways to address the above needs. In November 2023, the VCDC was awarded a $400,000 grant to implement these programs in the Vermillion Area. The VCDC is currently working with its key partners—including the Boys & Girls Club of Vermillion, Vermillion School District, USD Vucurevich Children’s Center, USD Head Start, Center for Children & Families, and Pulse of Life Kids Care Center—to administer the grant.
Find the study and a copy of the grant application below. For a presentation on how the funds are being utilized, see Sue Galvin’s presentation to the Vermillion School Board.