Challenge with child care

Our facility served 80 children in Chicago. That number was a good number to help us have the financial means to provide meals and food preparation staff, security, a solid teaching staff, in-service training, administrative personnel, the ability to host outings and explorations of the neighborhood and the city and maintain healthy parent and community interaction.

Using my “optimal” number 80 children per facility and the number 11,000 for the needed child care spaces in our county; we need 137.5 facilities for child care in this county. The problem with my idea is that it is extremely urban and institutional for a county that wants children to experience the outdoors, the grass, the trees and bugs. But those smaller more interesting projects confront the overwhelming problem of permitting and then financial feasibility.

San Mateo County has a real challenge in this area that will demand creativity, flexibility and commitment.

John Latham

San Mateo