County Childcare Survey is complete

Daleville, VA – Botetourt County announced in January the launch of a “Childcare Needs and Assessment Survey” in order to gather information to help specify the childcare needs in the County.

The results of the survey show the areas of greatest need are: Daleville, Buchanan, Fincastle, and Eagle Rock. Respondents said that all-day and afterschool care are the greatest needs and that elementary school age and infants (0 – 2 years old) are the ages with the most demand. The majority of the respondents lived in the Buchanan, Fincastle, and Eagle Rock areas and desired a facility within 5-10 minutes of their house.

The County hopes the release of this information will draw the interest of expansion from some new or current childcare providers as well as any other creative ideas to help solve the issue, which will only continue to grow as more businesses enter the area. With greater access to childcare, Botetourt residents will have more options for work.

Botetourt County is also partnering with Botetourt County Public Schools and the United Way’s Smart Beginnings program in order to help solve the issue. Information and applications for Smart Beginning’s “Smart-2-Start” program can be found on smart2start.org.

Submitted by Cody Sexton