November 17 - Lane County, and the entire state of Oregon, is facing a childcare and early education shortage. Many of the issues contributing to a lack of affordable, high quality early care and education opportunities have existed for years, while others were exacerbated by the pandemic. The Lane Early Learning Alliance (ELA) is working to gather information and data directly from families about their experiences seeking childcare and early education.

As part of that effort, ELA is asking for the community’s assistance in distributing the Lane County Child Care and Preschool Survey.

“We want to hear from parents/caregivers about what they want and need when it comes to childcare and preschool, and the barriers they face,” ELA said. “We are asking families to complete a brief survey which we’ll use to inform how state money is spent locally to increase access and affordability of childcare and preschool.”

Respondents can enter to win one of five $100 gift cards for surveys returned by Nov. 30.

ELA is interested in hearing from people about their wants and needs when it comes to childcare and preschool for their child(ren). The alliance will use this information to expand access to childcare and preschool across Lane County.

People can visit take this brief survey through:

• English survey link: surveymonkey.com/r/lanepreschool2022

• Spanish survey link: surveymonkey.com/r/guarderiaslane2022

“It shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to help us understand how we can better serve you and other parents and caregivers in our community,” ELA said.

All answers are anonymous and confidential.

If people would rather share their thoughts over the phone, they can contact [email protected] to schedule a phone interview.

If people have any questions or concerns, they can contact ELA at [email protected] or 541-741-6000.