Clint Patty:
Well, hello there. Welcome to Investing in Good, a podcast that shines a spotlight on those making a profound impact within Northeast Kansas. This podcast is proudly presented by Clayton Wealth Partners, your partner in philanthropic financial planning for individual donors and investment management for endowments, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. In each episode, we’re going to sit down with the remarkable leaders and dedicated workers of nonprofits across the state of Kansas. We’re going to listen to their stories, learn about their causes, and talk about the challenges they have in making the lives of Kansans better each and every day. So stay tuned now as we delve into our next inspiring story on Investing in Good.
Welcome back to Investing in Good. I’m Clint Patty, the managing partner at Clayton Wealth Partners, and I am glad to have this week as my guest, Kim Polson, the executive director of the Community Children’s Center here in Lawrence. Kim, thank you for appearing on the podcast.
Kim Polson:
Thanks so much for having me.
Clint Patty:
Well, we always like to start off getting to know a little bit about our guests. So, Kim, if you wouldn’t mind, let our audience know a little bit about you and your background and how you got to be the executive director over at the community children’s center.
Kim Polson:
Absolutely. I was born and raised in Topeka. I have to admit, I am a Wildcat by undergrad at K-State and then did graduate school here at KU.
Clint Patty:
Well see the degree that really mattered came from here, right. So that’s what you can tell everybody here.
Kim Polson:
That is what I tell everybody.
Clint Patty:
And then when you go back to Manhattan, you can say your roots are…. Yeah, I had multiple degrees too.
Kim Polson:
Yes, it works, but I’m Kansas born and bred for sure. But coming to the nonprofit world, I actually was a stay at home mom for several years with my young children and when coming back into the workforce, the nonprofit world felt like the right place to be.
Clint Patty:
And what year was that?
Kim Polson:
Let’s say, that would have in 1990. Let’s see, I would’ve come back to the workforce in 2005.
Clint Patty:
Okay. Very good. And where did you start then?
Kim Polson:
I started initially when we moved here to Lawrence and I started working with Healthcare Access, which was a safety net clinic to provide healthcare for the uninsured population in Lawrence of Douglas County. I was there for about eight years and served in a variety of capacities, including interim executive director, before they merged with Heartland Community Health Center. After that, I went and worked with the Willow Domestic Violence Center. And along came this opportunity at Community Children’s Center that I could not pass up that really put together my passions of life, which include education, helping the less fortunate, and children.
Clint Patty:
Well, and I would be remiss if I didn’t also bring into this, you’ve got some consulting work you do too, involving Lego Serious play, and for those who don’t know what Lego Serious play is, I’ve just been educated on it, but please educate our audience because I think this is a really neat thing that you do.
Kim Polson:
Yeah, absolutely. Lego Serious Play is a problem solving methodology that you use Legos as your tool to help solve problems. Unlike a regular Lego set where you have instructions and you’re trying to make it look like something else, Lego Serious Play is entirely built around metaphor and building stories from shapes, colors, the ways different bricks interact with one another. So it’s a great team building tool, but whenever you’re building a team, you may also ask a question. What is our big problem challenge right now and how could we address it? And doing so in a way with a model that you build levels out the playing field. So everybody from the organization has a model, a story to tell and some innovative ideas that come along with that. So it helps a lot to get innovative ideas that may not otherwise come to the forefront.
Clint Patty:
Well, as a kid who grew up with Legos, and most of us did, that’s a great idea to get adults in a room and get them problem solving and get them using something like Legos that we’re familiar with and can be creative with and problem solve. That’s terrific. For folks that would be interested in that, how do they go about contacting you?
Kim Polson:
They can reach out to me, my pulse and consulting number for Lego Serious Play, they could reach out to 913-530-4679.
Clint Patty:
So if you’re a business that could use some problem solving or team building, give Kim a call. That’s terrific. But we’re here today for the Community Children’s Center, but I had to mention that because I saw that in your bio and thought we have to talk about that so. All right, so tell me a little bit about your role within the Community Children’s Center. You said the opportunity came along, talk a little bit about how that came about and what your role is now and how it’s changed from the beginning.
Kim Polson:
Yeah, absolutely. It has changed a lot. I’ve been with the organization for a little over five years and when I was hired I was the only employee and halftime as a director. And Community Children’s Center has been around in our community since 1965 with the Head Start program at Plymouth Congregational Church. We were part of that administrative structure that oversaw the Head Start program. Well, in 2018, the federal government made some changes in the structure at the national level and eliminated our role in the organizational chart. So Community Children Center was a nonprofit organization that had lost its purpose and its mission at that time. The board was visionary enough to say, hey, there’s work to be done in other ways, let’s repurpose ourselves as an organization. So they hired me as the part-time executive director, and since then we’ve been in a position where we’ve created a nationally recognized family resource center. We’re working at 346 Main Street to complete an early childhood community center for Douglas County, which will include that family resource center and a childcare facility that provides care during non-traditional hours with the wraparound supports right there. And we’re also working with our providers in our communities, so we know that we’re looking at the whole system and trying to find where there are gaps in our early childhood infrastructure. And then our goal is to develop innovative programs to fill the gaps.
Clint Patty:
So that that’s a great switch from the original purpose of the organization then to move along to seeing what the community really needed and then becoming that gap filler.
Kim Polson:
Yes, absolutely. When it comes to childcare, those providers are so busy providing care day to day, in and out, they don’t have the time to have that bird’s eye view of the entire system and to see where they could plug some holes and be able to come up with some partnerships, relationships that could help support and bolster the infrastructure in our community. What we know right now, we’re in a childcare crisis at a national level where we know that providers cannot make less than they’re making right now. For Kansas, they’re looking at an average of about $12 an hour to provide childcare and we know that families cannot pay more. We know that care for an infant for a year is more than tuition and fees at the University of Kansas.
Clint Patty:
It’s crazy to say, but I know that when my kids were in childcare and we were paying that amount and we were much younger, people would say, “Well, you’re getting a sense of what college will be like”. Well, college is now here. I’ve got an 18-year-old and I’m like, “Wow, that’s going to be cheaper”. How is that even possible?
Kim Polson:
It’s particularly possible because when you think of the time when you have your children, you haven’t had 18 years to save for that child’s college education-
Clint Patty:
That’s true.
Kim Polson:
… And you’re usually at the lower ranks in terms of your professional career in terms of how much you’re making on the corporate ladder. So it truly is a much more difficult scenario to be in than when you’re looking at paying for college.
Clint Patty:
So talk about then how on a day-to-day basis community Children’s Center operates to help relieve that burden for families.
Kim Polson:
Yeah, absolutely. What we are doing with our family resource center is we provide emergency support to help bridge transitions and care. For example, say you start a new job and of course you need childcare to be able to go to that job. And so some of the things that we do are emergency supports to bridge those care gaps so you can started, get to your first paycheck, but are also our childcare providers can get paid the money that they need to in order to run their facilities. So emergency support in that way. We are also working with our business sector to get our employers engaged in realizing that this is an economic development issue as well. And so we’re looking for business partners who are willing to invest in that model with us to help fill that gap between what parents can afford to pay, but what providers need to make.
Clint Patty:
Talk about too, earlier you had mentioned the non-traditional hours for folks finding, because I know a lot of people that work hours that are not 9-to-5 or well outside of 9-to-5, how does the Community Children’s Center help with those folks?
Kim Polson:
We’re in the process of renovating 346 Main Street, for those who are familiar that’s the medical arts building where Panda Pediatrics used to be located, and we’re renovating that to be a 24-hour facility because what we know is that we’ve got individuals who are working second and third shifts who need high quality and deserve high quality childcare just like any other time of the day. We also know that we have individuals who are working longer shifts than, they’re working 12 hour shifts at the hospital across the street and so they’re needing more than what a traditional model of childcare can provide. So we’re planning on providing those hours when we are finished with our renovations, which should be in March of 2025.
Clint Patty:
And when those are finished, people will be able to sign up presumably and go through the regular process of having their children enrolled?
Kim Polson:
Absolutely. We already do have a list out there for people who are interested in that particular facility. And what we are working with is a model of thirds, and that is we envision a third of our families will be those in most need who are receiving childcare subsidies through the department for children and families. The second third would be community spots that are available to those who are able to pay tuition either at full rate or on a sliding scale. Because we want that to be more equitable, we know that families who don’t qualify for subsidies still have a difficult time making tuition rates. And so what we want to do is provide a more equitable model for those who are on that big continuum in between subsidies and being able to afford full payment. And then the final third, we’re looking for our business partners, so our employers to invest. So human resources becomes part of the solution when you go to let them know that you’re expecting and when you plan to return from parental leave and that they can help secure that spot for that employee so it’s waiting for them when they’re ready to return to work.
Clint Patty:
Is that a relatively new idea for these businesses to get involved in? I’ve sat on a board of a childcare center, this is 20 years ago, but that was always a frustrating thing for us. Why isn’t the business community recognizing that this is part of your investment in your employees? And I think at that time, part of it just was there were enough employees to go around and so people didn’t worry about it as much. That’s not the case today. I mean even at 4.3% unemployment, that’s low. And so the demand is on the employee side now. So talk a little bit about how businesses are getting more involved in childcare.
Kim Polson:
Well, it’s definitely shifted since COVID. I think with families either having to choose for one of the parents to leave work in order to stay home with children when schools were closed or when childcare was less predictable at the time, that many employees now like the flexibility that they have. And we know that for employers to find the best and the brightest, they need to offer something a little different in the marketplace, something else that’s value added. Because if they’re paying the same rates as the manufacturer next door, the one thing that can push them over the edge in terms of having a competitive edge is the fact that they have family friendly practices. Opportunities like bringing your infant to work with you until that child is six months, securing a childcare spot, subsidizing the tuition for that childcare, providing ongoing breastfeeding support and lactation rooms in their place of business. Lots of different ways in which employers can have value added for families with young children that will make them an employer of choice.
Clint Patty:
So if I’m a family who’s in need of childcare and having trouble finding it, you’re working, I assume, not just with the center but you’ve got partners all over Douglas County. Talk a little bit about that.
Kim Polson:
Yeah, absolutely. Our goal is not to duplicate at all. We want to collaborate with those who do the work best. And so that’s where us filling the gaps comes in. But we partner with those who already do the work well and that includes Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas, who is our resource and referral agency for childcare. So we work with Child Care Aware to connect families to them. They can help provide lists of providers in our community who have openings. We can help them on the ground though, being able to make those warm handoffs and connections to other services, including our family resource center services and our wraparound supports. So we’re really trying to care for the whole family, not just the childcare spot and that it’s high quality, affordable care, but that it’s also supporting the entire family. Because when parents are successful, their child will be more successful.
Clint Patty:
Boy, no doubt about that. So talk me through a typical family coming to you. What does that process look like for them when they come through the door or they make that phone call?
Kim Polson:
Typically, for a lot of our families, their first opportunity to engage with us is through a simple activity like our Grow and Go play series, which is a parent child engagement playgroup. They may come to us through our community clothing closet, which is for birth through five. Early childhood clothing gently used that families can come and shop for free once a month. We know their child is growing quickly, so they can come back as frequently as they need to take what they need and then donate what they’re done with that’s still in good shape. And oftentimes what happens between one of those two activities is a conversation with one of our social workers who gets to learn a little bit more about the family and how we can be of support to them. And oftentimes that is either finding or paying for childcare.
Clint Patty:
But it could include other things as well, needs that the family may have.
Kim Polson:
Absolutely. One of the things that we would like to pride ourselves on in our new setting, not only non-traditional hours, but providing drop-in care or occasional care. So for example, if a parent is searching for work, it’s difficult to do that. You can’t go on job interviews unless you have childcare, and we want to make sure that that childcare, even if it’s only for an hour or two, is in a high quality stimulating environment. So we’ll be providing that type of care as well, and in support of families being able to go out and get access to those other supports that they need to stabilize.
Clint Patty:
Talk about some of the biggest challenges that you are facing. I can’t imagine, I’m thinking about this organization, you are now about six years old, if my math is right.
Kim Polson:
Six years old in our new envisioned mission.
Clint Patty:
In a new mission, you’ve a building getting ready to open up. Obviously there’s no shortage of need, but talk about some of the biggest challenges that you face as the executive director of the organization and maybe how the community can help with those.
Kim Polson:
Yes. Obviously funding is always one of the biggest challenges in childcare overall, whether it’s nonprofit or for-profit, the equation just doesn’t add up in terms of the cost for tuition and the actual cost of high quality care. What we know is that typically what individuals are charging for tuition is almost $1,000 less than the highest level of quality that would be available. And so we know they have to make decisions. We want to put ourselves in a position where we don’t have to make that choice. We can provide the highest quality care and provide affordable tuition by coming up with innovative partnerships and strategies to do that. So we know that funding is definitely… Hiring is another, retaining staff in the early childhood field is very difficult to do because of the low wages. So we need to boost the wages, as a community make that investment, and also make sure that we provide benefits for our early childhood professionals because most do not receive benefits with their employment.
Clint Patty:
And how do you do that? Again, having served on one of these boards, that was always a challenge. You wanted to pay more, but it’s amazing the margins are so small in most childcare facilities. And I know that’s hard for parents to believe when they write that check every month, but the margins are quite small there. How do you work on, have you had some ideas or success stories behind getting folks more money for this because it’s absolutely critical on maintaining that good quality staff?
Kim Polson:
Well, that’s where our model of thirds and the business investment in this comes into play. What we are asking employers to do is they can secure a spot for one of their employees for $10,000 investment. Now, what we know from the Society for Human Resources Management is that it takes six to nine months of a salary to rehire, onboard, train to get somebody else up to speed. And at the median hourly wage here in Douglas County, that can mean $24 to $35,000 to replace an employee who has just had a child or a $10,000 investment in having childcare ready for that employee exactly when they want to have it and building that loyalty.
Clint Patty:
That’s making the business case to me. I think that was always a piece that’s hard for employers to understand, but it sounds like you’re making some headway there.
Kim Polson:
We are making some headway. A lot of organizations don’t know what their return on investment will be. They don’t know what that turnover cost is, and so it’s not as tangible. So when you can put that in dollars and cents, the business sector begins to listen.
Clint Patty:
So funding is a challenge. Getting wages up in childcare centers is obviously a challenge. Other challenges?
Kim Polson:
Other challenges just continue to be meeting the needs of the whole family, looking at childcare as part of a system of supports and acknowledging that children are in childcare oftentimes more hours during the day than they’re seeing their family. So what we need to do is bring the parents, the grandparents, all those chosen family into the model with us. So everything is reinforced all around for that child, whether it be at home or in their childcare setting, and that provides a greater sense of security and development for a child.
Clint Patty:
What are some of the future goals or upcoming, we talked about the one project obviously at 346 Main, but what are some of the goals that you have for the community children’s center and how do you plan on meeting those?
Kim Polson:
We actually are getting ready to launch a childcare facility at 4640 West 27th Street. It is a childcare that closed down in April without any notice to families and 77 spots were lost in our community.
Clint Patty:
That is just the worst. When families get that notice, because, I mean, you know how full all of these centers are. It’s scramble, mad scramble.
Kim Polson:
Our goal is to increase capacity in our community, and when capacity like that is lost, we’re always trying to play catch up. So since our facility has been delayed some with construction delays and permit delays, we are moving into this other facility to launch it again and increase that capacity, return that capacity to our community, hopefully by early September. So that will allow us to get families who need care in that area, either back into that facility or new families into that facility and get us up and running so we can begin some of our programs, like our apprenticeship program with Peaslee Tech. We will have individuals who are doing their coursework through Peaslee Tech and will have their practical experiences with us. And by doing an apprenticeship program, they’re guaranteed a wage of at least $16. Because that’s part of what an apprenticeship is, is an experience that hopefully will lead you into a trade that can be your life’s vocation. And so we’re working with Peaslee Tech to help from the economic side to begin to talk about how we can increase those wages and what the private sector’s role is in doing that.
Clint Patty:
It also gives you a nice pool, presumably, year to year that you can draw from and bring into childcare. That’s great.
Kim Polson:
Yeah, absolutely. What our goal would be is that we have individuals coming through that apprenticeship program each year, and then as they’re ready to launch into their own childcare facilities, we have businesses across the community who are interested in engaging in that with them and then trying to help them identify properties that are close to those businesses. So everyone wants childcare in one of two places, close to home or close to work. And so we want to make sure that what we’re doing is launching high quality facilities across Douglas County where they are most needed.
Clint Patty:
So I’m just counting what a day of yours has to be like. So you’re dealing with real estate transactions, you’re dealing with folks’ education and getting into the industry, you’re coordinating people into jobs, you are coordinating families into various childcare centers where their needs are best met, and also dealing with those family needs. So I’m assuming you have what, 200 employees, something like that?
Kim Polson:
We’re working right now with some of the best. We’ve got a core team of 10 right now, two of those most important people are social workers who are really able to provide what we need for that wraparound support. And then we have our early childhood experts who are helping us get these two centers up and running. We will be hiring and are actually currently hiring for our Southwest location. So we know that we’ll be expanding pretty drastically here in 2024, 2025.
Clint Patty:
That’s amazing that 10 people can do this work. You probably ask yourself how it gets done frequently, but…
Kim Polson:
It gets done tonight. I’m going over to paint at the Southwest building. So I mean it’s elbow grease, it’s a lot of dedicated people who are very excited to have this innovative concept and really looking at solutions to childcare problems.
Clint Patty:
So what are ways that this community can help you? And I know funding obviously is a challenge, but what are some ways that the community can help, either in terms of dollars or volunteer work or how can we help you do your job?
Kim Polson:
We always need volunteers. We are utilizing a lot of our volunteers right now, helping us get the West 27th Street building up to speed as soon as possible. We always can use help with our clothing closet. Families can donate their gently used clothes, put them to good use. They can volunteer within the clothing closet helping families. But we also know that we really would love for families to engage with their own childcare professionals. So if you have young children, engage with your childcare professionals and talk about what their challenges are or what things they could use some support with. Because we really want to support the entire system overall, and that includes all of our home based providers, that includes all of our center providers in our community. So having those conversations and getting a better understanding of the dynamics of the childcare problem in our nation, advocating, voting, are other ways in which they can really support childcare issues.
Clint Patty:
And for folks who may be interested in donating either their time or treasure, how would they get ahold of you? What’s the best way to do that?
Kim Polson:
Best way to do that is through our website, which is communitychildrenks.org.
Clint Patty:
So communitychildrenks.org. It’s our turn community, so let’s reach out and help these folks who are doing amazing work in a much needed area. As you said, it’s a nationwide childcare crisis, not just here but everywhere. And I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to coordinate all of this.
Kim Polson:
Well, we know we would love for the federal government to step in and provide part of the solutions. We’d love for the state to be more involved, our local government, Douglas County and the city of Lawrence. But what we know is that we can’t wait. The challenge is now. So we as Douglas County and as Lawrence, we’re a community that steps up. And so I think this is our opportunity to show the rest of the nation and the state what we can do.
Clint Patty:
Well, you’re doing terrific work, and I encourage everybody out there to get ahold of you, volunteer, give, and just increase your knowledge about the crisis. And don’t be afraid to be an advocate. It’s probably the last thing people often think about. You think about wages, you think about housing, you think about a lot of things, but to have all of those things for people to work, they’ve got to have good quality childcare. And this is certainly an organization that deserves your attention, and I hope that you all will give it. Anything else you’d like folks to know about the Community Children’s Center?
Kim Polson:
We appreciate your time, your talent, as you’ve mentioned, and are thankful for the opportunity to talk about it.
Clint Patty:
Kim Polson, the executive director of the Community Children’s Center. Thank you for being here.
Kim Polson:
Thank you.
Clint Patty:
Talk soon.
You’ve been listening to another episode of Investing in Good. Today’s episode was brought to you by Clayton Wealth Partners. If you’re an individual seeking to increase your impact through thoughtful charitable giving, or if you represent an endowment, a foundation, or a nonprofit that’s looking to safeguard and grow your financial assets, please consider partnering with Clayton Wealth Partners. You can visit us at claytonwealthpartners.com and discover how we can help guide and empower you in your mission to make a difference. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this year, 2024, marks 40 years that Clayton Wealth Partners has been in business, we would love to extend a very special thank you to our clients nationwide. In particular, a thank you to all of Northeast Kansas. We often say that we are here for you for the last 40 years, we are very thankful that you all have been here for us. On behalf of Clayton Wealth Partners, I’m Clint Patty. I thank you for listening. We will see you soon.