THE FUTURE OF CHILD CARE IN INDIANA
Child care can feel like a private family decision.
Until a parent cannot find it.
Then the effects can reach an employer, a community—and eventually an entire economy.
Reliable Indiana child care helps parents go to work, pursue education, build careers, and provide stability for their families.
Quality early childhood education gives young children safe, supportive environments where they can build relationships, develop confidence and prepare for school.
Strong licensed child care providers create jobs, invest in communities and provide infrastructure that thousands of working families depend on every day.
That is why Indiana’s child care conversation needs to be bigger than simply asking:
How do we create more child care seats?
Indiana also needs to ask:
How do we protect quality?
How do we keep responsible licensed providers sustainable?
How do we support early childhood educators?
How do we improve access for families?
How do we create predictable funding and regulation?
And how do we recognize child care as essential infrastructure for Indiana’s workforce and economy?
Those are among the questions the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance (ICCBA) was created to address.
The Weston School is proud to be a founding member of ICCBA, supporting a statewide effort much larger than any individual child care provider.
The focus is Indiana.
And the stakes affect all of us.
What Is the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance?
The Indiana Child Care Business Alliance, commonly known as ICCBA, is an operator-led Indiana organization created to advocate for licensed child care businesses and strengthen the infrastructure families, employers and communities depend on.
ICCBA brings licensed operators together around issues including:
- Child care funding
- Voucher stability
- Provider sustainability
- Insurance pressures
- Licensing modernization
- Regulatory consistency
- Workforce development
- Private-sector child care
- Employer-supported child care
- Provider growth
- Indiana economic development
ICCBA describes itself as operator-led, parent-grounded, and built for Indiana’s child care future.
Its purpose is not to promote one child care center or one organization.
It is to help create a stronger collective business voice for licensed child care operators across Indiana.
Learn more about ICCBA’s statewide mission and leadership through the ICCBA About page.
The Weston School Is One of ICCBA’s Founding Members
The Weston School’s connection to ICCBA is important—but the Alliance is intentionally broader than Weston.
The Weston School is a founding member of ICCBA, and Weston School CEO Omar Khan was among the child care operators who helped establish the organization.
ICCBA’s founding leadership extends beyond The Weston School and includes leaders associated with The Goddard School, LeafSpring School and independent licensed child care operators across Indiana.
According to ICCBA, its founding leadership collectively represents more than 75 licensed child care schools serving more than 10,000 Indiana children.
That broader representation matters.
ICCBA is not intended to speak for one company.
It exists to help Indiana’s licensed child care business community speak with a stronger collective voice.
You can review the organization’s leadership and founding mission at theICCBA.org/about.
Child Care Is Workforce Infrastructure
One of the most important changes happening in the child care conversation is recognizing that child care is not only a family service.
Child Care Is Workforce Infrastructure.
When parents have dependable child care, they are better positioned to:
- Show up consistently for work
- Maintain reliable schedules
- Accept promotions
- Pursue additional responsibility
- Return to work after having children
- Participate in workforce training
- Remain with an employer
- Build long-term careers
When child care becomes unavailable or unstable, the effects can move in the opposite direction.
Parents may miss work.
Arrive late.
Reduce hours.
Decline advancement opportunities.
Or leave the workforce entirely.
For employers, those family challenges can become business challenges through absenteeism, employee turnover, productivity loss and recruiting difficulties.
That is why child care belongs alongside transportation, housing and workforce development in conversations about Indiana’s economic future.
Indiana Is Already Paying the Economic Cost of Child Care Challenges
The impact is not theoretical.
Research released by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce estimated that inadequate child care costs Indiana approximately $4.22 billion in lost economic activity every year.
The study estimated approximately:
$3.05 billion in annual employer costs related to child care-driven absenteeism and employee turnover.
And approximately:
$1.17 billion in lost tax revenue.
The research also found that 57% of surveyed parents of young children missed work or class at least once during a three-month period because of child care-related issues.
Among parents who experienced employment disruptions, 40% reported leaving the workforce because of child care challenges.
Those numbers reveal something important.
Child care instability does not remain contained within the child care industry.
It moves from families to employers.
From employers to communities.
And from communities into Indiana’s broader economy.
More Child Care Seats Are Not Enough if Providers Cannot Stay Open
When Indiana discusses child care access, much of the attention naturally goes to capacity.
How many classrooms are available?
How long are waiting lists?
Which communities need more child care?
Those questions matter.
But they depend on another question:
Can the Providers Creating Those Seats Remain Sustainable?
Licensed child care organizations must manage significant ongoing responsibilities, including:
- Employee wages
- Teacher recruitment and retention
- Required staffing ratios
- Training
- Licensing
- Insurance
- Facilities
- Food
- Classroom materials
- Curriculum
- Technology
- Health and safety standards
- Compliance
- Administrative infrastructure
Every available child care seat depends on a functioning organization behind it.
If responsible providers cannot absorb increasing costs, reimbursement uncertainty, staffing challenges, insurance pressure or regulatory complexity, capacity can disappear.
Families eventually experience those pressures through:
- Longer waiting lists
- Reduced classroom availability
- Higher tuition
- Staffing instability
- Fewer program options
- Delayed provider expansion
- Center closures
That is why provider sustainability is an access issue.
A provider that cannot remain open cannot continue creating child care access.
Quality and Access Should Not Compete
Indiana families need greater access to dependable child care.
They also deserve quality.
Those goals should strengthen one another—not compete.
Strong child care policy should create an environment where responsible providers can operate efficiently while preserving meaningful expectations related to:
- Child safety
- Responsible supervision
- Staff qualifications
- Leadership
- Child development
- Health
- Classroom quality
- Program accountability
Indiana should examine unnecessary barriers.
Outdated rules should be modernized when appropriate.
Duplicative requirements should be evaluated.
Regulatory processes should become clearer.
But increasing capacity by weakening standards that genuinely matter to children would simply replace one challenge with another.
The better objective is:
More Access to Strong Child Care.
Not merely more child care.
Strong Child Care Supports Children as Well as Working Parents
The economic case for child care is immediate.
Parents need dependable care today so they can work today.
But high-quality child care also has a longer-term purpose.
Young children are developing foundational abilities they will eventually use in kindergarten and throughout school.
Those include:
- Communication
- Emotional regulation
- Relationships
- Early literacy
- Mathematical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Independence
- Fine-motor development
- Attention
- Classroom participation
- Curiosity
- Confidence
That means the same classroom can support two generations of Indiana’s workforce at once.
It helps a parent participate in today’s workforce.
And it helps a child begin developing skills for tomorrow’s workforce.
For families interested in the developmental side of this conversation, The Weston School’s Kindergarten Readiness resource explains how academic, social-emotional, and classroom-readiness skills develop before elementary school begins.
Regulatory Consistency Matters to Responsible Providers
Responsible child care providers understand the need for regulation.
Families should expect meaningful standards.
Providers should expect accountability.
But responsible businesses also need those expectations to be clear and consistently applied.
Licensed child care organizations may interact with:
- State licensing agencies
- Inspectors
- Fire officials
- Local authorities
- Building requirements
- Health and safety standards
- Accreditation systems
- Funding programs
When regulatory interpretations differ significantly, providers face uncertainty that can affect investments, facilities, staffing and expansion.
ICCBA advocates for clearer, fairer and more consistent expectations across licensing, inspections, compliance and related regulatory systems.
That is not an argument against accountability.
It is an argument for effective accountability.
Good regulation should protect children while giving responsible operators a clear understanding of what Indiana expects from them.
Licensed Child Care Providers Need a Voice in Indiana Policy
Policies affecting child care businesses may be written at the state level.
But their consequences occur inside real child care centers.
Operators see firsthand how changes involving:
funding,
CCDF,
licensing,
insurance,
staffing,
reimbursement,
facilities,
and regulation
affect children, educators and families.
That operating experience should be represented when Indiana develops child care policy.
This is one of the reasons ICCBA was created.
The Alliance gives licensed operators a more organized platform to communicate the business and operational realities behind the child care system.
Because before implementing a policy, Indiana should be asking questions such as:
Will this improve safety?
Will this help families?
Could this reduce provider capacity?
Will smaller operators be able to comply?
How will it affect staffing?
What will it cost?
Could it create unintended consequences?
Will it improve quality?
These are practical questions.
And practical experience should be part of policy development.
ICCBA Is Already Participating in Indiana’s Policy Process
ICCBA was created to do more than raise awareness.
The organization is also participating directly in Indiana child care policy discussions.
According to ICCBA’s Licensed Operator Resources, the Alliance has participated in the state’s regulatory process through formal public comment and public testimony.
ICCBA filed an official public comment regarding Indiana’s proposed Child Care Center Rule, LSA 26-159.
The organization also participated in the July 6, 2026 public hearing involving Indiana child care regulations and has brought provider concerns into broader statewide policy discussions.
Those actions matter because policies affecting licensed child care businesses should include input from the people responsible for operating them.
Follow current advocacy, policy activity and research through the ICCBA Newsroom.
Funding and Voucher Stability Matter to Families and Providers
Child care assistance can make licensed care possible for many working families.
But assistance programs affect providers too.
Voucher and reimbursement policy can influence:
- Enrollment
- Classroom capacity
- Staffing
- Waitlists
- Provider participation
- Financial planning
- Expansion decisions
When funding becomes unpredictable, families may lose confidence in their ability to maintain care.
Providers may also lose confidence in their ability to maintain classrooms.
That creates instability on both sides.
A sustainable child care system therefore needs to answer two questions simultaneously:
Can families access care?
and
Can qualified providers sustainably deliver that care?
Families looking for more information about child care assistance can also review The Weston School’s CCDF Child Care Assistance guide.
Why Indiana Employers Should Care About Child Care
Employers have a direct stake in this conversation.
When employees cannot find dependable child care, businesses may experience:
- Missed workdays
- Schedule disruptions
- Employee turnover
- Recruitment difficulties
- Reduced availability
- Lower productivity
- Delayed returns to work
ICCBA created dedicated Employer Resources to help businesses better understand child care as a workforce strategy.
Employers can explore topics involving:
- Recruitment
- Retention
- Absenteeism
- Provider partnerships
- Employer-supported child care
- Potential federal tax incentives
An employer does not necessarily need to build its own child care facility to become part of the solution.
Partnerships with existing licensed providers may create additional possibilities.
Explore ICCBA Employer Resources →
ICCBA’s Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator
ICCBA also provides an educational Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator.
The tool helps employers begin exploring how federal Employer-Provided Child Care Credit provisions may apply to certain qualified child care expenses.
The calculator can help businesses begin thinking through questions such as:
Could child care support improve employee retention?
Could a provider partnership strengthen workforce stability?
Could tax incentives offset part of a qualifying investment?
Could employers collaborate with existing licensed providers?
The calculator is educational and is not a substitute for tax, accounting or legal advice.
Employers should consult a qualified CPA, tax advisor or attorney before making decisions or claiming credits.
Use ICCBA’s Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator →
Indiana Families Have a Role in the Child Care Conversation
Parents experience Indiana’s child care system differently than policymakers, providers or employers.
Their questions are immediate.
Can I find care?
Can I afford it?
Is the provider licensed?
Will my child be safe?
Will my child learn?
Can I trust the people caring for my child?
Will this provider still be available next year?
These are some of the reasons strong licensed providers matter.
ICCBA’s Families & Supporters resource hub helps families access information involving:
- Choosing child care
- Provider licensing
- Accreditation
- Quality considerations
- Child care assistance
- Family advocacy
Families should also have opportunities to participate when state policies affect child care availability, affordability and quality.
Policy may be written in regulatory language.
Families live with the results.
Their voices matter.
Explore ICCBA Resources for Families & Supporters →
Licensed Operators Need Practical Resources and Better Coordination
Operating licensed child care requires providers to navigate multiple systems at once.
They may need current information involving:
- Licensing
- Regulation
- Accreditation
- CCDF
- Funding
- Insurance
- Proposed rule changes
- Workforce issues
- Compliance
ICCBA’s Licensed Operator Resources are designed around those realities.
The hub provides access to regulatory references, provider resources, public policy materials and industry updates.
The broader objective is straightforward:
Help operators stay informed.
Help them organize.
And make sure Indiana’s licensed child care business community is represented when decisions affecting it are made.
Explore ICCBA Licensed Operator Resources →
Insurance Pressure Can Become a Child Care Access Problem
Insurance rarely appears in conversations about child care availability.
But providers experience it directly.
Licensed operators need responsible coverage to protect children, families, employees and their organizations.
When premiums increase significantly or coverage becomes more difficult to obtain, providers face additional financial pressure.
Those costs can affect:
- Hiring
- Employee compensation
- Tuition
- Facility investment
- Expansion
- Long-term viability
This illustrates why child care access cannot be separated from provider economics.
If responsible child care businesses become financially unsustainable, Indiana eventually loses capacity.
An insurance problem today can become an access problem tomorrow.
The Early Childhood Workforce Is Part of the Solution
Strong child care requires strong educators.
Teachers and early childhood professionals support young children while they learn how to:
- Communicate
- Build relationships
- Regulate emotions
- Develop language
- Explore literacy
- Understand early mathematics
- Solve problems
- Follow routines
- Build independence
- Become confident learners
Those professionals need training, support and sustainable employment opportunities.
Provider sustainability and educator sustainability therefore reinforce one another.
Providers need qualified educators.
Educators need strong organizations capable of employing and developing them.
Families depend on both.
Indiana cannot create a strong child care future without strengthening the workforce responsible for delivering that care.
Private Licensed Providers Are Part of Indiana’s Infrastructure
Indiana’s child care system includes independent centers, locally owned organizations, larger licensed providers and other private operators.
These organizations create real infrastructure.
They employ people.
Invest in facilities.
Create classroom capacity.
Serve working families.
Respond to local demand.
And often invest private resources to expand child care access.
A strong statewide system should recognize the role responsible private providers play and create an environment where they can continue investing, innovating and growing.
That strengthens family choice while helping communities respond to local child care demand.
Strong Child Care Helps Indiana Communities Grow
Child care availability can affect community development as well.
Imagine:
A family deciding whether to relocate for a new job.
A parent deciding whether to return to the workforce.
An employer determining where to expand.
A community trying to attract young families.
Dependable child care can influence each of those decisions.
That makes child care relevant to:
- Local governments
- Chambers of commerce
- Economic development organizations
- Employers
- Workforce organizations
- Community leaders
A community can have available jobs.
But if parents cannot find child care, part of its potential workforce may still remain inaccessible.
Research Should Inform Indiana Child Care Policy
Child care is complicated.
Strong decisions require credible information.
The ICCBA Newsroom brings together:
- Indiana child care news
- Public testimony
- Policy developments
- Regulatory activity
- Media coverage
- Provider advocacy
- Economic analysis
- Independent research
ICCBA also highlights independent research examining Indiana’s subsidized child care system, workforce participation, provider capacity, reimbursement pressures, employer-supported care and long-term funding structures.
That distinction is important.
Good advocacy should be informed by evidence.
And readers should understand where that evidence comes from.
One Child Care System. Multiple Stakeholders.
ICCBA’s work reflects an important reality.
Different groups experience child care differently—but they depend on the same system.
Licensed Operators
Need an environment where responsible providers can remain sustainable, comply with meaningful standards and grow.
Indiana Employers
Need working parents who can reliably participate in the workforce.
Policymakers
Need policies that balance safety, quality, access and operational realities.
Parents & Families
Need dependable licensed providers they can access, afford and trust.
These are not separate challenges.
They are different perspectives on one interconnected system.
When one part weakens, the others can feel the effects.
Explore ICCBA Resources for Indiana
ICCBA has developed resources for the people and organizations affected by Indiana child care.
Learn About ICCBA
Understand why the Alliance was created, its statewide leadership and its mission.
About the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance →
For Indiana Employers
Explore child care as a workforce, recruitment and employee-retention strategy.
Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator
Explore potential employer-provided child care credit scenarios.
Use the ICCBA Tax Credit Calculator →
For Indiana Families & Supporters
Find information about choosing care, licensing, accreditation, assistance and advocacy.
For Licensed Child Care Operators
Access regulatory references, provider resources and policy information.
ICCBA Licensed Operator Resources →
Indiana Child Care News, Research & Policy
Follow current research, testimony, media coverage and policy developments.
Connect With ICCBA
Licensed providers, employers, policymakers, families, chambers, community organizations and members of the media can contact ICCBA directly.
Why The Weston School Supports This Work
The Weston School’s role in this conversation is intentionally simple.
The Weston School is a founding member of ICCBA because strong child care matters beyond the walls of any individual school.
Weston’s involvement helps connect firsthand experience operating early childhood programs with a broader statewide effort involving other licensed child care providers.
But ICCBA’s mission is larger than Weston.
It is about:
Indiana licensed child care operators.
Indiana families.
Indiana employers.
Indiana communities.
And Indiana’s economic future.
That is why it matters that ICCBA’s founding leadership extends beyond The Weston School and includes leaders associated with The Goddard School, LeafSpring School, Primrose Schools®, KinderCare Learning Centers, Growing Kids Learning Centers, and independent operators across Indiana.
Together, ICCBA says its founding leadership represents more than 75 licensed schools serving more than 10,000 Indiana children.
That is the appropriate context.
Weston is a founding member.
The mission is statewide.
Why Strong Child Care Matters to Indiana’s Future
Indiana does not have one child care challenge.
It has an interconnected set of challenges.
Affordability.
Access.
Provider capacity.
Funding.
Staffing.
Insurance.
Regulation.
Quality.
Employer needs.
Family stability.
Solving one without understanding the others can create unintended consequences elsewhere.
A stronger future requires Indiana to pursue three goals together:
Quality. Access. Sustainability.
Quality, because children deserve strong early learning environments.
Access, because families need dependable care to work and build stable lives.
Sustainability, because providers cannot create long-term access if they cannot remain open.
None should come at the expense of the others.
All three matter.
That is the conversation the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance is working to advance.
Not one provider’s future.
Indiana’s Child Care Future.
Learn More & Get Involved With ICCBA
The Indiana Child Care Business Alliance is operator-led, parent-grounded and focused on strengthening the child care infrastructure Indiana families, employers and communities depend upon.
If you are a licensed child care operator, employer, parent, policymaker, chamber, community leader or advocate, explore the resources and issues ICCBA is working on across Indiana.
Visit the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance →
Explore ICCBA Employer Resources →
Explore ICCBA Family & Supporter Resources →
Explore Licensed Operator Resources →
Frequently Asked Questions About Indiana Child Care & ICCBA
Why is child care important to Indiana’s economy?
Reliable child care helps parents participate consistently in the workforce. When families lose access to care, employers can experience absenteeism, turnover and reduced workforce availability. Indiana Chamber research estimates that child care challenges create billions of dollars in annual economic costs for Indiana employers and the state.
Why does ICCBA call child care workforce infrastructure?
Child care affects whether parents can reliably work, whether employers can retain employees and whether communities can support working families. For those reasons, ICCBA views dependable licensed child care as infrastructure supporting Indiana’s workforce and economy.
What is the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance?
The Indiana Child Care Business Alliance, or ICCBA, is an operator-led Indiana organization created to advocate for licensed child care providers and strengthen the child care infrastructure Indiana families, employers and communities depend on.
Is The Weston School a founding member of ICCBA?
Yes. The Weston School is a founding member of the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance. ICCBA is a separate statewide organization whose leadership and mission extend beyond any individual child care provider.
Are other Indiana child care organizations involved with ICCBA?
Yes. ICCBA’s founding leadership extends beyond The Weston School and includes leaders associated with The Goddard School, LeafSpring School and independent Indiana child care operators. ICCBA reports that its founding leadership collectively represents more than 75 licensed schools serving over 10,000 Indiana children.
What child care issues does ICCBA focus on?
ICCBA focuses on issues including provider sustainability, voucher stability, insurance pressure, licensing modernization, regulatory consistency, workforce development, private-sector child care and recognition of child care as workforce infrastructure.
Why does provider sustainability matter to Indiana families?
A child care seat exists only if a provider can sustainably operate the classroom behind it. Staffing shortages, rising expenses, insurance costs, funding uncertainty and regulatory challenges can reduce capacity or lead to provider closures, ultimately affecting family access.
Can Indiana increase child care access while protecting quality?
Yes. Access and quality do not need to compete. Indiana can modernize unnecessary or inconsistent requirements while maintaining meaningful standards for safety, child development, leadership and program quality.
How does child care affect Indiana employers?
Employees without reliable child care may miss work, reduce hours or leave jobs. Employers can therefore experience absenteeism, turnover, recruitment difficulties and productivity challenges when child care is unstable.
Does ICCBA provide resources for employers?
Yes. ICCBA maintains dedicated Employer Resources addressing child care as a workforce issue, employer-provider partnerships and potential federal child care tax incentives.
What is ICCBA’s Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator?
The Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator is an educational tool designed to help employers explore how federal Employer-Provided Child Care Credit provisions may apply to certain qualified expenses. Employers should consult qualified tax and legal professionals before making financial decisions.
Does ICCBA provide resources for Indiana families?
Yes. ICCBA’s Families & Supporters hub connects families with resources related to choosing care, provider licensing, accreditation, child care assistance and advocacy.
Does ICCBA provide resources for licensed child care operators?
Yes. ICCBA’s Licensed Operator Resources include regulatory references, provider information, licensing resources, funding updates, policy materials and advocacy information.
Where can I follow Indiana child care policy and research?
The ICCBA Newsroom includes media coverage, public testimony, policy developments, research, regulatory activity and other information affecting Indiana’s licensed child care system.
How can people support stronger child care in Indiana?
Families can support quality licensed providers and participate in child care policy discussions. Employers can explore workforce child care strategies. Licensed operators can participate in advocacy and industry collaboration. Policymakers and community leaders can engage directly with providers when developing solutions. Visit theICCBA.org to learn more.
Source & Transparency Note
The Weston School is a founding member of the Indiana Child Care Business Alliance. ICCBA is a separate, statewide organization whose mission extends beyond any individual child care provider or brand.
Information about ICCBA’s mission, leadership, resources and current work can be reviewed directly through:
- Indiana Child Care Business Alliance
- About ICCBA
- ICCBA Employer Resources
- Employer Child Care Tax Credit Calculator
- ICCBA Families & Supporters
- ICCBA Licensed Operator Resources
- ICCBA Newsroom
- Contact ICCBA
Economic-impact figures referenced in this article are based on the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s Untapped Potential research examining how child care challenges affect Indiana’s workforce productivity and economy.
Strong child care means a stronger future for Indiana.
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