Finally, Kansas families have one stop for their child care needs | Opinion

Imagine you need to buy groceries for dinner, but the meat is at one store, the produce at another and the bread somewhere else entirely. Most would give up before ever making it to a checkout line.

For years, that’s what Kansas families have been asked to do when they need support for their young children.

Need information on child care? One agency. Financial assistance for that care? Another. Home visiting services? Yet another.

Many dedicated professionals have worked hard within Kansas’ early childhood system, but the structure itself has made it difficult to navigate, especially for those who need it most. Working families have fallen through the gaps; entrepreneurs eager to serve children have been discouraged by red tape; and children have missed the consistent early experiences that help prepare them for kindergarten and beyond.

That changes today.

Today the Kansas Office of Early Childhood opens its doors. Passed with bipartisan support, KOEC brings the state’s early childhood programs, funding and policy under one roof, with one clear purpose: Equip every child with the foundations for lifelong success. Help every family easily find what they need, and support every provider with tools and resources to deliver high-quality care and education.

This isn’t about creating new programs but organizing existing resources smarter. KOEC will make services easier to access, improve coordination, increase transparency and accountability and maintain high standards of safety for Kansas children. In short: less bureaucracy, better outcomes.

This transition is designed to happen without disruption. Families receiving child care assistance programs don’t need to reapply. Providers don’t need to resubmit documentation. They can stay focused on caring for children.

There are economic benefits, too. Nearly 67% of Kansas children under 5 have both parents in the workforce. Those parents need affordable, reliable care to stay in their jobs, advance their careers and contribute to the economy. When that care is hard to find or afford, Kansas loses an estimated $1.4 billion each year in earnings and productivity.

This matters even to Kansans who don’t have young children at home. Coworkers, neighbors and local businesses all depend on families having access to early childhood support. When parents have quality child care, they show up fully at work and in their communities. The ripple effect strengthens the entire state.

I’ve spent more than 20 years working inside this system — in child care operations, with Child Care Aware of Kansas and in family preservation. I’ve seen its strengths and its shortcomings.

One family has stayed with me for years. A single mother needed child care to attend a job interview. She needed that job to secure housing. But she couldn’t obtain child care without proof of employment. Despite trying, she was stuck because the system had no way to meet her where she was.

After decades of advocating for change from the sidelines, I’m honored to help build it. As KOEC’s inaugural director, I see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design an early childhood system around what children and families actually need.

That doesn’t mean telling families what choices to make. Parents know their children best and should be empowered to choose care and learning environments that align with their values and needs. Our responsibility is to expand those choices and make them easier to access.

A family should be able to walk through one door and leave knowing every resource they qualify for, not just the one they came looking for. KOEC will also streamline processes for providers, creating a smoother path so they can serve the children who need them.

Kansans have advocated for a unified system for a long time, and we’ll continue building it alongside families, providers and community partners, listening and improving as we go.

My hope is that five or 10 years from now, Kansans will have forgotten how complicated the old system used to be — because the new one simply works.

For too long, Kansas asked families to make multiple stops before they could get the help they needed. Starting today, they’ll have one place to start.

Christi Smith is director of the Kansas Office of Early Childhood.

This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 5:07 AM with the headline "Finally, Kansas families have one stop for their child care needs | Opinion."