With the help of substantial grant funding, the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District expanded its youth services in mid-October, allowing them to now care for infants and toddlers, along with school-aged children.

The new infant and toddler program, which started Oct. 17, is in its pilot year. The district plans to reassess the feasibility of the program next year and potentially expand it for the 2023-24 school year, according to Justin Smith, the director of programs.

During this first year, the district is able to serve four infants and five toddlers. This aligns with state-mandated staff-to-child ratios.

Prior to offering infant and toddler care, Sunset Empire was serving 3-year-olds to fifth graders through its preschool, after-school care and summer camp programs.

“It takes us that step further and allows us to really serve starting as early as six weeks old,” Youth Programs Manager Erin Reding said. “It’s kind of filling the gap as far not only what’s here in the community, but what we were providing here. It expands our offerings.”

The new program also removes the barrier of children needing to be potty trained before they can start receiving care. As Sunset Empire is a separate taxing district, they can offer care at a more reasonable cost, Smith said.

They are currently working to become licensed with the state, which isn’t a requirement as a private entity but something they are striving for regardless. Once the facility is listed with the Oregon Department of Human Services, it gives families an additional resource to seek financial assistance.

Smith said they are already meeting the rules and requirements from the state agencies, and it’s just a matter of working with the state on documentation and inspections.

“It won’t change our operations,” he said.

Child care changesSmith has seen the district’s childcare offerings evolve significantly since he joined the team seven years ago. At that point, the district was only providing preschool for half days. Expansion has long been on the horizon, he said.

“It’s always been a goal — it’s just taken a long time to get to where we are right now,” he said.

The district took a major step forward in its capacity last year with the purchase of the Sunset Recreation Center, which used to house the former Broadway Middle School.

“Prior to that, we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Smith said.

COVID-19 also impacted the district’s decision-making and timeline in terms of childcare services. When the pandemic started, the district paused its regular programming and started offering infant care to help support frontline workers.

“It was whatever was needed for first responders to do their job,” Smith said. “When we started that program, we realized it was something we were going to need to make one of our focuses. Unfortunately, COVID just highlighted the need.”

Funding COVID also resulted in an influx of grant options. The pandemic, coupled with the dire need for childcare in the state, made funding even more readily available, Smith said. Overall, the district acquired about $80,000 to launch the pilot program.

Funding was provided through the Clatsop Child Care Retention and Expansion Grants Program, administered by the Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District ; the Oregon Community Foundation; the Roundhouse Foundation; and a Northwest Early Learning Grant through the Northwest Regional Education Service District.

These grants allowed the district to refurbish classrooms to be age appropriate for young children. They were able to purchase new equipment, such as cribs and high chairs, and recruit additional youth programs staff.

The seven new staff members added all have prior experience with infants and toddlers.

Smith and Reding are hopeful it will continue past the pilot year and that they can receive more grant funding to help offset costs. There’s an evident need in the community — the district already has a waitlist — and it allows Sunset Empire to cultivate continuity and feed into its services for older children.

“It creates a real structure to our program,” Smith said.