Kearney has been selected to participate in Communities for Kids (C4K), a statewide initiative that helps Nebraska communities grow and prosper by strengthening and sustaining their early childhood care and education systems.
Through the initiative, Communities for Kids will provide Kearney with assistance and expertise to:Use data and community input to establish priorities and develop strategies for addressing identified needs.
Connect the community with experts, research, best practices, implementation guidance, quality measurements, financing resources and facility design expertise.
Identify and pursue available funding opportunities, including private and public grants, child care subsidy programs, and no- or low-interest loans.
Building on Local Quality and Funding Efforts
Buffalo County Community Partners established the Early Childhood Collaborative in 2013 to strengthen partnerships among local child care agencies, increase parent engagement, support providers, identify barriers and build upon the community’s existing early childhood resources.
The collaborative helped bring quality-focused programming to local early childhood providers in Kearney, including Rooted in Relationships and the Pyramid Model. These programs promote quality care and social-emotional development throughout the early childhood system.
The collaborative also created Early Learning Scholarships to help working families manage the cost of quality child care. This effort was strengthened by an allocation of surplus COVID-era funding in 2024 and a multiyear pledge from Medica in 2025.
Expanding Capacity and Strengthening the Workforce
Buffalo County as a whole participated in Communities for Kids in the 2020-2021 cohort. That work included collecting local data and ultimately led to the creation of the Child Care Champion Program, which supports new licensed providers and helps expand child care capacity.
Strengthened through the state’s Six Regions, One Nebraska initiative in 2023, the program helped launch 22 new providers and 242 child care slots countywide, including 86 in Kearney.
Efforts are also underway to strengthen the early childhood workforce. The Knowledge Network for Early Childhood Education Workforce (K.N.E.W.) initiative was established at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2024, while Central Community College has expanded opportunities through its Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship Program.
Addressing Kearney’s Unique Needs
Despite this progress, the community continues to face the effects of the nation’s broken child care cost model: care is too expensive for many families, yet providers cannot charge enough to cover the full cost of delivering high-quality care.
These challenges are structural rather than isolated, underscoring the need for coordinated, community-level planning through an initiative such as Communities for Kids.
Because child care needs vary among communities, several Buffalo County communities have participated in C4K to address locally identified priorities. Elm Creek participated in 2023–2024, Pleasanton and Ravenna joined in 2024–2025, and Gibbon participated in the most recent 2025–2026 cohort.
Kearney was invited to apply for the 2026–2027 cohort and will build upon the work of a Business Partnership subgroup that has met for several years. The group includes business leaders and representatives from local economic development and chamber organizations.
Through C4K, the group will examine how child care issues affect workforce participation, employee retention and business productivity. It will also explore how coordinated access to high-quality child care can support working families and generate a positive return on investment for Kearney employers and the broader community.