August 1, 2025

Rural states face some of the steepest child care shortages in the country — and the impact reaches far beyond families. When care isn’t available, parents leave the workforce, businesses struggle to hire, and states lose billions in economic productivity. 

• Rural areas alone account for an estimated $33 to $50 billion in lost productivity each year. 

• 86% of rural parents who aren’t working say child care responsibilities influenced their decision.

• Nearly 70% of children under age six in rural Alaska lack licensed care, more than 56% in Montana, and almost 40% in West Virginia.

Rural child care shortages create significant challenges for state agencies trying to ensure equitable access to services across all communities. Across the country, innovative programs are beginning to address these challenges in ways that show measurable results. 

This blog highlights three proven strategies — Apprenticeship Programs, Schools as Hubs for Early Learning, and Facilities Development — that are building workforce pipelines, leveraging existing facilities, and aligning local partners to close rural gaps.

Apprenticeships: A Fast-Growing Strategy for Workforce Development

Apprenticeships are quickly becoming one of the most important tools for addressing child care workforce shortages. In just three years, the number of states launching or expanding programs has doubled. As of 2023, 35 states now operate active regional or statewide child care apprenticeships, with another seven in development.

The model works because it removes barriers. Apprentices earn a paycheck while training, gain mentorship in real-world settings, and take related coursework without leaving their jobs. This “earn-while-you-learn” pathway supports retention, creates career ladders, and helps communities recruit educators who might otherwise leave the field. 

For rural areas, apprenticeships are especially valuable: they make training possible close to home, where traditional higher education opportunities may be limited.

At the federal level, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) provides an underused funding stream to support child care apprenticeships. States can tap WIOA funds to cover costs like instruction, books, transportation, and even child care itself — all critical supports to help educators succeed in the program.

Spotlight: West Virginia’s Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialists (ACDS)

West Virginia was the first state in the nation to launch a child care apprenticeship program, and more than 30 years later, it remains the longest running. 

Since 1989, over 3,700 educators have completed the ACDS program, which combines four semesters of coursework with mentored, on-the-job experience. Graduates earn 12 hours of college credit and apply for a U.S. Department of Labor certification as a journeyperson, leaving with a professional portfolio, grades, and transcripts to document their training.

ACDS works as a workforce pipeline for rural communities, building local capacity by keeping educators in their communities, supporting retention through a clear career pathway, and ensuring more programs can meet licensing and quality standards.

Schools as Hubs for Early Learning

One way to solve rural child care gaps is to leverage the infrastructure that already exists — elementary schools. That’s the foundation of First 10 Community Partnerships. The model helps schools extend their role beyond K–12 by bringing child care, pre-K, Head Start, and family child care programs under the same umbrella of planning and support.

Each First 10 site starts with a community needs assessment and develops an action plan that focuses on three priorities:

• Improving teaching and learning through joint professional development and aligned curriculum.
• Coordinating services so families can connect with child care, health, and social supports in one place.
• Partnering with families through school-based play-and-learn groups, parenting campaigns, and stronger kindergarten transitions.

Evaluations of First 10 have found clear benefits: more collaboration between Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers, better alignment of practices across classrooms, expanded readiness events like kindergarten roundups, and stronger outreach to families who otherwise face barriers to access.

For rural communities, the impact is especially practical. Instead of asking providers and families to build something new, First 10 taps into the school buildings, staff, and trust that already exist — turning schools into hubs that expand access to child care and early learning while reducing fragmentation across systems.

Facilities Development: Expanding Access Where None Exists

Even when rural communities have a strong workforce and demand for child care, there’s often one simple barrier: no facility exists. Families may drive 20 or 30 miles only to find the nearest licensed center is already full.

To address this, states and communities are beginning to invest in the construction, renovation, and maintenance of child care facilities in ways that fit rural contexts. That can mean:

• Partnering with employers, school districts, or housing authorities to provide space for child care programs.

• Using compensatory measures in facilities oversight to bring flexibility to rural providers while maintaining health and safety standards.

• Launching public–private partnerships that pool resources to build or expand centers in hard-to-serve areas.
   

Spotlight: Act 131 in Arkansas

In 2019, Arkansas passed Act 131 to make it easier for child care entrepreneurs to start or expand facilities. The law simplifies access to licensing information, registration requirements, and financial incentives. All of this is available in one place through the state’s Division of Child Care and Early Learning, reducing barriers for small providers who want to serve their communities.

For rural states, facility development is essential. Workforce programs can prepare staff, and school-based hubs can coordinate services — but without buildings, families are still left without care. Supporting creative construction and renovation strategies ensures that rural children have real access to early learning close to home.

Training as the Common Thread 

Apprenticeships, school hubs, and facilities development address different barriers in rural communities. But they all share a common need: professional development that is accessible, consistent, and measurable across the state.

That’s where ProSolutions Training comes in. Our platform is built to:

• Deliver online access to educators no matter where they live

• Provide bilingual course options to serve diverse communities

• Offer reporting tools that help agencies track completion by region and demonstrate equity to leadership and funders

By connecting strong policies with reliable training infrastructure, states can ensure their rural strategies deliver lasting results.

Closing Rural Gaps Through Innovation and Training

Apprenticeships, school-based hubs, and facility development show that rural child care gaps can be closed with creative, community-driven solutions. Each strategy strengthens a different part of the system — building a skilled workforce, expanding access through schools, and creating facilities families need close to home.

All of these approaches depend on effective training. ProSolutions Training provides online accessibility, bilingual options, and outcome tracking to help states scale rural strategies and demonstrate equity and ROI to leadership and funders.

👉 Explore how ProSolutions Training supports rural child care workforce development.