The Moore County Chamber of Commerce and Partners for Children & Families recently announced the full launch of the NC Tri-Share child care program, marking the end of a successful beta-testing period that started this past July.
Adopted and funded by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2023, NC Tri-Share is a public/private partnership that spreads the cost of child care equally among employers, employees, and the State of North Carolina. For qualified candidates, NC Tri-Share can reduce by up to two-thirds a family’s childcare costs, which is one of the largest expenses of many North Carolina families.
Partners for Children and Families in Moore County is one of three regional hubs across the state utilizing the $900,000 allocated by NC lawmakers to The NC Partnership for Children (NCPC)/Smart Start and the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) to fund the program and serve families in North Carolina through the end of this fiscal year.
Partners for Children & Families, Inc., is a 30-year-old charity based in Moore County that serves as Moore County’s Smart Start agency. As a regional hub for NC Tri-Share, Partners for Children & Families is administering the program in Moore County as well as seven adjacent or nearby counties: Chatham, Cumberland, Hoke, Montgomery, Richmond, Scotland, and Union.
The goals of NC Tri-Share include making high-quality child care affordable and accessible for working families, helping employers retain and attract employees, and supporting the stabilization of childcare businesses across the State.
Partners for Children & Families’ work as an NC Tri-Share hub is endorsed by the Moore County Chamber of Commerce, the Moore County Government, the Northern Moore Family Resource Center, and the Smart Start partnerships in the participating nearby counties.
The Northern Moore Family Resource Center is among the state’s earliest NC Tri-Share participants. “As both an employer and child care provider enrolled in the NC Tri-Share program, we are excited to be caring for some of the first children to benefit from this innovative effort,” said Clare Ruggles, Executive Director of the Northern Moore Family Resource Center. “We look forward to enrolling more families, and encourage other employers to join us to help alleviate the cost of child care on working parents.”
Since February 2022, the Moore County Chamber of Commerce has led a county-wide task force on child care. According to Linda Parsons, the President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce: “The goal of the Child Care Task Force is to provide resources to recruit and train child care workers and to increase the availability and accessibility of child care in Moore County. The Task Force enthusiastically supports NC Tri-Share. We have been delighted to hear about the many local employers who are exploring how this program could benefit their recruitment and retention of employees and we are eager to see its positive impact on the health of our local childcare businesses.”
Stuart Mills, the Executive Director of Partners for Children and Families, said, “We are grateful for support from the Chamber and its Task Force in managing this pivotal role within NC TriShare. The program is providing a continuing opportunity for us to work even more closely with the employers and childcare providers in Moore County, as well as the Smart Start partnerships in each of these adjacent and nearby counties. This is exciting for all of us, but particularly for the children of these seven counties.”
Families that qualify for participation in Tri-Share are:
Employed by a participating business
Have a household income between 185% and 300% of the federal poverty level
Otherwise ineligible for other subsidized childcare
Mary Scott, NCPC’s Strategic Initiatives Director, stated, “The average price of care in our state for infants is $9,255 and $7,592 for 4-year-ods. North Carolina’s rates are higher than the national average and rival the cost of college tuition. While the child care crisis will not be solved with one program, this innovative initiative will help to alleviate the financial burden on many working families.”
Employers, families, and childcare providers interested in participating in the NC Tri-Share program should contact Partners for Children & Families or their local Smart Start partnership. For a list of Smart Start Local Partnerships, go to www.smartstart.org/smart-startin-your-community/.
Contributed.Â
