Shortage of Activities for Local Children among Survey Surprises
- Philip Thibodeau
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 13 hours ago
A recent survey of local parents with young children that was conducted by the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington (ECCS) yielded some results that came as a surprise to the program's director, Joanne Kelleher.
“When you think about Southington, you think about all the sports programs here, all the arts programs, all the theater programs, the stuff going on at the library, the Family Resource Center and the YMCA,” she said. “But what we’re hearing from families is that finding things to do with their children is one of their top concerns. It really surprised me.”
According to the survey, nearly half (44.8%) of parents listed finding fun and social activities for their children as one of their top parenting challenges.
Kelleher hopes to do a follow up at some point that will shed more light on the nature of the problem: “Is it that parents don’t know where to look to find these programs? Is it that parents can’t afford them? Is it that they’re scheduled for a time that doesn’t work for their schedule? That’s a follow-up thing that we want to take a look at.”
The results of the survey, officially known as a Local Needs Assessment, were published in June of this year. ECCS is a local non-profit that has a contract with the State of Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood to serve as a clearinghouse for information on prenatal and early childhood needs and resources in Southington. The survey results will be used to develop a community plan that will in turn help the town, the state, and ECCS address the issues that have come to light.
In the case of the problem with finding activities, for example, this could mean opening a conversation with town officials and the Recreation Department to see whether there are additional activities the Department could sponsor, or whether there should be a revised approach to promoting or scheduling the ones that already exist.
Another thing that might help would be to find more resources for Southington's Family Resource Center, to expand their capacity. “There have six sessions, each six weeks long," Kelleher said. "If you don’t register as soon as they open, you’re out of luck. More sessions would really help.”
Babies Born
The survey has other surprises – although some were ones Kelleher was already familiar with. “The number of babies born in town is something I’ve been looking at for years. Anybody looking at that number always seems to be surprised at how many babies are born to Southington parents, and how that number has changed over time. Look at our chart. Can you guess when COVID hit?,” she asked, pointing to the jump in births in the two years after people began staying home more often.
“Now, 50 extra babies may not sound like a lot, until you remember that one infant room in a child care provider has a required ratio of one teacher for every four kids. So even if only half of the families need child care, that throws the whole system out of whack,” by requiring six more teachers. Currently Southington has about 50 such teachers in town.
“At this point, staffing is a whole lot better than it was four or five years ago. Staffing is not the providers’ top issue,” Kelleher said. She also pointed to the opening of a new branch of the Goddard School next month in The Shops at Stone Bridge as evidence that the number of teachers and spaces is now adequate. The new childcare facility is expected to have room for up to 160 children.
“Instead the focus is on quality, which really means accreditation,” she added. “At this point, the town has plenty of childcare options. The quality is inconsistent, but there’s enough of them. There aren’t enough affordable spots.”
One of the survey’s three main Focus Areas is ‘Improve quality and affordable childcare.’ The other two are ‘Support children’s needs’ and “Support mental health needs of children, families and childcare providers.’
Demographic Turnover and Problems of Connection
Another notable data point revealed by the survey was an indication that Southington is slowly becoming more diverse. The report says that in 2008, 90.4% of Southington Public School students were white. In October of 2024, that number was down to 73.5%. “That change is happening more because younger families are moving into town,” Kelleher observed. “When you look at the total population of town, the race/ethnicity has not changed that much.” Provided those students and their families stay in town, a gradual change can be expected.
One challenge presented by this shift has to do with connection. “There are probably communities out there that are more isolated either because of a language barrier or a cultural barrier, they are not connecting with other families with young children. You don’t see them on the little league team, for example. So that’s something to be addressed.”
Free and Reduced Lunch
Another eye-opening statistic found in the report has to do with the number of children in Southington Public Schools eligible for free and reduced lunch. “Currently the number is 27%,” Kelleher noted. “In 2008, it was only 7.5%, in 2017, it was 15.7%. So that number’s been going up.”
Kelleher said that even that figure could be an undercount. “There are parents who would be eligible, but are turned off either by the complicated application form and all the proof that you need to show, or they don’t want people to know that they’re in a financial situation and they don’t want their kid to be stigmatized that they get free and reduced lunch.”
The full 86-page survey can be read here.
