SIU panel frames child care as a human right, spotlights campus shortages and private-sector roles

Southern Illinois University convened a virtual panel of campus directors, child-care providers and entrepreneurs to discuss framing child care as a human right and to identify practical steps to expand access for students, staff and the wider community.

"Child care support enables parents to pursue education and work while contributing to societal well-being," said Dr. Sheila Caldwell, SIU vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, who opened the discussion and invited students, staff and community members to join SIU’s Carefully sign-up to organize local care circles. Panelists said the shortage of licensed slots, low wages for workers and infrastructure costs are the main barriers to universal access.

The panel included Leslie Burrell, founder and CEO of Carefully Child Care Solutions; Carly Casperi, supervisor at Brightpoint Child Care Resource & Referral; Sherika Hunt of the SIU Foundation; Rebecca Dabbs, director of SIU Edwardsville’s Early Childhood Center; Karen Samuel, director of Rainbow's End Child Development Center at SIU Carbondale; and Genevieve Sheridan of Care Economy Group. Rebecca Dabbs said the Edwardsville center keeps a two-year waiting list and gives priority to student parents; Karen Samuel said Carbondale’s center is near capacity with waiting lists for younger classrooms and school-age care.

Panelists pressed the economic case for action. Burrell cited a ReadyNation estimate that attributed roughly $122 billion in lost economic output to insufficient child care, and referenced a five-borough study estimating $23 billion in losses in New York City; she urged advocates to use such data when lobbying state and local lawmakers. "There's a lot of the numbers and the people and the faces to it," Burrell said.

Speakers also identified private-sector incentives and models to expand supply. Genevieve Sheridan noted that the CHIPS Act ties federal support for semiconductor investments to employer-provided child care in some states, calling the statute "a game changer" because it requires manufacturers to provide on-site or near-site care for employees. "The CHIPS Act has been very helpful because there's a mandate for semiconductor manufacturers to provide child care for their employees," Sheridan said.

Panelists described a mix of responses: software platforms that speed subsidy payments and connect families with informal caregivers; employee-ownership and social-cooperative models that aim to stabilize centers and improve wages; and targeted capital products (low-interest, patient loans) to fund facility expansion. Sheridan said converting retiring sole-proprietor centers to employee ownership can retain staff and preserve capacity.

Operational hurdles for providers drew sustained attention: lengthy fingerprinting and background-check timelines that delay hires; mandated training calendars; licensing requirements; and low wages that drive turnover. "Sometimes, by the time you get [background checks] back, they've already found other employment," Karen Samuel said, describing how delays exacerbate staffing shortages.

Panelists emphasized the broader needs of student parents, including housing instability, food insecurity and confusion about financial aid, and recommended campus wraparound supports — counseling, advising and financial-aid navigation — to help parents persist and graduate. SIU representatives encouraged listeners to sign up for Carefully's campus groups and noted that community organizing could provide informal, near-term relief while larger policy changes are pursued.

The session closed with an invitation for further engagement: SIU posted a landing page for people who want to organize care circles or volunteer as caregivers, and Caldwell announced the next COU session with the university president on April 22.

Sources: Panelists' remarks during the SIU-hosted virtual conversation, posted on YouTube.