“Today, we are not just releasing a report,” Mayor Deegan said. “We are shining a light on one of the most important issues facing Jacksonville families, employers, and our economy. And that issue is childcare.”

The Task Force, made up of childcare providers, employers, educators, healthcare leaders, and parents, spent months gathering data and firsthand testimony from Jacksonville families. The findings, Mayor Deegan said, make clear that childcare is not simply a family issue — it is economic and community infrastructure.

“Childcare is workforce infrastructure. Childcare is economic infrastructure. Childcare is community infrastructure,” Mayor Deegan said. “When childcare works, families work. When childcare works, businesses thrive. When childcare works, children learn, grow, and enter school ready to succeed.”

The Task Force found that Jacksonville families are paying between $1,000 and more than $2,400 per month, per child. Many working families earn too much to qualify for assistance but not enough to comfortably afford care.

Statewide, the impact is significant: childcare disruptions are estimated to cost Florida $5.38 billion annually in lost economic potential, including approximately $4.47 billion in employer costs tied to absenteeism, turnover, and lost productivity. Sixty-four percent of Florida parents of young children reported missing work or school because of childcare disruptions, and 15 percent reported leaving a job altogether because of childcare issues.

The report also found that Jacksonville’s early learning workforce is being squeezed from the other direction. The average early learning educator earns about $37,767 a year, while the ALICE survival budget for a family of four in Duval County is nearly $80,000 — a gap that is driving experienced educators out of the field.

“Think about that for a moment,” Mayor Deegan said. “That’s a young family trying to buy a home. A single mother working two jobs. A parent returning to school to improve their future. Many are making impossible choices between childcare, housing, transportation, groceries, and healthcare.”

In response to the Task Force’s findings, Mayor Deegan announced River City Care, a citywide initiative focused on improving affordability, expanding childcare capacity, strengthening the early learning workforce, supporting employers, and helping families navigate the system. Recommendations supporting the initiative include a centralized childcare navigation platform, a targeted affordability pilot for infant and toddler care, expanded supply in high-need ZIP codes, and a workforce stabilization strategy built around wages, credentials, and career pathways.

“This work cannot be done by government alone,” Mayor Deegan said. “We need employers at the table. We need philanthropy at the table. We need providers at the table. We need educators, healthcare leaders, faith communities, and parents at the table. Because when we invest in childcare, we are investing in our workforce, our economic growth, our educational success, and, most importantly, our children.”

Mayor Deegan emphasized that River City Care is not a call for expanded government spending. The City, through the Kids Hope Alliance, already provdes $3.5 million toward early learning to the Early Learning Coalition of Duval County, which draws close to a $3 million state match.

“Let me be clear: we are not calling for the expansion of government. We are not recommending spending any new taxpayer money on childcare,” Mayor Deegan said. “What we are doing today is presenting this vital data, and the recommendations we’ll hear about, so that we can mobilize all the key stakeholders to work together on making childcare more accessible.”

Lynn Sherman, the City’s Executive Director of Health Programs, led the Task Force and presented its findings alongside Mayor Deegan. “The findings point to a system with meaningful assets — including the Early Learning Coalition of Duval, Voluntary Prekindergarten, School Readiness, Head Start and Early Head Start, and committed employers and nonprofit partners,” Sherman said. “Yet those assets are operating within a fragmented and under-resourced system where costs remain unaffordable, infant and toddler slots are insufficient, families struggle to navigate options, and the workforce that makes quality possible remains underpaid and unstable.”

“The City cannot solve every dimension of childcare alone, but it can serve as convener, catalyst, policy integrator, and data partner,” Sherman said. “With focused leadership, Jacksonville can build a more coordinated, family-centered early learning system that supports children, working families, employers, and neighborhoods across the city.”

Mayor Deegan pointed to a central message that emerged repeatedly from national experts, parents, and providers during the Task Force’s work: childcare should not be thought of as babysitting, but recognized as early care and education, delivered during the years of most rapid brain development.

“The years from birth to age three are among the most important years of brain development a person will ever experience,” Mayor Deegan said. “That means childcare is not just helping parents get to work. It is helping build the next generation of Jacksonville leaders, workers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.”

Mayor Deegan closed by calling on the full community to join the effort.

“The future of Jacksonville depends on it,” Mayor Deegan said. “And together, we can make it happen.”

The Childcare Solutions for Early Learning Task Force was convened to examine affordability, supply, workforce, navigation, and employer engagement across Jacksonville’s early learning system, and to deliver actionable recommendations to Mayor Donna Deegan. The Task Force’s full report, including detailed findings and an implementation roadmap, is available through the Mayor’s Office.

The City of Jacksonville is the largest city by land mass in the contiguous United States, serving more than one million residents. City of Jacksonville leadership includes Mayor Donna Deegan, and a 19-member City Council led by President Kevin Carrico. To learn more, visit jacksonville.gov.