Plans are underway to construct a new childcare center for state employees, though opening of the center is still at least several years out.
The new budget lawmakers recently approved includes an estimated $2 million to authorize the Department of General Services to plan for a standalone 15,000-square-foot building to serve up to 150 children of state employees in downtown Richmond.
"One of the things that we're seeking to do is enhance employee benefits across the commonwealth," Traci DeShazor, Virginia's secretary of administration, told VPM News. "And I certainly think that this is an employee benefit."
According to DGS, the total estimated cost of the new childcare center will not be available until the planning phase is complete and construction costs are submitted.
The project is part of $35 million recently allocated to demolish the Virginia Department of Transportation Annex building and continue planning for a new state building to house government employees displaced from the James Monroe Building, including Virginia Department of Education staff and others.
According to House of Delegates Appropriations Committee staff, one possible location for the childcare center is next to the new state site — if land is available.
DGS said in a statement that "the legislative intent is that the center be located within the seat of Government," although the final location within Capitol Square is still being determined.
Once a location is finalized, more in-depth design work will begin.
"Our intention and goal is to serve as many state employees as we can," DeShazor told VPM News, noting that demand may exceed the center's capacity.
She said officials will be working in the coming months to determine details surrounding eligibility and enrollment by assessing the needs of employees.
"We'll ensure we have a firm process in place," she said, adding that they'll also want to consider whether providing temporary "drop in" care for state employees and lawmakers would be possible.
"We have a number of new parents in the General Assembly, and we certainly hope that this resource can support them as well, while they are in town and in session, but when they have to come back into town for other meetings as well," DeShazor told VPM News.
Allison Gilbreath, senior director of policy for Voices for Virginia's Children, said she's gotten a few calls from lawmakers asking for advice about what they should do for childcare during the General Assembly.
"It's really hard for them to find childcare for like 60 days or 45 days," Gilbreath told VPM News.
In an email, DGS wrote that enrollment and eligibility criteria — including whether the childcare will be subsidized, as it has been for members of the House of Delegates during the last two General Assembly sessions — are policy decisions "likely to be made as the construction of the center is completed."
The Virginia Department of Transportation opened a childcare center for state employees in the late 1980s, in partnership with Bright Horizons. About a decade later, VDOT partnered with VCU to run the center in its building at 1201 East Broad Street.
But that partnership ended in 2022, leaving Virginia without a dedicated center for state employees since then.
A 2022 report from the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management determined setting up a childcare center in existing state-run space — including in the former VDOT location — was not feasible. It also stated that "offering any service that is, or is perceived to be an employee benefit, to a limited portion of the population (Capitol District only) could be problematic."
The report instead said lawmakers "may wish to consider the option of providing an employee daycare subsidy benefit to all state employees," which "may be more meaningful to employees." Spokespeople for DGS and Gov. Abigail Spanberger's office did not respond to questions about whether such subsidies are being considered prior to publication time.
DeShazor told VPM News the departments she oversees are "trying to be as inclusive as possible, while also just being intentional in recognizing that many employees are right here in central Virginia, right here in the downtown area on Capitol Square, and they would likely have the greatest need" for the new downtown center.
However, she said, she's hopeful the state can further address the childcare needs for other public employees beyond the new Richmond facility.
"I think it's very indicative of where we are today that the state is investing in their own childcare facility to be able to keep their workforce," said Karin Bowles, a vice president with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation.
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