Snohomish County Council approves child care ordinance
EVERETT — Snohomish County Council members approved an ordinance Wednesday to amend zoning laws and expedite the permitting process for child care centers in unincorporated areas.
It’s part of an effort from the council to encourage the opening of more centers across the county and bring relief to a struggling industry — an industry a 2022 Department of Commerce report said was “broken” because of exorbitant costs for families and a lack of revenue for providers.
A 2019 Department of Commerce report found over a quarter of parents surveyed had either quit their job or left school because of child care issues. On average, families in Snohomish County spend 15-35% of their annual income on child care, said the manager of the Snohomish County Early Learning Coalition, Debbie Carlsen, at a Tuesday county council meeting.
“That’s unacceptable, and that’s not normal either,” council member Jared Mead said Wednesday. “That’s the problem is we are abnormally expensive, abnormally inaccessible.”
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