About Ready Region Southwest
Ready Region Southwest consists of the cities of Bristol, Galax, Norton, and Radford; and the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe.
EO serves as the Ready Region Southwest lead. The Ready Regions lead is responsible for on-the-ground coordination and integration of essential early childhood care and education (ECCE) services and resources.
Although one organization is identified as the Ready Regions lead, they must partner with school divisions, social and human services, quality improvement networks, ECCE programs, and other organizations involved in Virginia’s public-private early childhood system.
Ready Region Southwest At-A-Glance
65%
of children under the age of 6 years old have all available parents in the workforce
26,088
children under the age
of 5 years old
12,935
child care slots
in the region
5,894
child care slots needed to meet demand
$74,382,000
in lost business revenue due to inadequate child care
43%
of children started kindergarten without key skills
Contact
Sources:
Percentage of Parents in Workforce: U.S. Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. 2019.
Children Under 5 Years Old: U.S. Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. 2019.
Existing Child Care Slots: Bipartisan Policy Center, Child Care Gaps Assessment. 2019.
Child Care Slots Needed to Meet Demand: Bipartisan Policy Center, Child Care Gaps Assessment. 2019.
Lost Business Revenue: Author calculations based on data from Ready Nation, Council for a Strong America, The Economic Impacts of Insufficient Child Care on Working Families. September 2018; U.S. Census American Community Survey, 1-year estimates. 2019.
Kindergarten Readiness: Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program results, Spring 2022, by Ready Region. Data provided by Virginia Department of Education.
