LEXINGTON, Nevada — Naidid Aguilera felt stuck.
I was stuck working at a Tyson meatpacking plant. After he moved from Mexico with his husband about 15 years ago, he became stuck in a town in central Nebraska. Instead of taking on her dream role as an elementary school teacher, she spent her days transporting cow organs for testing.
Then she learned about a group's efforts to expand access to high-quality child care, especially for families who speak little English, through free training and assistance with compliance with state licensing laws. Classes are taught entirely in Spanish., It has cleared one of the biggest obstacles to expanding health care in this town of 11,000, where two out of three residents are Hispanic. For many years, there was only one Spanish-speaking child care provider.
When Aguilera called to sign up for the class, she recalled being overcome with emotion because she believed her goal of working with children remained in Mexico.
“The only question they really asked me was why I wanted to get certified in child care,” Aguilera said through a Spanish interpreter. “My answer was, ‘I want to do more and go further than I have at Tyson.’ I’m looking for another opportunity.’”
Through local advocacy from multiple organizations, the community will have nine Spanish-speaking service providers, including Aguilera, by this summer. Lexington still has a waiting list of 550 children needing care, according to local data, but the addition of new providers has closed the town's child care gap by nearly 100 children.
A nonprofit called Communities for Kids, which works with other organizations, started the training provider after a community survey revealed a need for Spanish-language child care. Founded in 2017, the group helps develop quality early care and education programs in Nebraska communities that lack adequate early care and education programs.
“If you can’t communicate or have a different culture, it’s a huge trust to trust an English-speaking white woman with your child,” said Shonna Werth, vice president of early childhood programs at Communities for Kids.
![](https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wagner-nebraska-childcare04.jpg?resize=780%2C519&ssl=1)
With only one bilingual service provider at the time, most Hispanic families were sending their children with neighbors or family members to receive care. This was the only way for Spanish-speaking parents to communicate directly with providers.
Some parents employed at local meatpacking plants worked shifts to ensure their children had someone they could communicate with.
“‘Where are the kids? What are they experiencing?’” Werth said.
Related: Our Biweekly Toddler Newsletter It highlights innovative solutions to the obstacles faced by our youngest students. Subscribe for free.
Tania Villarroel, senior early childhood policy analyst at UnidosUS, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy group, said there is a national shortage of Spanish-speaking or bilingual early childhood education providers. One of the obstacles to developing a child care workforce is the process of obtaining certification.
“It's a resource that speaks Spanish, but if your English isn't good, it can be really difficult to even get a degree,” Villarroel said. “It helps to have Latino service providers because Latino kids have the same life experiences, the same heritage. It makes it easier to connect with families and get family involvement easier.”
A recent study from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families found that Latino families across the U.S. want more schedule flexibility when looking for child care, and whether providers provide culturally responsive child care for their children. It turns out that a variety of factors are taken into consideration, including whether or not it is provided.
“part [places] We only serve Hispanic children and have Hispanic providers. However, other sites have no Hispanic children and probably no Hispanic representation. So we see this kind of separation going on,” said Julia Mendez, a researcher at the center. “There are families looking for care, and they can’t find what they need because they don’t have it,” she said.
Mendez said it is common for Hispanic families to have lower quality home care. Because if service providers do not speak English, there are fewer opportunities for professional development or certification.
Werth said it is important to improve the quality of Lexington child care services as well as accessibility. She conducted the free training with sisters Stephanie and Maricela Novoa, two local child care advocates. Maricela Novoa is an early learning bilingual specialist who provides support to early childhood educators through the Nebraska Department of Education. Stephanie Novoa, a real estate agent, also works with communities and volunteers for children as a special advocate for the court.
![](https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wagner-nebraska-childcare08.jpg?resize=780%2C555&ssl=1)
Training in Lexington began in 2021 with a program called the “Professional Learning Series.” This included 55 hours of instruction in the skills necessary for licensure or high-quality early childhood education. The series ran only in English and failed to attract Spanish speakers.
Another series followed in 2022, this time with professional interpreters and headsets capable of translation. Classes were held at the local YMCA every Tuesday night from August to November, and free childcare and food were provided.
“We were building that foundation. [making] Certainly if they want to get licensed, it will be useful when they get there,” Werth said. “For example, rather than training for training’s sake, let’s train with a dual purpose. They are building their education and skills so they can better interact with the children in their care and as parents. Because not all of them are on track to become child care providers.”
Related: Our childcare system presents many mothers with a stark choice: quality childcare or a job.
Werth said when the class first took place, the goal was to reach five or six participants. 20 people showed up.
“In between classes, participants would bring neighbors or friends. So we had to close the classes because the classrooms were small,” Maricela Novoa said. “It was just a word of mouth and a piece of trust. This is safe and good. This is something you will cherish.”
Next was a 10-week business class in 2023, followed by parenting and safety classes taught in English with a Spanish interpreter.
Aguilera said she remembers long days working at a meatpacking plant last spring and taking classes in the evenings.
“It was nice that the classes happened one after the other, but everything came together,” Aguilera said. “It was tiring, but it was worth it.”
Werth said licensing the nine women has been a slow process, especially when faced with language barriers.
“Stephanie and I met with six to eight contestants one night. They all brought their license packets and we sat down with them and helped them work it out. and [it] It took hours to do, and that shouldn’t happen,” Werth said.
It took participants several hours longer to navigate the online classes. Most of them had little experience using technology other than mobile phones. Werth recalled that when he helped participants use computers for the first time, the library was closed one evening.
![](https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wagner-nebraska-childcare05.jpg?resize=780%2C464&ssl=1)
Maricela Novoa said the lack of Spanish-language materials or Spanish-speaking staff is a constant obstacle for future providers. Even now, Lexington residents can call state agencies for help, but no Spanish-speaking people can answer the phone.
“It’s tiring because the only person in the room is saying, ‘Is this available in Spanish?’ When there are new resources,” Maricela Novoa said.
Mendez, of the National Center for the Study of Hispanic Children and Families, said his organization calls these obstacles “administrative burdens.”
“It’s true across the board that any barrier, like a language barrier, can hold people back,” Mendez said. “If you have an administrative burden, you need to know what the resources are, but first you need to know about the resources. They then have to navigate the system to figure out how to get the credentials or support they want.”
Related: Home child care can be a solution for rural working parents.
Just a few years ago, Miriam Guedes was the only Spanish-speaking child care provider in Lexington. She worked as an assistant teacher in a public school kindergarten for 19 years before starting her own daycare.
She obtained the certification on her own after an uphill battle as she had to fill out all the paperwork in English, but she soon wanted to do more, although she didn't know how.
Geddes, who runs a business connected to her home, said people started knocking on her door asking if she could accommodate more children, but she could only take eight at a time.
“People are coming in asking for more and more,” she said.
She learned about the free education available through Communities for Children and signed up. This training gave her the skills to expand her business experience and qualifications, allowing her to care for 12 children simultaneously at her own centre, ‘Blooming Daycare’. Now she's a mentor to Aguilera and other women seeking certification.
![](https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wagner-nebraska-childcare03.jpg?resize=780%2C517&ssl=1)
Aguilera opened her own child care business, El Niño Del Tambor Daycare, earlier this spring. The name means “little drummer boy”. It's in her basement, which was recently renovated to include a crib, a small chair, a table, organizers filled with colorful books and craft items, an alphabet rug, and more. Her new license is taped to a marker board at the entrance.
She registered her first child in mid-March and is currently caring for four children in addition to two of her own. Aguilera will hire an assistant in the near future and she could easily see herself taking on more children, she said.
She said this is something that has changed her life for the better.
“When I first started raising my kids, I kind of broke down because it brought me full circle,” Aguilera said. “I never had a chance to be home with my kids,” he said. Now I get to do this. “I’m really happy.”
This story about child care solutions was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent journalism organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up Hechinger Newsletter.