ST. LOUIS – A customized childcare and early childhood education center will soon be available for the families of St. Louis County Police officers.
“This is an amazing opportunity for our department family to have childcare that is reliable and educational, and it checks all the boxes for us so that we can leave our kids someplace dependable and safe while we go out and protect the community.” St. Louis County Police Sgt. Tracy Panus said.
The project is made possible through a special public-private partnership, according to Panus.
“I want to make sure that we definitely thank the organizations who are behind this because this wasn’t just a St. Louis County PD thing; this was the National Law Enforcement Foundation, the St. Louis Police Foundation and also the Neidorff Family Foundation,” she said. “All of those three organizations have been instrumental in making this a reality for us.”
The center will cater to the unconventional schedules of police officers, ensuring that their children have access to top-tier educational and care services.
“Not everybody can be called out at two in the morning and have reliable childcare. This will open up some doors and some opportunities for those officers so that they can work in different units within the department,” Panus said.
The National Law Enforcement Foundation says accessibility and affordability are the cornerstones of the program. Sgt. Panus believes this initiative will bring opportunities for officers.
“When I was a younger officer and I had my first child, I made some career choices that were dependent upon my childcare and what I could do and not do with my daughter. My husband is also a law enforcement officer, so we both worked crazy shifts. We made some choices throughout our careers that really revolved around making sure our kids were taken care of,” she said. “Now those doors and opportunities are going to be unlimited to our young officers and it’s a fantastic thing to have.”
It’s unclear when construction will start or how soon the center could open. For safety reasons, the location of the center will not be announced.
