Montana

Child care challenges continue in Montana

Published

2 years ago

August 8, 2024

Child care challenges continue in Montana

HELENA — Child care is a tricky issue. A conference in Helena brought together industry leaders throughout the state to address the issues faced by businesses and parents alike.

“For parents, it’s an expensive service. A lot of parents rely on child care. So, when they don’t have access to child care then they’re not able to participate in the workforce, which has a big impact on our local and statewide economy,” says Caitlin Jensen, Executive Director at Zero to Five Montana.

The Montana Child Care Business Connect Summit aims to support child care businesses and address issues faced by the industry and parents.

Jessica Dehn owns 11 child care centers in Montana, Washington, and North Dakota and was at the conference on Wednesday. She’s found it difficult to balance keeping her prices affordable and paying her employees a living wage, especially in cities like Bozeman.

“Wages have gone up at my facilities about 50% or more, sometimes 100% depending on the role, over the last four years. And it’s still not necessarily a living wage in Bozeman, Montana,” says Dehn.

Dehn adds that she helps bridge the affordability gap through scholarships for qualifying families, but that the funding for those scholarships comes from inside the company. Covid relief that helped offset that burden is disappearing. She is also looking at other ways to offset costs, like partnerships with other businesses. She’ll be headed to Washington D.C. soon to possibly speak with lawmakers about other possible solutions.

“For the time being, I think the wins will be in the business sector more quickly, and helping government to see the state of the Montana economy is reliant upon this as well. I think people know that intellectually, but when it comes down to individual pocketbooks or funding like different budgets of different organizations at the state that gets more challenging,” says Dehn.

Other organizations are also working to provide parents with additional childcare options. The Helena Family YMCA has offered summer camps and after-school care in previous years but is preparing to launch before-school care and looking for a new space to host child care during work hours. The Y supports many low-income families, saying about 56% of their after-school children receive Best Beginnings child care scholarships.

Ashley Callison, Senior Youth Development Director at Helena Family YMCA, says child care is an essential cornerstone of our society.

“Just that it’s really important work and it’s valuable work that I think gets overseen a lot. And people don’t realize what a vital role that child care is in families lives and in our society because that’s how parents get to work every day and someone has to care for their kiddos and help them have great experiences throughout their childhood,” says Callison.

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Montana

Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 20

Published

6 hours ago

March 20, 2026

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Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 20

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Montana

Montana smokejumper Sam Forstag aims to flip House seat blue

Published

18 hours ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

Montana smokejumper Sam Forstag aims to flip House seat blue

Montana hasn’t elected a Democrat to the House since the late 1990s. Smokejumper Sam Forstag, who jumps out of planes into the remote wilderness to put out wildfires, is trying to change that. Forstag joins “The Takeout” to lay out his progressive campaign in the deep-red state.

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Montana

Amazing America: Smokejumpers share how job evolved through the years

Published

1 day ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

Amazing America: Smokejumpers share how job evolved through the years

MISSOULA, Mont. — In this week’s Amazing America, NBC Montana is highlighting smokejumpers and their efforts to keep our communities safe during wildfire season.

NBC Montana caught up with a current and a former smokejumper to learn more about the work they do and how the job has changed throughout the years.

Jim Kitchen was a smokejumper for 20 seasons, fought over 100 fires and raised his three daughters on a smokejumper base, where he served as base commander.

Kitchen says he’ll never forget his first jump, when he started training in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1987.

“I went, ‘That was amazing,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah,’ and I go, ‘Have you ever done anything as amazing in your life? I mean, we just made our first jump,” said Kitchen.

Kitchen told NBC Montana when he laughed his crew had to do 50 pushups.

Kitchen saw several changes during his career, including women entering a historically male-dominated field. He told NBC Montana Deanne Shulman, the first woman smokejumper, paved the way for the industry.

He recalled a time when he was on a trip to Washington, D.C. , in the early ’90s to coordinate emergency response, when a U.S. Department of State official asked him a question.

“He goes, ‘I didn’t realize men were smokejumpers.’ And I had to go, ‘Peter, I’ll have you know, there’s quite a few of us, and actually, it’s the women that are rare,’” said Kitchen “The early ladies in smokejumping, they always met and exceeded the bar, and they were instrumental in doing these winter details.”

Another change he oversaw as base commander, was moving from round parachutes used in World War II, to the ones used today.

“Ram-Air parachutes that inflate make the shape of the wing and they actually have about a 20 mph forward speed. And so you can you can fly those in much windier conditions, higher elevations,” said Kitchen.

Kitchen says the job requires you to roll with the punches and make quick decisions on the fly.

He said while training new jumpers, he taught them early to prepare and never hesitate.

“The only thing that we ask of you is that you take all the information that you can and then make a decision,” said Kitchen.

Nick Holloway, a current Missoula smokejumper, who’s been working for 14 seasons, says it’s important to rely on your training, stay positive and persevere.

“Having done this for a few years, it’s just trying to know that essentially every season is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Just stay healthy, stay focused and keep having a good time,” said Holloway.

NBC Montana asked both men what they were most proud of during their time jumping.

Kitchen recalled fighting a fire near the Grand Canyon, when he and his crew decided to manage a fire instead of suppressing it when they ponderosa pine trees.

The crew let the fire burn to a plateau, “The Ponderosa pine has about a 20 to 30-year fire return interval in that area,” said Kitchen. “That’s one of the high points as far as land stewardship of my career is seeing fire on a landscape escape and not necessarily suppressing it but allowing it to burn, because then you’re saying it’s good for decades after that.”

Holloway told NBC Montana, while he has “too many to count,” he’s most proud that recently he jumped a 3- to 5-acre fire at Yellowstone National Park.

The fire grew to 8 acres, “So seven days later we got around everything, put it all out and essentially with a good product upon departure. So it’s just a classic example of a smokejumper fire.”

Holloway says staying fit for annual trainings, regardless of experience, is critical to staying fire-ready.

“Pushups, pullups, sit-ups, a certain amount and then a mile and a half in a certain time as well,” said Holloway.

Kitchen told NBC Montana he still does his pullups, pushups and sit-ups.

“Many of my colleagues are still in really fit shape even in their 60s, 70s and 80s,” he said.

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