Press release: Lincoln Trail Area Development District and Wonderschool launch initiative to open 25 new childcare programs across eight Kentucky counties. ELIZABETHTOWN, KY (October 21, 2026) - The Lincoln Trail Area Development District (LTADD) and Wonderschool today launched the Kentucky New Supply and Business Sustainability Initiative, a two-year effort to expand child care across Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, LaRue, Marion, Meade, Nelson and Washington counties. The initiative will help 25 new childcare programs become licensed or certified, with a focus on infant and toddler care and communities with too few childcare options. It will also give 50 childcare providers two years of business tools, training and one-on-one coaching to build programs that last. Families across the Lincoln Trail region are struggling to find care, especially for infants and toddlers. Opening a new program means working through state licensing, setting up a business and finding families, often all at once and alone. Without a strong business foundation, new programs can struggle to stay open. The initiative will provide wraparound services for existing and potential local entrepreneurs and caregivers, helping them start and sustain high-quality, childcare programs to address the growing needs of families in the community. "Accessible, high-quality child care is essential for our region's working families and our overall economic vitality," said Representative Samara Heavrin (KY-18), the legislative spearhead for the initiative. "This initiative starts to remove barriers for caregivers and helps more parents access safe, reliable options for their children." LTADD and Wonderschool are collaborating on this initiative to support the recruitment, licensing, and business development of local childcare providers. As part of the broader childcare support network in Kentucky, childcare coaches and specialists with the Salt River District of Child Care Aware of Kentucky and the Family Child Care Network (FCCN) provide established resources, guidance, and technical assistance to individuals interested in becoming licensed childcare providers and those operating existing childcare businesses. These services are available independently of the LTADD and Wonderschool initiative and reflect the organizations' ongoing commitment to strengthening childcare capacity across Kentucky. LTADD Executive Director Daniel London emphasized that the organization's commitment to growing regional child care is a key driver for its region's economic growth. "By leveraging designated state funding, we are building a sustainable infrastructure that will empower local entrepreneurs and strengthen our 8-county region for years to come," London said. "In turn, area businesses will know their employees have access to critical child care, allowing them to continue to work." Through the New Supply track, Wonderschool coaches will guide aspiring providers through every step of Kentucky's licensing or certification process. That includes understanding regulations, preparing required documents, responding to inspection findings and completing each step with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Providers will also get help building a budget and business plan, setting tuition, securing insurance, and creating a parent handbook, staff handbook, emergency preparedness plan and safe sleep plan. Tools and coaching to stay open. Through the Business Sustainability track, 50 new and existing providers will get two years of access to the Wonderschool platform and support, including: * A program website, a listing on the Wonderschool marketplace, and help with Google, Facebook, Instagram and Yelp so families can find them * Software for enrollment, attendance, automated tuition billing, invoicing and parent communication * Wonderschool Academy, on-demand courses on finances, staffing, compliance, program quality and growth * One-on-one profit-and-loss coaching on pricing, cash flow and budgeting * Enrollment and marketing support, professional program photography, and a direct line to Wonderschool's business coaches "Becoming a childcare provider is a rewarding journey, but it shouldn't be a lonely one," said Chris Bennett, CEO of Wonderschool. "We're proud to partner with LTADD to help Kentucky providers launch strong programs and run them as sustainable businesses, so more families in the region have care they can count on." LTADD will serve as fiscal agent and regional partner, coordinating with local partners and tracking progress. Wonderschool will report monthly on new license applications, newly licensed programs, enrollment growth and provider training, so the region can measure results. Reference to Child Care Aware of Kentucky is for informational purposes only and does not imply endorsement of the initiative by these programs, the Human Development Institute, or the University of Kentucky.

Wonderschool launches new oversight platform to help states detect child care fraud and strengthen payment integrity. Wonderschool The new platform builds on the company's history of developing technology to help ensure continuity of care and funding. SAN FRANCISCO, January 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Wonderschool, the nation's leading provider of technology to support child care providers and states, today announced the launch of Wonderschool Oversight(TM) to help agencies detect patterns of child care subsidy fraud early, conduct timely audits, and strengthen payment integrity without disrupting access to care for families. Drawing on the company's existing partnerships with more than a dozen states, including Florida, New Mexico, Michigan, Missouri, and West Virginia, Wonderschool Oversight was designed to boost transparency, strengthen accountability, and protect public dollars in order to ensure stability for families and providers. "The child care providers that American families rely on are, themselves, often reliant on manual, paper-intensive processes that can exacerbate the oversight challenge for state and federal funders," said Chris Bennett, CEO of Wonderschool. "Our work with both states and high-quality providers puts us in a unique position to create tools that streamline provider operations while giving agencies visibility into the administration of critical public benefits for children." Wonderschool Oversight enables state agencies edit agencies to centralize often fragmented program data to stand-up continuous, risk-based scoring that draws upon Wonderschool's advanced analytics and AI models. By bringing together enrollment, attendance, billing, and licensing data in a unified view, the platform can surface patterns that warrant review. Importantly, its explainable insights allow teams to understand why activity was flagged and act with confidence, preserving professional judgment while avoiding undue burden on providers. States can deploy Wonderschool Oversight as a standalone solution that integrates with existing subsidy management, licensing systems, and third-party child care management systems (CCMS), allowing agencies to implement oversight capabilities quickly and scale as needs evolve. Wonderschool Oversight can also be paired with any combination of Wonderschool's CCMS, subsidy management and licensing management solutions to further strengthen governance and transparency. These solutions are already widely used by many states to support the expansion of child care programs, streamline administration, and spot potential misuse or fraud early. To learn more about Wonderschool Oversight, visit https://www.wonderschool.com/corp/childcare-oversight About Wonderschool. Wonderschool's comprehensive technology and business support platform is designed to address every aspect of the child care and early learning ecosystem. Wonderschool's vision is to ensure that quality early care and education are conveniently accessible to every child within a 5-minute radius of their home. As leaders in collaborating with governments and employers, Wonderschool spearheads initiatives to scale and enhance child care access for every community across the country. Learn more at www.wonderschool.com.