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Communities across Indiana are struggling to solve one of the state's largest challenges: How to help families get access to high-quality day care and preschool.

Over the last year, Indiana stopped giving new child care vouchers, slashed the number of spots in the state preschool program and cut how much it pays for care.

WFYI’s Dylan Peers McCoy sat down with Sam Snideman, vice president of government relations for the United Way of Central Indiana, to talk about how inadequate child care affects families, businesses and communities.

The state stopped issuing new vouchers last December, and nearly 31,000 children were on the waitlist as of September.

The results of a new survey come as day cares and preschools face significant funding losses from cuts to public subsidies for low-income families.