Cherokee Nation leaders have put forward a $50 million plan to build new childcare centers and expand support programs across the reservation, aiming to ease a shortage that officials say is pushing costs higher for families in Tahlequah, Vinita and beyond. Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner introduced the proposal, called the Cherokee Nation 21st Century Childcare Initiative, on October 1.
The plan, as reported by Cherokee Phoenix, includes $50 million in childcare center construction along with millions of dollars annually for new and expanded support programs. Hoskin Jr. serves as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, while Warner serves as Deputy Chief, and the pair have overseen a series of childcare expansions since 2019, including centers built in Pryor, Sallisaw and Catoosa.
New Centers Planned for Tahlequah and Vinita
The proposal calls for a $20 million Child Development Center at the tribe's main health campus in Tahlequah, according to the same Cherokee Phoenix report, alongside a $10 million remodel and expansion of the existing Child Development Center near the tribal complex in Tahlequah. A third project would bring a $20 million Child Development Center to Vinita, near the tribe's Vinita Health Center.
Those two communities were flagged as priorities in a Cherokee Nation work group's Human Services Child Care & Development Programmatic Report, issued on August 31, per the outlet's reporting. The same task force work has previously identified gaps in communities where childcare access is limited, the outlet has reported.
Subsidies, Grants and Extended Hours
Beyond construction, the initiative sets aside $3.5 million annually for increased childcare subsidies, the Cherokee Phoenix reported. It also includes $1.25 million annually in startup and expansion grants for Cherokee Nation citizen entrepreneurs looking to open or grow childcare businesses, plus $4.1 million annually to expand operating hours at Child Development Centers and Head Start facilities.
According to KOKI FOX 23, a special Council meeting was planned for October 29 to consider the initiative following committee review earlier in the month. The Cherokee Nation has offered childcare services to citizens since 1992, and nearly 1,000 children are currently served through its Head Start programs, per the Cherokee Phoenix.
A Statewide Cost Squeeze
The push comes as childcare costs climb sharply across Oklahoma. From 2022 to 2025, costs for a 4-year-old in the state rose 9% while infant care jumped 20%, according to NPR. State data cited by the outlet showed infant-care prices rising even further, up 36% since 2022, while the national average annual childcare price climbed more than 20% over the same period to $13,184 a year.
Cherokee Nation leaders have said the shortage is keeping some parents, particularly women, out of the workforce, according to KJRH. The tribe has already been investing heavily in early childhood infrastructure beyond this latest proposal, including a $40.5 million flagship Early Childhood Unit and Head Start facility in Tahlequah that supports 163 children across 17 classrooms, according to Anadisgoi.
Years of Head Start Investment
That Tahlequah facility was funded through the Verna D. Thompson Early Childhood Education Act, legislation originally signed into law by Hoskin and Warner with Council support in 2021, per Anadisgoi's reporting. A 2024 update to the act doubled Head Start-replacement funding from $40 million to $80 million, the Cherokee Phoenix reported, money intended to replace or rehabilitate Head Start centers across the reservation.
Separately, the tribe approved a $77 million budget to construct new child development centers, including a facility in Catoosa, and has completed the first of seven rehabilitated childcare facilities under the $80 million initiative, according to a report from Yahoo News. Cherokee Nation is also building or upgrading centers in Pryor, Sallisaw and Stilwell as part of its broader push to modernize childcare access across its communities.
