Editor’s note: This article is part of Police1’s Police Recruitment Week, which provides resources and strategies for police agencies to improve their hiring initiatives. Thanks to our Police Recruitment Week sponsor, eSOPH by Miller Mendel.
By St. Louis County Police Office of Information
In partnership with the National Law Enforcement Foundation, the Fraternal Order of Police and the St. Louis Police Foundation, the St. Louis County Police Department is bringing a customized childcare model to Missouri that supports officers, families and long-term public safety.
For years, police leaders have sounded the alarm about recruiting and retention. The challenges are well documented: a shrinking pipeline of applicants, historic rates of retirement and resignation and the escalating cost of training new officers only to lose them within a few years. In St. Louis County, these challenges are not theoretical. They are lived realities that affect every shift, every community interaction and every long-term workforce plan.
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As a department, we listened carefully to our officers. Time and again, they told us that childcare — affordable, secure and aligned with the realities of law enforcement schedules — was one of the greatest barriers to staying in the profession. Officers working overnight shifts, unpredictable overtime and weekends face options that simply do not exist in the traditional childcare system. That gap has forced some to leave the job entirely, despite a deep commitment to public service.
It became clear that if we were serious about supporting our workforce, we needed to address this need directly. Recognizing the concerns voiced by officers, Colonel Kenneth Gregory and his command staff convened the key stakeholders required to make this initiative succeed. The department partnered with the National Law Enforcement Foundation, the Fraternal Order of Police and the St. Louis Police Foundation to ensure the program would be implemented with the expertise, resources and structure necessary to deliver lasting results.
A unique model designed for law enforcement families
There is no shortage of well-intentioned childcare providers, but law enforcement requires something different. Security protocols, extended hours and the stressors of the profession demand a customized model. That is what distinguishes the National Law Enforcement Foundation’s approach.
NLEF addresses law enforcement’s recruitment and retention crisis through customized childcare and early childhood education. Its centers are designed, funded, built, licensed and operated specifically for officers and their families. From the ground up, the model accounts for the realities of policing and delivers a program intended to boost morale, improve retention and reduce taxpayer costs tied to attrition.
For St. Louis County, this partnership allowed us to respond directly to what officers had been communicating for years without diverting focus from policing. The expertise and infrastructure NLEF brings helped ensure the solution would move from concept to reality.
Listening to officers and following through
It is one thing for leadership to say, “We hear you.” It is another to act. By opening this childcare center in partnership with NLEF, we demonstrated to our rank-and-file that their voices matter and that their personal and professional well-being is inseparable from the strength of the department.
This effort did not happen in isolation. St. Louis County joins a growing network of agencies nationwide implementing NLEF’s model, including departments in San Diego and Idaho, with Dallas soon to follow. Each center is tailored to its local context, but reported outcomes include reduced turnover, improved morale and measurable return on investment.
The ROI for agencies and communities
Recruiting and training a new officer can cost more than $250,000. When officers leave prematurely, that investment leaves with them — along with years of experience and established community trust. By comparison, the annual cost to operate a customized childcare center is approximately $3 million. Retaining just 12 officers offsets the cost of the entire program.
For legislators, city leaders and taxpayers, this is not solely a workforce issue. It is a fiscal one. Each childcare seat represents an officer who may remain in the profession longer, potentially saving millions in training costs while strengthening public safety stability.
Why the model works
NLEF’s approach is built on three core elements.
- Accessibility: Centers are exclusively for law enforcement families and offer extended hours that reflect shift work, including nights, weekends and holidays.
- Affordability: Tuition is set at roughly half the market rate, while teachers receive competitive pay to promote quality and stability.
- Accountability: NLEF measures outcomes beyond enrollment. Each center tracks its impact on recruitment, retention and morale to demonstrate a connection between childcare access and workforce stability.
Honoring the profession
At its core, this initiative is about strengthening the long-term sustainability of policing. Officers should not have to choose between serving their communities and caring for their children. Addressing that tension reinforces workforce stability and affirms the value of those who wear the badge.
Childcare will not solve every challenge facing law enforcement. But for many officers, it has been a quiet factor driving departure — a barrier affecting recruitment, retention and morale. With NLEF’s model now operating in St. Louis County, that barrier has been reduced.
We are proud to join a national effort focused on practical solutions. More importantly, we are proud that our officers know their concerns led to tangible action — action designed to support their families and strengthen the future of the profession.
