Soft Enrollment Is Not New: How to Run a Special Program, Built on What We Did After 2008
If your seats are softer than you want them to be, you are not the first director to feel it. After 2008, Las Vegas lost jobs fast, and child care felt it. The Nevada Economic Forum reported that the state's unemployment rate went from 5.2 percent in December 2007 to 14.4 percent in September 2010, the highest in the nation at that point [1].
I turned 22 that year, and at the time I was running Creative Kids Learning Center's marketing. Creative Kids was a Childcare Exchange Top 50 provider, with 10+ large centers in the Las Vegas area. During that tough stretch, we needed to do more than boost enrollment. We needed to align with a community that was economically cautious, and to position ourselves as an ally, not one more rising cost in the family budget waiting to be cut.
So we focused on creating special programs aimed at one moment in a family's life. When the future is uncertain, it is hard to pitch quality child care, which as we all know has a significant cost. In my April 2026 webinar, Stop Talking, Start Asking, we showed that operating costs have gone up 75 points since 2019 and that birth rates have dropped 9.4 percent over the last decade [2]. Fewer children, and seats that have to cost more, through no fault of the center.
Our special programs worked, and I am seeing parallels to the enrollment landscape of that era. So here is how to build one, in the order we did it. The biggest opportunity turned out to be local employers, so they get a playbook of their own.
Missed the webinar? Watch the full replay of Stop Talking, Start Asking for the rest of the numbers behind the squeeze.
Is 2026 really like 2008 for child care?
Not in its cause, but in how it shows up in your enrollment data. 2008 and the Great Recession had a specific cause, but the impacts of that crisis rippled out across every aspect of business. We cannot say that 2026 follows that pattern. What we can say is that uncertainty in economics, macro or at a household level, shows up in child care enrollment data as an enrollment crisis only because the size of the opportunity pool for centers shrinks.
Here is what I could verify.
What rhymes:
Families pulled back. A Stanford working paper found that during the Great Recession parents were less likely to spend on child care, whatever their income [3].
What does not:
Centers are not empty for lack of interest. A recent major industry survey found 41 percent of centers operating under capacity, "not because families aren't asking for spots, but because there aren't enough staff to open more classrooms" [4]. That is a staffing story.
The job market is not in free fall. National unemployment was 4.1 percent in August 2026 [5], against a Great Recession peak of 10 percent in October 2009 [6]. In the Las Vegas area it was 4.8 percent, down from 5.7 percent a year earlier [7]. In 2010, Nevada hit 14.4 percent [1].
When I put on my operations lens, here is what I see: demand is high and conversion is low, and the driver is affordability. In the same webinar, we showed that families' capacity to afford care is down 35 points since 2019 [2]. That 35-point drop in what families can afford doesn't stop them from calling. It stops them from signing. Every center is competing for a smaller number of households, so a generic open house stops working. That means centers have to be creative, not only to differentiate themselves but to align themselves as allies to the community. A specific offer for a specific moment still does that.
What does a program for "one moment" look like?
It is a short, capped offer built around something that just happened in a parent's life. Ours was called "Helping Southern Nevada Get Back To Work." The core of it read:
"We are offering 1 free day of child care (ages 18 months to 12 years) when you have a job interview."
The parent contacted a location once the interview was scheduled and reserved a place. Immunization records and paperwork were required, and the flyer said "please allow 15-20 minutes to complete the registration material on site." (I wish IntelliForms had existed back then.)
Here is how we got there. We started with a flyer, "America Goes Back to Work!", offering free registration and an invitation to "come see the school & learn about our program." Its best line: "As you return to work, the question of who will take care of the children can be answered by us."
But free registration answered our problem, filling seats. The parent's problem was sooner and sharper: who watches my child during the interview?
So we turned the offer into a free interview day. Same economy, different offer. The first flyer solved our problem. The second solved theirs.
Why give away a free day at all?
Because it builds a warm list. Our first instinct wasn't to give away a free day. But when we understood that it was impactful to the community, it became not an expense, but an investment.
Interest drives inquiries, and inquiries are a contact list. Knowing the families in your area who may need care is a close second to knowing the ones who do. Compare that to the enrollment environment most of us work in now. Advertising costs are climbing: WordStream's 2025 benchmarks found Google Ads cost per click rose in 87 percent of industries, up nearly 13 percent on average [8]. Competition for exposure is growing, and broad digital campaigns produce mostly low-intent leads ("lookie-loos") and follow-ups that never reach the parent. A warm list like this is as good as gold.
Is child care for an interview relevant in the Zoom era?
Yes. The setting changed. The reason did not. Many interviews are virtual now, and some parents will not need a day away from home. But the purpose holds: if they get the job, they need care. All of us who survived the lockdowns with small children at home know that focus and presentation become a luxury when you work from home, and an interview, virtual or not, still needs the applicant to put on the best possible impression. Jobs that cannot be done virtually, such as healthcare, retail, and trades, often have training or tryout days. So the offer in 2026 is an interview day, a training day, or whatever "moment" matters most for the families in your community.
How do I run a special program, step by step?
Follow the same six steps we did, and keep each one small.
Read the moment. What is happening to families in your zip codes this month?
Build an offer for that one moment. Cap it: one free day, a defined age range, reserved ahead. Check compliance first, but the aim is acceptable cost to the provider and impact for the family. Reduce the former and increase the latter, and you have your angle.
Write the parent's problem in one sentence. Not your pain. Theirs.
Pick the channel where that parent already is. We used flyers, our website, and socials. Many of you are already running digital campaigns, so switch the offer, not the channel.
Make the paperwork the price of admission. If you don't have IntelliForms, tell families up front it takes 15-20 minutes and what to bring. The part of enrollment parents find the most friction in gets done while they are motivated. Not only do you have the leads now, but completed enrollment packets that satisfy compliance.
Keep the families. If the parent got the job and enrolled, a second offer (free registration and a discounted first week) gave them a reason to stay. Turn their win into something you both celebrate, and you have a family that stays and tells others their story.
💡 IntelliTip: IntelliForms can package the enrollment paperwork for a special program like this, so a parent can complete it before the day. Check your state licensing for the minimum requirements, and build an easy, digital experience to streamline your special program. Charging a reduced price for the program rather than a giveaway? IntelliForms integrated payments are a great solution for one-off payments that drive revenue growth.
Can the same idea work on employers?
Yes, and it is the part with the most room to grow. One parent at a time is slow. One employer can put your offer in front of an entire workforce. Demand exists on the employer side too: a 2025 survey of more than 300 Virginia employers found more than 8 in 10 say child care challenges hinder their hiring and retention [9]. That is just one state, but where there's smoke, there's fire.
We called ours a Corporate Discount Partner program, a benefit for employees "at no cost to your company." Employees who registered got a registration and tuition perk, and we supplied a flyer the company could send electronically or print.
Which employers should I approach, and what do I say to each?
Start with employers whose people already need child care. Look for large headcount, shift work, or both. Our list was grouped by type:
Local and county government: retention help without touching the budget.
Banks: a perk for branch staff on fixed schedules.
Hospitals and medical practices: care for shift workers.
Grocery stores and pharmacies: lead with your hours.
Salons: small teams, so offer a simple flyer.
Warehouses and factories: large headcount, so a partner list is worth their time.
Casinos: round-the-clock staff, so pitch your hours.
Apartment complexes: multifamily housing is fighting for renters, and many properties now bundle perks to stay competitive. Offer a free resident perk they can post.
Add your own families
Your best salespeople are the happy parents you already have. We asked parents who worked for a prospect to make the introduction.
💡 IntelliTip: Build a simple form and send a campaign to your current parents about your special program, and collect each parent's employer name. You may be surprised how many parents share industries and companies, and that list guides where to expand these programs.
Make the pitch
Be clear up front about who you are and what you are offering: you are a local child care center, and you want to extend a benefit to their employees at no cost to the company. Then ask for the right person. Try: "Who handles employee benefits, and could you introduce us?"
If they won't transfer you, ask for an email address and send the offer. Most people will give you that. And don't underestimate dropping by a local business in person, flyer in hand.
Keep the offer itself to three lines, the same terms for everyone, and one signature. The pitch: no cost to the company, a registration and tuition perk for employees, and a flyer ready to send or print. Keep the terms identical across partners and set a review date. Ask for a company representative "who has authority to authorize benefits."
How do I follow up and track it?
Make one person the owner. Ours was a single partnership liaison. Programs like this go well when there is a single point of contact at the center. Name that person, and if you can, incentivize their success. When a partner signed, every center got a note and current families who worked there were emailed. Track partners signed, employees registered, location chosen, and review dates.
💡 IntelliTip: Keep tracking simple. Build one web form per employer partner, give each partner its own UTM link, and capture a few data fields (partner, location chosen, child age, start date). Then run a simple report of registrations by partner.
What should I do this week?
Pick one program and one employer, and write both down.
Name the moment your families are in right now.
Write the parent's problem in one sentence.
Cap the offer and check your ratios.
List ten employers near you, by type.
Ask one current parent for an introduction.
Not every family will enroll. But every family who raises a hand gives you a relevant reason to follow up.
The cause of soft enrollment is different in 2026, but the fix is the same: a specific offer, a clear sentence, and a person who follows up.
Not yet using IKS? Schedule a demo to see how forms, tours, and campaigns work together in one system built for child care.
Already using IntelliKid Systems? Reach out through our IKS Help Chat and our customer success team will help you set up IntelliForms for your next program.
About the author
Jared Hall is the CEO and Founder of IntelliKid Systems, the leading enrollment management platform built specifically for the childcare industry. Rooted in his family's 40 years of childcare ownership and operations experience, he brings a decade of expertise in software architecture and emerging technology. At 22, during the downturn that followed 2008, he ran marketing for Creative Kids Learning Center, a Childcare Exchange Top 50 provider with 10+ large centers in the Las Vegas area. His work at IntelliKid Systems is grounded in a simple belief: childcare centers deserve the same caliber of business tools as any other industry.
Citations
Nevada Economic Forum, November 2010 report. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Document/17493
IntelliKid Systems webinar, "Stop Talking, Start Asking," April 23, 2026. https://www.intellikidsystems.com/post/stop-talking-start-asking-why-your-marketing-isn-t-working-featuring-jared-hall-ceo-founder-of
Kornrich and Lunn, "Necessary Reductions" (Stanford working paper). https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/media/_media/working_papers/kornrich-lunn_necessary-reductions.pdf
Procare, 2026 Insights and Trends. https://www.procaresoftware.com/blog/2026-insights-trends-whats-shaping-child-care-management-right-now/
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation, August 2026. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Civilian unemployment rate (historical chart). https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-unemployment-rate.htm
Nevada DETR, August 2026 sub-state labor market release (Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas MSA, not seasonally adjusted). https://nevadaworkforce.com/_docs/Labor-Market-Overview/Current_Sub-State_Release.pdf
WordStream/LocaliQ, Google Ads benchmarks, updated September 29, 2025 (via AdManage summary). https://admanage.ai/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-google
Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, "New Statewide Survey: Businesses Recognize Child Care is Foundational to Virginia's Economy," December 4, 2025. https://vecf.org/va-statewide-survey/
