A shortage of workers is one of the main causes behind the dearth of child care across Minnesota, especially in rural areas, according to a panel of experts who discussed challenges in the industry Wednesday.
“We (urban and rural) have so many commonalities,” said Julie Tesch, the president and CEO of the Center for Rural Policy & Development, which sponsored the webinar along with the Citizens League. “You hear all around about the rural-urban divide, and that may or may not be. But we do share so many issues together. We all want great child care, great schools, great health care, great transportation.”
The 80-minute online discussion featured child-care workers and advocates, as well as two officials from the state Department of Human Services.
Total child care capacity has stayed relatively steady since 1999 in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area, according to the CRPD. But in that same time, capacity in Greater Minnesota has been falling.
Home and center care
Data shows that child care provided in homes, commonly called family child care, has been declining steadily across all regions. Larger child care centers in urban counties, meanwhile, have maintained their capacity while home-based programs have leveled off.
Child care centers have capacity for more children – and have been growing steadily for all regions, although they have a harder time operating in areas with less population density.
Minnesota has lost half of its family child care capacity since 1999, Marnie Werner, the vice president of research & operations at the CRPD, said during the webinar. That decline in home-based programs affects people in those communities and their economies.
Werner pointed to a survey of Minnesota economic developers and local officials, conducted by the CRPD, that showed that over 75% of respondents said they hear from employers at least once a month about child care being a barrier to attracting and keeping workers.
Werner said that many potential child care workers are opting for other jobs with higher wages and less stress. Another panelist, Sherry Tiegs, a family child-care provider in Stevens County, said graduates from child care programs are choosing to live and work in locations with more job security.
Lowering fees
Some places, like Brown County, for example, have opted to not charge child care outlets relicensing and licensing fees in efforts to incentivize the recruitment of child-care workers.
“For providers who are just trying to control their expenses, that’s a big deal,” Werner said. “The goals are to try and lower the cost of entry and or operation for providers.”
Tiegs – a provider in Stevens County in western Minnesota – said there’s a critical shortage of child care in her community. County commissioners approached the issue by constructing six rental “pods,” each of which has capacity for 14 kids.
Family child care providers can operate their programs out of the pods; this model has the potential to provide child care for as many as 84 kids. She said there’s a need for family child care in rural areas, especially.
“It’s concerning because rural Minnesota relies heavily on family child care. They rely heavily on center care, too…but there are communities without a center and so we need to think about the challenges and maybe why this is happening,” Tiegs said.
