Supply and Demand

Morrison County takes an innovative approach to solving its childcare shortage

By Andy Steiner | Photography by John Linn

About a decade ago, when Nicole Rhode’s children were young, she knew she’d have a hard time finding childcare in her hometown of Little Falls. “It’s just tough to find daycare here, especially for infants and toddlers,” Rhode said. To make matters worse, her family had a particularly tricky schedule: “With my kids, their dad worked 12-hour shifts and weekends. That made it all even harder to find childcare.”

Because it was a struggle to line up a childcare provider, Rhode made a big decision. “I started doing daycare in my home,” she said. By caring for her own children and a few others, she could cobble together a living and find a workable solution. Plus, years of experience working in a daycare center and a preschool made her especially qualified for the job.

But Rhode’s solution isn’t right for every family. Many parents want to work outside the home—and they need qualified providers to care for their children. A regionwide shortage of providers has made it feel like playing the lottery to secure a spot for youngsters in Greater Minnesota communities like Little Falls. “It’s come to the point where if people are starting to try to get pregnant around here,” Rhode said, “that’s when they start to look at putting their names on the daycare lists.”

The region’s severe shortage of options—mainly for infants and toddlers—has persisted for decades, said Jessica Gilder, program officer for childcare solutions at the Initiative Foundation. While government, civic and business leaders have turned their attention to fixing the region’s childcare problem, there remain communities where finding a spot for your kid takes plenty of crossed fingers and a lot of juggling.

Increased attention to the issue, Gilder said, “may have added some childcare slots in some communities, but there are still numerous childcare locations that have closed down. The hard truth is that more providers are leaving the field than entering it. There is absolutely a need for more childcare providers.”

Expanding childcare options is key to keeping working families happy and essential for business development and expansion in the region, said Carol Anderson, executive director of Morrison County Community Development. “I’ve talked to almost all of the larger employers in the county,” Anderson said. “Some of them tell me, ‘We’ve got people who have agreed to take a position with us, and then, two to three weeks later, they call and say, ‘We can’t take the job because we can’t find childcare.’ Having enough spots for all families is crucial to keeping the local economy strong.”

Innovative Inroads

If tried-and-true approaches aren’t enough to solve Greater Minnesota’s childcare problems, maybe it’s time to turn to something new. In Morrison County, three models are emerging that show promise, thanks to support from the city of Little Falls, the Little Falls School District, Morrison County, CHI St. Gabriel’s Hospital, and the Army National Guard’s training center at Camp Ripley.

With help from a special agreement created by the team at Sourcewell, a Minnesota service cooperative, Morrison County was able to expand the number of special child care provider opportunities.

The move made it possible to create new childcare options at CHI St. Gabriel’s Hospital. Working with special family childcare licensing, sometimes referred to as the “pod model,” St. Gabriel’s dedicated a couple of rooms in one of its buildings that independent providers could rent at a reduced rate and set up home-like childcare models.

The special family licensing model appeals to potential operators who want to open a childcare business but are deterred by the high costs of acquiring and remodeling a space or the inconvenience of using part of their home for the business. Plus, the hospital-based location provides a steady stream of families looking for conveniently located care.

“It’s like running a daycare in your house—but not in your house,” Anderson said. Providers can, “walk away from it when the day is over. Also, you don’t have all that debt service over your head: The hospital or the business with the space covers it for their employees.”

A Cool School Approach

Another approach to expanding childcare options, Anderson said, involved partnering with the Little Falls School District and a bipartisan team of politicians to build a childcare center attached to a school building on the west side of town. Little Falls Mayor Greg Zylka worked with U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Rep. Pete Stauber and secured a $1.5 million grant to move the project forward.

Little Falls School District leaders then offered to do a levy and matched the $1.5 million grant with the tax money raised to cover the cost of construction. Anderson said that co-locating the center on school grounds helped support the project in other ways. “The district already owned the land and the playground, so they didn’t have to find land or build a playground. They also didn’t have to build a cafeteria or a kitchen.” And because center workers are school district employees, they earn district benefits and wages—which are better than the average childcare worker’s.

The center—known as Little Flyers—opened in March with spots for as many as 103 kids, including 16 infants. This change will significantly increase the number of childcare options in the community: “The school district is really stepping up to the plate here to help,” Anderson said.

Ripley to the Rescue

For decades, leaders at Camp Ripley, a 53,000-acre Army National Guard training base located just 10 minutes north of Little Falls, have struggled to help find childcare for camp employees. Camp staff decided to seek outside help. “They came to us saying that they had a childcare shortage on base land that their employees desperately needed childcare,” said Michelle Tautges, director of licensing services at Sourcewell.

To quantify the need, Sourcewell conducted employee surveys and eventually encouraged the base to convert three onsite residential homes into centers where providers could care for employees’ children.

Sourcewell also helped the camp refine the special family childcare licensing process for potential providers. “We have an established way of navigating the application process,” Tautges explained. “It really helped Camp Ripley know from the start what to expect and how to have the tools in front of them so they could navigate the process smoothly.”

Rhode first heard about the on-base homes during a conversation with a local licensure professional. “I’d been thinking of going back into childcare, but I wasn’t interested in doing it out of my home again: I’ve been there, done that,” Rhode said. When the licensing professional told Rhode that Camp Ripley staff planned to interview potential providers and offer space at a sharply reduced rate, it sealed the deal. “It was something I couldn’t pass up,” she said.

Rhode was one of three providers selected to operate their on-base businesses out of the houses, which are located near the camp’s front gate. “We are right next to each other,” Rhode said. She and the other two operators can lean on each other if they have questions. Camp Ripley employees cleared out the houses and fenced their backyards, and Rhode and the other providers gathered the needed furniture, toys and supplies.

Rhode’s center, known as Little Wonders Academy, is licensed for up to 12 children, depending on how many infants and toddlers she chooses to take on. “Right now, I have two infants and two toddlers,” she said. “The rest of the kids are in my preschool program.” As part of the agreement to operate on base, children of Camp Ripley employees and active-duty service members get first priority. Still, Rhode was able to enroll one family that is not connected to the base.

Running a childcare program is demanding—Rhode works solo five days a week from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm—but she’s happy to be back in business and offering a service so desperately needed in her community.

“It was perfect timing, a perfect opportunity,” Rhode said. “I feel blessed that I was one of the three providers chosen. The parents are really thankful that the camp was able to cut through the red tape and get this going and get us in here. Having more childcare available is a real bonus for everyone.”

By The Numbers

Central Minnesota counties average a ranking of 56 out of Minnesota’s 87 counties for access to quality, affordable childcare. The best place for childcare access in Central Minnesota is Kanabec County, where 68 percent of care is center-based and there’s parity with more than one slot per child available. Three-quarters of the available Kanabec County slots have a quality ranking. The most challenging place for childcare in Central Minnesota is Wright County, with a ranking of 81. There are .5 slots per child available and just 15 percent of available slots have a quality ranking. Source: University of Minnesota ChildCareAccess.org

A Business-Minded Approach to Childcare

For those interested in opening their own childcare or independent center, First Children’s Finance offers training for home- and center-based providers to help them learn to operate their childcare as a business. First Children’s Finance also collaborates with licensing agencies to create feasibility studies for family childcare providers and centers. They’re also partnering with the Initiative Foundation to increase the number and diversity of people entering the childcare workforce. Visit firstchildrensfinance.org and select “For Businesses” to learn more.